How are Optical Disks Affected by Data Loss?

Driven by rapid expansion of the information technology industry in all spheres of the world economy, the market for digital storage devices is booming.

There is hardly any computer or laptop today that does not have an optical disk drive. There are very good reasons why these disks remain popular with the customers.

The first is their cost which is one of the lowest in the market. The second is their huge capacity – about 740 MB for compact disks and about 4.6 GB for digital video disks. The third is their durability. Optical disks are meant to store your data safely for over 60 years! The fourth is their portability. An optical disk is extremely thin and very light in weight, which makes it extremely portable. Dozens can be placed in a vertical stack without taking much room. These features ensure that the optical disks will continue to remain popular for a long time to come.

How the Disks Store Data

Optical disks (both DVDs and CDs) use a unique technology to store and read data. They work in tandem with a drive that is attached to the computer CPU. The disks are made of polycarbonate plastic that is very durable. All data is stored on its one side (the recording side) by a laser that is emitted by the drive lens. The laser etches a single circular groove of microscopic pits that starts from the finger hole in the middle of the disk and goes around in circles, gradually radiating toward its outer edges. This pattern of pits is read by the laser which strikes the disk surface and bounces back to the drive lens.

Optical disks can be either writable or rewritable. In the former case, the disks can be written over only once and then they become read-only. In the latter case, the data can be written and erased thousands of times on the disk without any problem.

How can the Disks Lose Data

It is a sad fact of life that disks can lose their data unexpectedly. This occurs mainly due to hardware or software reasons. The recording surface of optical disks is not shielded such as in the case of USB drives or floppy disks. Instead, it remains exposed to the elements. Due to this, it gets dirty easily because of finger prints, smudges and dust particles that settle down on it. Another problem is that the disks get scratched easily. They may also get bent out of shape due to excessive heat. All these hardware-related issues will result in data loss. Software causes include cases such as accidental deletion of a file by the user, reformatting of the recording surface, software corruption and virus infection.

How to Take Care of the Disks

The first and foremost objective in taking care of optical disks is protection of their data-recording surface. Therefore, you have to make sure that the disk is always gripped in the proper way by putting the index finger through the centre hole and gently holding it in your hand by the edges. The recording surface should not make contact with your fingers or any other object. They should never be kept face down on a table.

The disks should always reside either in the drive tray or in a protective plastic covering. Also, these are made of plastic and one should be very careful never to put them near a heat source such as a campfire or even on the dash board of a car in summers. The disks may get bent out of shape and will be unreadable by the optical drive.

Recovering Data

Optical disks whose recording surface cannot be read by the drive will give an error message “The drive cannot be read.” With this, you can no longer access your data residing on it. What you should do in this case is to take a lint-free cloth and gently clean the disk surface to free it of all finger prints and smudges. Insert the disk again to see if it works. If it doesn’t, then you will have to download a good Do It Yourself (DIY) software from the Internet and proceed to recover your data following the instructions.

Such software can help you recover data from scratched disks as well as extract files that have been accidentally deleted. However, if there are serious software or hardware errors, then your best bet is to take the disk to a professional data recovery company.

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James Walsh is a freelance writer and copy editor. If you are concerned about data loss and would like more information on Data Recovery see www.fields-data-recovery.co.uk

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