10 Ways to Make Your CDs and DVDs Last Longer

When your favorite CD -- the one that you play repeatedly -- skips a note, you know you're in trouble! Don't fret, there are many simple ways to increase the shelf life of your prized discs.

1. Watch Your CD Wallets
Those slim, zippered CD wallets certainly make it easy to transport your CDs from one place to another, but they should never be used for long-term or archival storage. Many wallets provide adequate cushioning behind the discs, but your CDs are still prone to scratches (typically as a result of frequent trips in and out of the sleeve) and other hazards.

2. Handle DVDs With Care
Although the error-correction encoding for DVDs is almost ten times more thorough than that used for audio CDs, DVDs are still more susceptible to damage by scratches and mishandling than CDs. That's because DVDs cram a lot more information into a comparable amount of space (up to 4.7 GB per side compared with 700 MB in a CD -- that's more than six times as much). With that in mind, you may want to handle your DVDs a bit more carefully than your CDs.

Never touch the disc's flat surface; rather, always hold it with one finger in the center hole and the other fingers around the outside edge.

When removing a DVD from its case, always be sure to press the button on the center hub and push downward on it; never remove a DVD from its package simply by prying up the outer edge of the disc.

3. Keep CDs off the Dashboard
If you keep a CD wallet in your car, never, ever, leave it on the dashboard or front seat in hot climates or during the summer months. The plastic sleeves of some poorly made wallets have been known to melt and adhere to CDs after several hours of exposure to the hot sun.

4. Don't Buy Blanks in Bulk
Unless, of course, you intend to burn a lot of discs in a relatively short period of time. That's because the organic dye used to record the data on the disc will eventually spoil if it is not used. Although CD-R and DVD-R manufacturers claim blank, unused discs have five-year shelf life, that claim has not been verified by independent testing, and you won't find any expiration dates on the packaging. All things considered, it's best to buy new discs on an as-needed basis, rather than purchasing a large quantity to use over several years.

5. Keep Your Discs Clean
CDs and DVDs need to be kept free of dust and fingerprints, which can cause tracking errors by blocking the path of the laser that reads the discs. Cleaning is just a matter of wiping your discs with a damp nonabrasive cloth -- the cloths designed to clean eyeglasses are ideal. You should never use harsh chemicals or cleaning agents. You can, however, use a water-based lens cleaner and mild detergent, if needed.

Gently wipe the disc by moving the cloth in a curved line from the inside hole to the outer edge. Don't wipe in a circular motion; you can make the disc unreadable if you accidentally scratch it while wiping around the disc's circumference.

6. Repair a Scratched Disc
Do you have a scratched CD or DVD that's headed for the trash? Before you toss it, try fixing it with some Brasso metal polish (which sells for under $6 for 8 ounces in the U.S.). The idea is to use the polish to smooth out the scratch so the player's laser can read the data; you don't necessarily have to make the scratches disappear. Use a soft cloth to rub a couple of drops of Brasso into the disc until the scratch is almost gone. Scratches are best handled by rubbing along the direction of the scratch, while scuff marks should be polished in a radial motion. Let the Brasso dry on the surface; then use a fresh soft cloth to rub it off, using a radial motion.

You can use other products in a similar fashion to smooth out the scratches on your discs. Nongel white toothpaste and car wax are two popular choices. There are also many commercial disc-repair kits and devices available, some of which -- such as the Alera 240121 DVD/CD Disc Repair-Plus Kit (about $27) and the Skipdoctor CD Repair Kit (about $23) -- can be very effective. They are also sold by audio-equipment retailers.

Of course, if a scratch is deep enough to damage a disc's data layer, it can't be repaired no matter what you do. (The name is true for any scratches on the disc's label side, which back onto the disc's reflective layer.) Still, any attempts to salvage a scratched disc are always worth the effort -- not to mention the money and time you'll save when you're successful.

7. Don't Back Up Rewriteable CDs
A rewriteable CD (CD-RW) should never be used for archival purposes. Although they're designed specifically for data backups, CD-RWs are fundamentally different from CD-Rs: They have an aluminum reflective layer, and record data on a phase-changing metal-alloy film rather than an organic dye. CD-RWs are less stable, more sensitive to heat damage, and have a much shorter lifespan than CD-Rs (typically 25 years or less, depending on how many times they're recorded on).

8. Stick to Longhand Labeling
The need to label your home-recorded CD-Rs and DVD-Rs is obvious; how else will you identify them? Although there's no shortage of labeling kits on the market, you may want to think twice before using any of them. The problem is that the adhesive used for virtually all of the labels included in these kits can harm the data stored on your discs or offset the discs' balance when they're played, which can damage computer drives and CD and DVD players. Until true archival-quality labels for optical discs arrive, it's best to simply write the information in the printed area of the disc with a nonsolvent-based felt-tip pen -- such as TDK's CD Mark or Maxwell's DiscWriter pens, both of which come in packages of four for about $6. Never use a ballpoint pen, pencil, or other types of permanent markers, as they're likely to destroy the disc or the data.

9. Save as Data Instead of Music
There are a number of digital audio formats in use these days, although MP3s, WAV, and MID (MIDI) are probably the best known of the bunch. Audio CDs, meanwhile, have their own formatting (although they use WAV files) that allow them to work with all CD players -- including models that predate the arrival of CD burners.

When storing music files onto a CD-R or recordable DVD for archival purposes, experts recommend recording them as WAV files rather than as CD Audio files. You won't be able to play the discs on most home or portable CD players, but you'll be getting some added insurance on the integrity of your music in return. When a scratch or other flaw causes a loss of data on an audio CD, it's typically heard as a loud click or pop as the CD is played. All computer data files (including WAV files), however, have an extra level of error correction that provides additional protection against data loss with fewer audible artifacts. Besides, you can always burn an audio CD using your archived WAV files at some later time.

10. Use Slower Speeds for Archival Audio Recording
If you decide to use the CD Audio format when making archival copies of your digital music, it's a good idea to record the discs at a slow speed, preferably 4x. Decreasing the recording speed ensures a more exact burn with better laser response. Higher speeds are fine for recording data, where significant error correction is inserted during the burn and implemented during the readback. But when the lack of error correction in the CD Audio format is combined with irregularities in the quality of the blank media and inaccuracies of the laser during recording, the end result can be inferior-sounding discs. A slow speed makes sure you're getting the best-possible recording.