Data recovery on optical

oxygene · 22 Jan 2006 at 11:30

Ok I have a small problem that an old cdrw I dug up has an error on it. A load of files are intact, like 6 folders and contents and 2 files in root, all usable just fine. But one folder, the one I really want access to, cant be opened. Says the dir is corrupt and unreadable. All the files that are readable are 186mb, and the disk says 540mb used, so I know there is something there.

The basic question is obvious. how do I get this bvery important data back? I looked around the forums and there was a suggestion for BadCopy, but that didnt work. I swear I used a program before for this kind of problem but cant remember it.

any help would be much appreciated

Amoeba · 22 Jan 2006 at 11:31

Not sure if it would be possible - if the recordable surface has been scratched off, the data will have gone with it. Other people may have some ideas though..

basmic · 22 Jan 2006 at 11:36

Give CDCheck a go. Try to make sure the disc is as clean as possible.

Visage · 22 Jan 2006 at 12:13

Maybe try one of those mechanical cd cleaner jobbys?

oxygene · 22 Jan 2006 at 12:42

Lol, so far all the assumptions are that the cd is scratched. its not that kind of problem. The cd is in a fit state, but its something to do with a bad multisession I think

LeperousDust · 22 Jan 2006 at 13:32

CD cleaners *can* sometimes be VERY helpful, but i'm not sure how great they work with CDr's, although there shouldnt be much of a difference i can imagine there will be. This is why you don't buy the cheapest CD's you can find to store sensitive data for a long time. I did have a review somewhere that showed the difference between cheap and good cdr's, cant find it right now though.

Heliospherez · 22 Jan 2006 at 13:38

Thats not much help to him now though !

The first thing I would try is using the CD in a number of different drives (Firstly some CD-ROM drives only, then DVD Drive only, then move onto a DVD Writer or combi drive) - Try using decent drives, like HP or Sony.

What about the packages - CDRoller or Diskinternals ?

Try the badcopy utility again - It has recovered a lot of dodgy CDs for me - What was displayed when you tried to access the data ?

oxygene · 22 Jan 2006 at 14:32

It doesnt allow rescue method 1, and on method 2 it says "file and dir is corrupt and unreadable"

Chronos-X · 22 Jan 2006 at 14:36

I used to use www.cdroller.com with fantastic results - even on an old RW that had a crack in it, it managed to get the stuff out when I left it running.

DDave · 22 Jan 2006 at 15:43

IsoBuster works well

Flibster · 22 Jan 2006 at 15:44

Try isobuster

Managed to recover files from boogered cd's and dvd's that I've had from time to time.

Simon/~Flibster

oxygene · 22 Jan 2006 at 18:43

Ok isobuster and cdroller both discover the file just fine. but they need registering and I cant affor dthat lol. Thanks for all the help, it was isobuster I used before.