In every home CD’s and DVD’s will become scratched and pitted with extended use. There’s no way to stop these things from happening as they are an inherent risk when you are dealing with the delicate materials used to make CD and DVD style discs. Thankfully, because of the problems that many people will experience with their discs at some point, various remedies and businesses have popped up to help recover the data that was on the disc. There are also various other home solutions that many people can try if they don’t have the money to have it done professionally.

The number one home remedy that I hear is to use a light abrasive, generally toothpaste, in conjunction with lots of water and a very soft cloth. You smear the toothpaste onto the disc and then, while running water over it, gently rub in small gentle circles until there is no gritty feel left on the disc. While this does seem to work with some scratches, it’s not fool proof and it is possible to further damage the disc if done incorrectly. That makes the next home remedy the best for the do-it-yourselfer. Downloading a recovery program is inexpensive and a viable option for anyone that wants to save a little bit of money. But remember that if the data is too corrupted from the wear on the disc then you will not be able to recover it with this method.

As a last resort you may need to send it in to a professional. Professional data recovery personnel will generally charge between $30 and $50 per hour depending on the scale of the project. For single discs they may work out a deal and only charge a flat rate.