CD problem.

[Benny]

Well i got a problem with my Medieval Total War Cd because there is a big scratch on it,the autorun is still working but when i say install my pc crashes.I've heard about cd repair kits but will it be able to repair big scratches?Or is there any other way it can be fixed?I don't feel like buying a new medieval cd. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/mecry.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/mecry.gif

I hope anyone can help me.

Regards Benny.

[TosaInu]

Hello Benny,

Welcome at the org forums.

I've never tried the CD repair kits myself, but it's said that they can repair bigger scratches. It's getting tricky when the datalayer is damaged. There are also ordinairy means to fix it, but I forgot what.

Monkeyman or one of the other patrons may be able to tell you more.

[MonkeyMan]

I have heard good things about some repair kits e.g.

http://www.pinpointce.com/pages/skipdrreview.htm

this type that grinds a thin layer off the CD are supposed to work wonders unless you have a really deep scratch. I've seen them in the UK in most GAME/VIRGIN/HMV type shops and I don't doubt you could find one with a bit of effort (although I almost failed looking for you online).

Other types do exist but with a really bad CD, cleaning and filling scratches will never be as good as removing them entirely.

For future refence use a CD box rather than storing all your CDs in a big solid stack like a Uni friend of mine used to (and never lend a CD to someone who does) http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

As a funny side story, once when I was younger and slightly more? stupid I bought one of my first games on CD (Star wars game of somekind) and having failed to get it out of the box (that required pushing your finger down on the centre tab) I got out my trusty penknife and gouged a huge line in the datalayer http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/pissed.gif

Happily I took it back to the shop and pleaded innocence, walking out 2 minutes later with a full refund http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/joker.gif

[Kraellin]

Game Stop (formerly Babbages) sells one called something like 'cd doctor' or something. but like others here, i've never tried it. the guys in the shop say it works pretty well with small to medium sized scratches and intermittently with large ones. sells for around $20-$25, i think. so, that's about half the cost of a new game, but no guarantee it will work for your cd.

K.

[Benny]

Ok cheers for the replies.I'll go looking for a cd repair kit,and let's hope it's working.

[Drucius]

I did something similar to a game disc a while back and wrote to the distributors asking if they could help me, they said that they would exchange the faulty disc for £7.50, which seems fair enough to me. Try giving Activision a call.

[Benny]

Well this is very weird i tried my medieval cd in my older pc and it was working again, so i thought let's try again at my pc and it was working again so no need to buy a new one http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/tongue.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wacko.gif

[Kraellin]

benny,

that's actually fairly common. could have just been the copy protection stuff bucking the drive. i have one game where the readme file said something on the order of, 'if the game fails to start/install, open the cd tray and turn the cd a bit and try it again. repeat as necessary'. so, it could have just been something like that.

might wanna check out a cd rom cleaner kit though. the read heads could be a bit dirty.

K.