How do you fix an ''out of print'' scratched CD ?


I don't know how it could of happened but one of my favorite CD's is skipping and from the looks of it has a scratch on it !!!! No, it's not the equipment...but is there any after market stuff that could fix this ????? This is out of print and I really like this disc.....''The Best of the Band'' .....on Capital.
garebear
This thread has been inactive for a while, but here's a trick I've used with moderate sucess.

Polish the disc using a soft cloth and a spray furniture polish like Pledge. The wax gets into the scratches and fills them in. It's hit or miss, but it's a cheap and easy solution. Plus, if it doesn't work, there's no harm done to the remaining tracks.
How about this thingamahbob:

http://www.digitalinnovations.com/skipdr/SkipDR_motorized.html

I think it just buffs out the damaged layer.
I may be wrong on this, but wasn't The Band's material recently remastered, inluding "The Best Of?"
EAC is Exact Audio Copy. A software program for copying discs. It is freeware as far as I know. It works great, too.
You might also try Auric Illuminator. I've had good luck with it. Polish the disc and it may play perfectly, or at least better.
EAC works...resurrected my fave Dave Lindly CD which had horrible digital skipping on two tracks; the clone is better than the original. EAC is tops; it is used by live taper types for mastering their recordings, too.
Rcprince has the right idea. I have used turtle wax to fix some cds. put small amount on scratch, let it dry, then very gently wipe off with TP. I've also seen a couple of cd "fixing" machines used in cd stores, so if you claim your cd is scratched, they'll fix it before returning your money. one was a sort of buffer using buffing compound, the other machine encloses the cd and it uses water and wax compound. good luck.
Don't bother fixing the current CD, buy another one. Check the link provided, there's a copy on Half.com for $2.42

http://half.ebay.com/cat/buy/prod.cgi?cpidEQ1703466AMPmeta_idEQ2

You're welcome...

-RW-
There's a guy here in Central NJ who does a great job for $5 per disc. Call 411 for Screams From The Gutter in Manville, NJ.
I have repaired hundreds of scratched CDs by polishing with toothpaste back and forth from center to edge. It looks like hell when you're done, but only about one in a hundred fail to give me a perfect read with EAC.
LAT International C Diamond has cured this on some discs. About $12 and if it doesn't cure it you can use it for its original use of enhancing reproduction by stopping laser scatter.
Check out the link below for a company that makes several plastic polishes and a cleaner.

http://www.noscratch.com/novus/index.shtml

I used this product to remove some scratches on my car's lexan headlight covers. It works great and I'll bet it will do the job on a CD.
Go to best buy or similar and buy a disc cleaning/scratch removing kit. They help.
Otherwise, very fine polishing compounds like jewelers rouge (I thinks that's how to spell rouge?). Very fine polishing compound for cars will work great too. Keep in mind to rub from the center hole to the edge only-no circular motion and don't clean like you would a record by spinning it.
I believe that there are some products out there which are designed for this sort of thing, but at more a last resort--you might check Music Direct or Elusive Disc to see if they have anything like this. The one I saw advertised years ago (Buff Stuff?--I think it was actually tried in Stereophile) was almost like a car wax, a little abrasive to smooth the scratch then buffed to a clear shine. Anyone out there tried car wax for this application?
You might try ripping it with something like EAC and reburning a new copy. EAC will keep trying to read the sectors until it gets an exact copy... Can takes hours and hours, but it might give you a "true" copy...

You could also try eBay...