clean DVD drive

[avextraxjp]

Is is necessary to clean the DVD drive of a PC or a CD/DVD player with a cleaning disc from time to time for optimal performance?

[DereX888]

Is is necessary to clean the DVD drive of a PC or a CD/DVD player with a cleaning disc from time to time for optimal performance?

depends on environment and usage.

Certainly if i.e. you are a smoker, and your PC is located nearby you and inhaling/"smoking" together with you, you'll need to clean it more often than me

[showtaper]

Is is necessary to clean the DVD drive of a PC or a CD/DVD player with a cleaning disc from time to time for optimal performance?

Check the inside of your PC, if it is dusty, chances are the inside of your drive is also.

I have 3 cats, and I didn't believe how much hair and other junk collects inside of ALL my electronics.
I now clean them all regularly. Compressed air works well, laser lenses may need the use of a cleaning
disc or a more thorough manual lens cleaning (be gentle....).

[DereX888]

I have 3 cats

Certainly you're not a dog person

[redwudz]

I have 3 cats

Or you could try the compressed air and the vacuum cleaner on the cats to help control the problem at the source.

Many times manufacturers don't recommend cleaning DVD or most optical drives at all. Probably because of the risk of damage.

Using compressed air can drive dust deeper into the mechanism and cause other problems. I would only try that if all else fails, and even then, I would remove the outer case so the dust might go somewhere else. Some brush type disc cleaners don't do much better.

JMO, but regular cleaning would not be a good idea.

[TBoneit]

I wouldn't even think about cleaning a optical drive unles I was having problems with it and even then it is the last resort before replacing the drive.

The cleaning brushes can damage the laser lense assembly. The laser itself is designed to move up and down for better focus as needed. It is easy to knock out of alignment or scratch with a cleaning brush.

[DereX888]

JMO, but regular cleaning would not be a good idea.

yup, better clean up your room/house/backyard/whatever when you have nothing to do and have this urge to clean up something
As TBoneit said, use "cleaning discs" and such on the drives that have already start to show problems, as a last resort before replacing them...

[PuzZLeR]

Just from experience only:

I have a DVR (Digital Video Recorder) that was developing a burning problem. Actually, from this forum's advice, I bought a disc cleaner from Maxell - a disc with a brush attached - and it solved the problem 100%. I've must have burned over 100 discs since. Only cleaned it once and running fine 6 months later...

I used to think things like this were useless marketing gimmicks, but after this experience I'm voicing my opinion on these forums that this particular item actually was worth the money.

BTW - No cigarette smoke in my house but I have cats (my little girls ). But I wouldn't know if they're factors.

EDIT: ...no smoking of the other kind either... shame on anybody thinking as such!

[DereX888]

Just from experience only:

I have a DVR (Digital Video Recorder) that was developing a burning problem. Actually, from this forum's advice, I bought a disc cleaner from Maxell - a disc with a brush attached - and it solved the problem 100%. I've must have burned over 100 discs since. Only cleaned it once and running fine 6 months later...

I used to think things like this were useless marketing gimmicks, but after this experience I'm voicing my opinion on these forums that this particular item actually was worth the money.

BTW - No cigarette smoke in my house but I have cats (my little girls ). But I wouldn't know if they're factors.

I have revived few players with disc cleaners too.
The point is to do it when the drive is misbehaving and such, not to do it as part of some sort of routine cleaning, because it may cause very opposite effects. I have killed an old cd player exactly that way, it worked fine until I had this urge to test new cleaning disc on it, and... it never worked again

I mentioned smoke from cigarettes, because I knew some smokers in the dorm in the past, and I noticed that the smoke actually sticks to everything and creates some sort of thin brown/yellow film on all parts inside - including laser lens. Only wiping it *very gently* with soft cotton swab damped in alcohol could help in such case.

Don't know about cats (BTW - how can you be sure your "girls" don't smoke while you're asleep? ) but IMHO if an occasional hair gets sucked in into drive through the loading door and lands exactly on the laser, I'd think the vibration and air circulation from the rotating disc inside should throw it off as soon as you load any disc.

[PuzZLeR]

I have revived few players with disc cleaners too.
The point is to do it when the drive is misbehaving and such, not to do it as part of some sort of routine cleaning, because it may cause very opposite effects. I have killed an old cd player exactly that way, it worked fine until I had this urge to test new cleaning disc on it, and... it never worked again

I agree. The cleaner that I bought has a brush on it, which obviously would involve a physical scrubbing of some sort, which would make me uneasy with "regular usage". I haven't used it since for the very same thinking that it could be counter-productive (sorry about your player that stopped working ). I used my cleaning unit very simply because at the time I had nothing to lose so any "damage" that it inflicts can't hurt since the burning unit was crapping out on me anyway.

And I will use it again if it misbehaves until I probably kill it (the cleaner and/or the player... ). I guess the "regular usage" recommendations are from the companies that want you to regularly use, replace and keep re-buying their cleaners, but I have the impression that they do know that in honesty, their sales of integrity would be in case of immediate need.

But nevertheless, sales pitching or not, the item worked and I will comment positively on their behalf - they do deserve that. I even contacted the company as well to give them my thanks. I wouldn't however know if the other types of cleaners involving alcohol and such are any good.

Don't know about cats (BTW - how can you be sure your "girls" don't smoke while you're asleep? wink.gif ) but IMHO if an occasional hair gets sucked in into drive through the loading door and lands exactly on the laser, I'd think the vibration and air circulation from the rotating disc inside should throw it off as soon as you load any disc.

As for my "little girls", they have proven to be, as all cats pretty much are, sneaky and act all innocent when I catch them misbehaving. But I would have caught them by now if they lit up anything or messed with my CD or DvD drives... But seriously I have no proof of the "obvious problem" of any cat hair to report, which means it could have been anything, even routine dust that caused this problem.

[johns0]

The only time you need to clean a dvd drive is when hair or dust/dirt gets on the lens/path and blowing air might get it off but its best to take the unit apart and clean it if all else fails.

[DarrellS]

I used a CD-Rom laser lens cleaner on Sunday and tried to burn a disc last night with three failed burns and on the final attempt with Imgburn, my computer froze up and when I tried to restart, I got a blue screen (couldn't read the message). Had trouble restarting the computer and when it did start, it said it found new hardware but couldn't install it. Uninstalled the unknown device and restarted but took three or four minutes to start up. Tried another burn and it said it couldn't read the drive. Restarted again which took forever. Got pissed off and pulled the side panel off and switched out the drive with a spare I had. It restarted faster than it has since I built this XP machine and burned the disc with no problem.

I assume the drive was on it's last leg and using the lens cleaner disc killed it.

[DereX888]

I assume the drive was on it's last leg and using the lens cleaner disc killed it.

More like it let it finally rest in peace, since you weren't willing to do so earlier... hardware euthanasia

[budz]

DarrellS: Time to buy a new dvd burner!

[classfour]

At least burners aren't $200 plus like in 2003 for a 2X!

$30 or less, 20X speed, SATA - much better for the burn these days.

Still keep the old one for reading - never burn at 2X these days.

[PuzZLeR]

At least burners aren't $200 plus like in 2003 for a 2X!

$30 or less, 20X speed, SATA - much better for the burn these days.

Still keep the old one for reading - never burn at 2X these days.

Well yeah. If you can get a burner for $30 that has the latest speed features, why bother trying to revive an older, slower one with a $15 cleaner? I agree. Just drop it and move on.

But a DVR is still over $300-$400, and that's cheap compared to other countries and what they were a few years ago when I got mine ($1200). This would justify trying to save it with a cleaning unit if it's bumming out on you.

("Save" is the key word from what I read in this thread, not "regularly maintain" with a cleaner.)

BTW - Different topic maybe, but I'm curious with the new burners. Speed is nice but would be worthless without quality - do you get good burns at high speeds with the latest hardware?