CDs and DVDs are nearly perfect storage media - but notice the word nearly. You have two or three outstanding methods of ruining a disc. The trick is not to become proficient at any of them, so the following list covers the best ways to use, clean, and store your discs.
- You gotta grip 'em by the rim! Take a good, close look at your hands. When was the last time you washed them? Reading data from a disc that's covered in fingerprints and dust is a touch-and-go process at best, because the laser beam has to get through all that crud twice (especially on DVDs, because the data is packed even closer together). Therefore, you must know how to hold a disc properly.
Figure 1: Hold the disk by the outside edge.
Figure 2: If your fingers are small enough, you can create your own "spindle."
- Protect your discs from deadly enemies. To keep your discs safe and avoid skips or data read errors, shelter your discs from these arch-villains:
• Pointed objects: Scratches are taboo, and that goes for either side of a disc.
• Heat: How would you like to spend a hot summer afternoon in a closed car, baking on the seat? Underneath that high-tech design, a disc is basically a circle of plastic. Keep your discs cool and out of direct sunlight.
• Surface crud: These culprits include liquids, dust, dirt, and peanut butter.
- Store your recorded discs properly. Stacking them in a big pile in front of your monitor is one answer, but it's the wrong answer. Your discs must be protected from dust and scratches. Of course, storing discs in their jewel boxes is a good idea - that is, until you have an entire 200-disc stand filled, and the stand takes up an entire corner of your room! Here's a tip: You can save that space and still provide the protection that your discs need with a disc binder. A binder has individual pockets that can hold from 10 to 250 discs, so you can donate your jewel boxes to your friends.
- Sometimes you've just gotta wipe. You may say, "I've seen an entire shelfful of CD cleaning stuff at the local GenericMart. Do my discs need cleaning?" If a disc is only dusty, use a lint-free photographer's lens cloth, which you can pick up at any camera shop. You can also pick up a spray bottle of disc-cleaning fluid for liquid disasters, such as those unavoidable soda stains. Other than a cloth and some fluid, however, you can leave all the expensive James Bond contrivances on the shelf at the department store.
Figure 3: Wipe correctly, and the digital world is your oyster.
