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Monday January 7, 2008

By Ray Scott

            For several months now the B-Bug Computer Club has been open Monday through Friday from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm. The new hours seem to be more convenient for residents of the park. Because of this the content of the Monday night meetings has changed to more business like in nature. Many changes have been made to improve the clubroom. New lighting and venetian blinds for example. These expenses are taken care of on Monday nights meeting. I want to remind people that because we help the residents with their computer problems the Residents Association has decided to help us with our DSL costs. It is appreciated very much, thank you.

            Have you ever had to throw away a music cd because it was scratched and wouldn't play. You may never have to do that again. I have repaired damaged cd's and made them usable again. View the photos to see a seriously damaged cd that I repaired.

        The printed label of the cd had partially peeled off and seemed to be totally ruined. But with my technique I was able to recover the music on the cd.

            A cd is made up of several layers. First is the thin clear plastic which contains the dyes that make up the data for the music. Second is the film of material that reflects the laser beam that reads the data. Third is the printed information that you read. There are other layers that help to protect your cd. When your cd gets scratched the ink print and the reflective layer are gone and the laser beam cannot be reflected back to be read and played.

            I have repaired small scratches by covering it with a thin piece of opaque tape but this damaged cd required a bit of experimentation. On my third attempt I covered the damaged area with blue painters tape. That was still too translucent so I covered that with brown paper packing tape. This time my efforts paid off. Because the damage was near the outside edge of the cd I had to trim the tape at each attempt.

            Always use the thinnest material possible to make repairs so that the cd does not become unbalanced. I don't guarantee success every time but this method has worked well for me and I was surprised that it worked with a cd with this much damage. I haven't tried this with data or program cd's but it should work with them also as they are made up of the same kind of layers.

Larry and I are available for help during club meetings, by appointment at the

clubroom or your home any time. To make an appointment for help Call;

Larry Cornell;        324-2325,    e-mail:          lcdc64@dslextreme.com