How to confirm CD is blank 1

[jonnysnow]

I received a CD with important data on it, yet when I go to open it, my computer (running Win98) reports that the CD drive is not ready. I've tried to use MS-DOS as a more forceful way to try to read this CD or even see if there's anything on it, but I don't really know how to do this.

I suspect that it's really blank.

I did find a thread (thread750-664944) that talks about a CD writer that turns out blank CD's. This one came to me from outside, so I can pursue that end.

But just to be thorough, how can I confirm whether this is really blank or not?

 

[KiloZ]

Ok, first ensure the CD drive is working properly by having it read different CD-ROMs. If it can read other CDs (try both data and audio CDs) then it's not the drive, it's the CD in question. Either the CD in question is blank or of a poor quality that the CD-ROM cannot read from (or the CD-ROM is dirty). You could also try cleaning the CD-ROM drive to ensure there isn't a problem there either.

Once these things are done then you'll have a much better idea of what is really wrong.
Does that help?


All great accomplishments were once considered impossible.

 

[kiddpete]

What originally burned the CD? Maybe it wasn't closed for use in all machines.

 

[Grenage]

Try reading the disk on a CD writer, I often find them a little more reliable when it comes to reading written disks.

For a 'less scientific' approach, look at the writable side of the disk. When CDs are written onto the marks are almost always visible.

 

[jonnysnow]

Thanks for all your thoughts.

For KiloZ, the drive in question WAS able to read other data CD's (and, sorry to be so 20th-century, but I don't have any audio CD's), so I knew it wasn't the drive.

And kiddpete, it turns out that the CD was made by a co-worker down the hall who happens to have the ORIGINAL one from the government agency (which, by the way, reads fine.)

But, Grenage, this was exactly the kind of tip I was looking for!! Something you can really see!

I compared a couple of CD's to look for the marks you mentioned. It looks to me like CD's that really are written on have different shaded sections of concentric circles-- not sure if it's lighter or darker, closer to the center or closer to the edges. They are kind of hard to see, with the holographic colors shining in your face and with such a subtle difference in color. Are these the marks you mean?

And.... sure enough, the one I suspected is blank does NOT seem to have any 'write marks' on it!!
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[Grenage]

Hi again,

Yes those are the marks I mentioned. If the disc has been written to completely (all of the space has been used up) then it can appear blank, the lines are almost indistinguishable when so close to the edge of the disc. The same applies if very little data has been written.

 

[cdogg]

Does it say on the disk whether it's a CD-R or a CD-RW? Rewritable CD's are less compatible in regular CD-ROM drives and have a glossier reflectivity that resembles a DVD (which might explain the difficulty in seeing any written lines).

At this point, it would be best to ask some of these questions to the person who gave it to you.


~cdogg
[tab]"All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind";
[tab][tab]- Aristotle
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[jonnysnow]

Sorry-- the "real life" problem was solved as soon as I found out that my co-worker had the original CD. Figuring out why I couldn't read anything off this weird CD has plummetted from an urgency of 10 to about 0.5. I'm still curious, but life is moving onward fast...

Thanks again for everyone's input!