It can be annoying to find that a magazine's cover disk or some other CD ROM disk won't work properly in your drive. There are a couple of common reasons for this problem:-

1. The disk is unbalanced
Over the last five years the normal speed of CD ROM drives has increased ten-fold. It only takes a slight amount of unbalance in a CD ROM disk to produce a high speed "wobble" which the read head can't follow. This can be caused, for example, by the disk label being slightly off centre, or even by there being more printing ink on one part of a printed label
In practice there's nothing much you can do about removing a label or removing ink - more than likely you would ruin the disk. However, sometimes the imbalance can be compensated for, by placing a small amount of adhesive tape on the part of the label which needs some added weight. The idea is to start with a fairly small piece, and to place it initially near the centre of the disk where it has least effect. Make sure it is firmly stuck down (so it doesn't fly off somewhere inside the drive), and see if this helps.
Ironically, this is a problem more likely to occur with the newer, faster CD ROM drives. People with older, slower drives are less likely to be affected.

2 A dirty or Dusty Lens
CD ROM drives read the data on the disk by means of an optical laser beam and lens system.
If your computer operates in a smoky or dusty atmosphere, the lens can gradually become coated with dust or smoke products. It is not usually feasible to dismantle a CD ROM drive to clean the lens, but you can buy special cleaning disks which will sometimes improve things. A cleaning disk looks like a normal CD ROM disk, but has a small row of soft brush bristles attached to the data surface of the disk. The bristles will brush gently against the surface of the lens when the drive is operated. It's important to read the instructions supplied with the cleaning disk, and to follow them carefully.

(By the way, cleaning disks can also be obtained for cleaning floppy drive heads, although they work in a different manner).

Should you regularly clean your CD ROM drive, and floppy drive?

My opinion is No! - "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" However, if you're having problems with a floppy drive, or CD ROM drive a cleaning disk might help, and you've nothing much to lose if the drive is already giving problems.
John Selby

* * *

First Printed in SNN Newsletter October 2001