Have you ever used one of these devices that is meant to buff out the scratches on your cd’s, dvd’s, blu-rays and game discs? I bought one many years ago, I want to say 2002 maybe, but it might have been 2004, I cannot recall. I didn’t buy the hand crank one because the electric one wasn’t that much more expensive, and I figured if I’m going to spend the money, I might as well buy the electric one. Well, that purchase was a big mistake.

Here are 2 dvd-r’s that hold important files for my computer. Can you tell which one has been buffed out? I’ll give you a second. Oh, you can spot it immediately you say? As if I can read your mind before I’ve even published the blog post. Yes, the one on the left has been buffed out. You can tell because the spectrum of the DVD is so pronounced.

This is why the skip doctor is a problem. It’s meant to buff out scratches on the plastic of the disc, but what people don’t realize is that, and you probably can’t see this but the scratches are still there, but that’s not what the problem is. I think the buffing makes the disc unreadable, or harder to read.

I had to buy a new computer last month and I have several backup discs with program files that need to be installed on a new computer. I could, and most of the time I do go to the website because those backup installation files are from 2008, and most of those programs have had several updates, but that’s not the point. My new computer with a new DVD drive/burner couldn’t even read one of the discs, and it did read the other disc 20% of the time, and only allowed me to copy files from that disc to my computer 10% of the time. I spent the entire day yesterday ejecting the disc and pushing it back in so it would continue copying files. Not all of the files were program installation files, some of the files were things I created in those programs, or files I had downloaded to use in those programs. Each program folder also had a text file with the serial number for the program copied and pasted from the email from the program’s website.

Luckily I was able to copy all of the files onto my computer, I skipped over the programs that I bought, but never really used or they are no longer useful because they only worked on Windows XP. Like for example Dudebox which is a program I bought for my Dell DJ so I could copy music with the USB cable. It was an awesome program, but eventually there was an update that didn’t allow me to use that program anymore, and I was forced to start using Sony MediaGo, which is fine by me. I don’t care what program I have to use, as long as there’s a program I CAN use.

A program installation disc is one thing, but what if it was a music CD, a DVD or Blu-Ray movie, or a video game disc? If it can cause such a hassle to be able to copy files on my computer, I can only imagine what problems I would have trying to listen to music, or watch a movie, or play a game. It’s not a good scenario, and I am so fortunate that I keep all my other discs in either their cases or a cd book. The only discs that ever get scratched are the discs I use often and then leave on the desk. If any disc deserves to be respected, it’s the discs I use the most.

That disc doctor is in the closet and hasn’t been used in a very long time, and if I ever find it, I think I will toss it in the trash.