Data CD cannot be read

Question

I backed up some files on a CD-R data disc,but now I cant get the files to come up.When I open my E drive it says that I can drag and drop files to the folder,but the files already on the disc dont show up in the drive window. E drive shows up in the adress bar but the files don`t display.This was a backup of some of my files (photos and doc.) Is there any way to recover this information?

Answer 1

Hi Joeone1153,

A.      Are you able to read this CD on another computer?

B.      Are other CD’s being read?

Try these steps.

1.       Clean the disc with a soft and clean cloth.

2.       Check the disc for damage.

3.       Try a different disc drive.

Try to copy files from the disc to the hard disk. If the hard disk cannot copy files, the disc might be damaged. If the files are copied successfully, there may be file types on the disc that the hard disk cannot read, or there may be a problem with the CD or DVD drive.Bottom of Form

To test the disc by using a command prompt to copy files, follow these steps:

1. Create a test folder on the hard disk, and then give the folder a folder name such as "cdtest." This is the folder to which you will try to copy files.
2. Click Start, and type cmd in the start search box.
3. Right click on cmd from the top of the menu and choose the option Run as administrator.
4. Copy the files from the CD or DVD drive to the test folder on the hard disk. To do this, type xcopy DiscDrive:\*.* HardDiskDrive:\cdtest /v /e at the command prompt, and then press ENTER. Make sure that you replace “cdtest” with the name of your test folder.

Note In this step, DiscDrive is the drive letter of the CD or DVD drive with which you have problems. HardDiskDrive is the drive letter of the hard disk drive to which you want to copy these files. 5. If you are asked whether cdtest specifies a file name or a directory name, press F. 6. If you successfully copied the files from the disc to the hard disk, the disc is not damaged. To remove the copied files, type rd /s cdtest at the command prompt, and then press ENTER.

If you cannot copy the files, the disc may be damaged. Contact the manufacturer of the damaged disc to obtain a replacement.

Regards,

Bindu S -- Microsoft Support

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