Optical Drives

All of these use the power of silicon processors which are quite small but pack a tremendous punch in terms of data-processing capacity. A variety of software have been written by many companies to leverage the power of the silicon chip and enable us to do many tasks that seemed impossible earlier.

The digital data that these devices generate have to be stored safely somewhere. For this, a wide range of data storage devices today exist in the market. These may have as small a capacity as 1.4 MB (floppy diskette) or awesome data-holding space of 500 GB (portable hard drive). Without question, the most popular removable storage device today is the optical disk.

Optical disks are built around a fantastic and very dependable laser technology. These thin and circular disks with a hole in the middle are made of tough polycarbonate plastic that is difficult to break. They hold data on one side of their surface. All optical disks work with optical drives. The latter have a tray in which the disk is placed and spun wildly by a motor. A read-and-write head hovering above emits a laser beam that “burns” the disk to write data. The laser actually creates a pattern of pits in a single groove that starts from the centre of the disk and goes around in circles, radiating toward its edges.

In this groove, a pit represents one and its absence represents zero. In this way, digital data is recorded and read by a laser beam on an optical disk. These disks are of two types, both of which have a very high capacity. Compact disks (700 MB) represent an older technology while digital video disks are the latest evolution of optical disks and can bold up to 4.6 GB of data.

Optical drives are very tough and can take a lot of abuse. However, there are some precautions that have to be taken while handling them. The biggest one is not allowing their data recording surface to get spoilt or damaged due to scratches, smudges, human finger prints or spilling over of some thick liquid. If this happens, then the pattern of pits which represents digital data will get blurred and the laser will not be able to read it properly, resulting in data loss.

Another thing you have to keep in mind is to keep the disks away from intense heat and direct sunlight. It is best to keep the disks either in the drive or in their plastic carry case. Once you have taken these precautions, the disks can last for years without any problem and safely keep holding your precious data.

There may be many instances, though, where you are unable to read the data off the disk. There are many things you can do in such cases. You should check the disk for surface contamination or damage. It is a good idea to gently clean the disk with a lint-free cloth. While cleaning, always start from the centre of the disk and gently move toward the edge. Do not make circular motions with your hand over the disk surface, otherwise an entire sequence of the data-bearing groove may get scratched. If the disks surface is fine and you cannot discern any hardware damage, then the lens in the drive that emits the laser may have become clouded or dirty. For this, run a cleaner disk in the drive that has brushes on it to wipe the lens clean.

If the disk is still not readable, most probably it is a case of software error. There are many off-the-shelf Do It Yourself (DIY) data recovery software available on the Internet. You can download them onto your computer and try to recover the disk files. These software are quite effective in recovering data from almost all cases of software-related errors, such as accidental deletion of files by the user, virus attack, corruption of file structure and even reformatting of the storage media.

If you are still unable to recover the data from the disk and you want your files back urgently, then the only option left is to approach a professional data-recovery company. These outfits have a team of trained technicians as well as special facilities and infrastructure to recover data from heavily damaged CDs and DVDs. Their charges are quite high because of the delicate and labour-intensive work but if your data is worth a king’s ransom, the professional data-recovery companies do seem like a God-send for users harassed with the loss of their precious files.

James Walsh is a freelance writer and copy editor. If you are concerned about data loss and would like more information on Data Recovery see http://www.fields-data-recovery.co.uk