An Overlooked Problem when it comes to CDs and DVD Games

[oldgamerz]

A lot of people worry about scratches, but if you take care of your game they won't happen but warping will. I just had one of my most expensive games go to waste do to warping and now I need a replacement.

if your game is not working or loading I want to tell you It could be warped and I know how to tell if it is. first you need 2 things a light and the game itself. hold your CD/DVD up against the light while looking on the silver or black side of the CD. if you see any light shining threw the CD/DVD like a little white piece on the silver side. than your games life has just ended and you need a replacement (even if it still works) sometimes a game maybe warped and still work up to a certain point where the console try to find data on the missing top of the CD. most times when a CD warps it loses top side of the disc instead of the shiny stuff never scrape the top or bottom of a CD especially the top park because if the top gets a hole then the whole game is shot.

Again I love to hear your thoughts and experience on warping CDs/DVD video games

[ignition365]

The term you are looking for is disc rot.

Disc rot RARELY happens when discs are properly stored.  I've never seen a single case of disc rot where the user stored the disc consistently in a proper environment.  (i.e. not outdoors, not someplace extremely hot or cold, not in direct sunlight, etc.)

[rayne315]

I thought I was going to come into this tread seeing a disc with a ~1mm bend in it kind of like old records. but yeah what you are describing is disc rot as ignition says. the causes for it seem to range from improper storage to more commonly manufacturing errors like a small amount of water (way less than a drop) getting onto the disc before the foil gets applied. this will cause the foil to eventually deteriorate making the little holes you speak of.

[tripredacus]

I have no yet found myself to own any disc with actual disc rot. When it comes to actual manufacturing errors, I have only had discs that experience bronzing.

Disc Rot itself seems fairly uncommon, as it is only widely known to have effected pressed CDs and LaserDiscs from a specific plant in England in the early 90s. Disc Rot has no bearing on how the disc is stored, as it occurs within the sealed layer of the disc.

I would check the top layer for defects. The top layer on most discs also provide a reflective surface. A lot of CD or DVD lasers will have problems if portions of this are removed, even if it is just a single whole or larger patches, even though the data layer itself is still good and free of defect. I have experienced top layer deterioration on various formats such as Marvel vs Capcom on Dreamcast, some Sega CD games, music CDs, etc.

Disc warping is a thing, but I have not seen a slightly warped disc have a problem being read. The worst you would get from an actual warped disc is that it will physically break at some point during the spin, due to it not being balanced.

[oldgamerz]

The term you are looking for is disc rot.

Disc rot RARELY happens when discs are properly stored.  I've never seen a single case of disc rot where the user stored the disc consistently in a proper environment.  (i.e. not outdoors, not someplace extremely hot or cold, not in direct sunlight, etc.)

Yea I live in a basement but all my CD's are put away in proper cases, including the one I lost. I live in a cold part of the united states this time of year and a few weeks ago I lost all heating for 6 days in my home and everything was cold. My other games are ok it is just this one, I always had problem with disc rot  but usally it is because I didn't have then in a proper case. my main problem is even when I have heat the CD's still feel cold and then in worse cases It becomes wet inside the case due to the humidity on my home. I live in a high humid state year around and with extreme weather both hot and cold.

[badATchaos]

I despise the term rot in the context of technology. Data rot, disk rot. Simply put; inorganic materials do not rot. Things can corrode, erode, demagnetize, burn-out, short-out, or otherwise break; but they do not rot.

[shepard11]

The term you are looking for is disc rot.

Disc rot RARELY happens when discs are properly stored.  I've never seen a single case of disc rot where the user stored the disc consistently in a proper environment.  (i.e. not outdoors, not someplace extremely hot or cold, not in direct sunlight, etc.)

Yea I live in a basement but all my CD's are put away in proper cases, including the one I lost. I live in a cold part of the united states this time of year and a few weeks ago I lost all heating for 6 days in my home and everything was cold. My other games are ok it is just this one, I always had problem with disc rot  but usally it is because I didn't have then in a proper case. my main problem is even when I have heat the CD's still feel cold and then in worse cases It becomes wet inside the case due to the humidity on my home. I live in a high humid state year around and with extreme weather both hot and cold.

Sounds a normal day in Ohio. I've only had Disc Rot happen once and it was on one of my imported JP PS1 games.

[burningdoom]

I store my stuff in my garage, and I still haven't come across any disc rot *knocks on wood*. They are all in cases and shelved, though.

I really don't think temperature has much to do with it.

[oldgamerz]

I store my stuff in my garage, and I still haven't come across any disc rot *knocks on wood*. They are all in cases and shelved, though.

I really don't think temperature has much to do with it.

I wouldn't continue to leave then in a hot and cold garage. I guess if you live someplace dry year around with no humidity it might take longer to lose it's paint I suppose. in fact I think that cold is worse than heat so if you live let say in Texas or somewhere in the desert you have a better chance at keeping all you discs safer but I still would not store them in a garage. Larry Bundy a UK based YouTube lost a vast majority his collection due to leaving the games in a leaky shed. water crept in and destroyed all his CIB games and Saturn Games as well. but then again if you live in Texas you then you probably deal with tornado's in which can rip a garage apart easier than your home at average. or maybe you live in one of those houses with the garage attached to the house than I can understand why you not having these issues but be careful in damp enviroments

[burningdoom]

I store my stuff in my garage, and I still haven't come across any disc rot *knocks on wood*. They are all in cases and shelved, though.

I really don't think temperature has much to do with it.

I wouldn't continue to leave then in a hot and cold garage. I guess if you live someplace dry year around with no humidity it might take longer to lose it's paint I suppose. in fact I think that cold is worse than heat so if you live let say in Texas or somewhere in the desert you have a better chance at keeping all you discs safer but I still would not store them in a garage. Larry Bundy a UK based YouTube lost a vast majority his collection due to leaving the games in a leaky shed. water crept in and destroyed all his CIB games and Saturn Games as well. but then again if you live in Texas you then you probably deal with tornado's in which can rip a garage apart easier than your home at average. or maybe you live in one of those houses with the garage attached to the house than I can understand why you not having these issues but be careful in damp enviroments

Been at this for years. Also collect movies and music (CDs, cassettes, DVD, VHS, you name it), and I have a large comic collection.

All of it is in the garage and has been for a long time. All of it is in the shape found it in, too. But I do keep them all in their cases, sleeves, plastics, whatever may apply. And they're shelved, not boxed away in some pile of stuff or anything.

I live in a mild, but seasonal place. Northern California. Gets real hot in summer, into the 110s. And as low as the 30s to 40s in winter. Average rainfall in winter and spring, we rarely have snow. My garage is my man-cave, so I'm in it a lot, too. So the fact that I occupy the space somewhat often and run a portable heater or cooler as needed might help, too.

[thecrypticodor]

Disc rot is rare outside of Laser Disc's and very early CD pressing from certain manufacturing plants in the early to mid 80’s. I’ve actually acquired a CD this year from a Goodwill which had a huge amount of disc rot.

How's this for disc rot. Disc 1 from The Rolling Stones Hot Rocks CD I found at a Goodwill. The other disc had it too but not nearly as bad.

[tripredacus]

Disc rot is rare outside of Laser Disc's and very early CD pressing from certain manufacturing plants in the early to mid 80’s. I’ve actually acquired a CD this year from a Goodwill which had a huge amount of disc rot.

How's this for disc rot. Disc 1 from The Rolling Stones Hot Rocks CD I found at a Goodwill. The other disc had it too but not nearly as bad.

That's not disc rot. That is what I described with the top reflective layer (or artwork) coming off. This occurs with CDs because the top printed layer is the reflective layer. Unlike DVDs or newer formats that have plastic above the reflective layer.
Disc rot looks like this:

or

[thecrypticodor]

That's not disc rot. That is what I described with the top reflective layer (or artwork) coming off. This occurs with CDs because the top printed layer is the reflective layer. Unlike DVDs or newer formats that have plastic above the reflective layer.
Disc rot looks like this:

This is most certainly disc rot. Nothing was peeling off you can scrape the top of the disc with your fingernail and it was completely smooth.

The reflective layer is not on the top side of the disc it is sandwiched in the middle. Disc rot happens when the reflective layer due to manufacturing error is not sealed completely. Exposure to air causes the reflective layer to oxidize. If there is no reflective layer than the laser has nothing to reflect off of.

[sworddude]

Later cd's are less effected by weather condition.

Sega dreamcast but especially sega saturn and mega cd have the highest % chance of getting disc rot. Discs were not as durable. Sega cd based consoles were not made out of high quality pretty cheap production cost thanks to their many losses. Ps1 however has been made with lots of quality wich results in them being really durable and way less chances of disc rot compared to sega.

I have not seen any discs with disc rot yet however I can imagine that there is a higher chance when purchasing these games at a fleamarket or garage sale since it is not uncommon that the stuff they sell is stored in a shed etc.

If you have older sega cd based games I would think twice before storing them in a garage especially since there are many expensive games for these systems.

[ffxik]

For me I look at the degradation of the top layer in two ways.  I have dealt with disc rot, and it's not as common as it would seem.  Label damage from neglect is usually the culprit.  Discs not being stored properly, via being left out or using a mass CD binder to store them.  When not in use back in the case.  I haven't any problems with mine, save the few I happen to buy second hand that I either miss a tiny area upon inspection or can't inspect until I buy and hope everything's okay.

I used to store CDs in mass binders since it was more convenient to just flip through them.  I noticed that repeated removal of the discs were scratching the backs.  Then I noticed that if your not very careful when flipping through the pages the force of the CDs slamming into each other would damage the top layer.  After replacing a few video games and albums I decided that was enough of that.