How often to clean a CD/DVD drive?

[SavageAmusement]

OKay quickie here..


Back in the day of cds, and cdroms and when I first got into playstation-
I bought "lens cleaning discs"
some were discs that had a little brush and so on-
some you sprtized some stuff and put it in.

In the years since, I have slacked in such things

How often SHOULD you clean lasers.

Thinking about it, between burners, duplicators, cd players, dvd players, playstation and so on I am surrounded by such things
Is there a maintenance? or schedule to these to keep hem clean and working well.

[lordsmurf]

Those brushes ruin disc assemblies, laser lenses, and otherwise just smear mess in the drive. You do better to dismantle drives with a screwdriver, swipe an alcohol-soaked (isopropyl) swab across it, and put it back together again.

Do it when it acts up only. At most, every 6 months. Sometimes you can get away with a couple of years. Almost never the lifetime of the unit.

Non-smokers and those living in non-desert areas have to do it less.