digitalFAQ.com Forum - CD with tapeworm looking damage

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Quote:

Originally Posted by WenikiTiki

Hi! I was researching what is happening with my CD collection. I have several different sets of Time Life collections. And my oldest set has what looks like tapeworms eating away at the edges. Other CD's I own, which have been treated the same are fine. I live in Hawaii, pretty much in the rainforest. I heard it is rare, but darn I know what I'm seeing, and hearing is damage to my CD's.

What is the best thing to do for/about this? Isolate them? I see some posts you wrote saying it is rare, but disgusting. No kidding, what would you do if you were me?

And yes, I won't complain about living in Hawaii. We are sort of stuck here, but there are far worst places to get stuck!
Thanks,
Wendy

That's just awful. :(

Nasty little tapeworms. Yuck. :mad:

The best thing for you to do is to really invest in a good backup policy. By that, I mean to keep copies of all your data/video/audio redundantly, both on extra discs and on hard drives.

What you should do is this:

1. Recover the audio from the CD using CD / DVD recovery software or, since it's audio, possibly using a music ripper program like EAC. Download it at http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/en/inde...rces/download/

I realize that some of the music will be ruined. There's nothing you can do about this, aside from replacing the CD with a new one.

2. Keep a copy on a hard drive. I suggest leaving a copy of the music either as WAV or MP3, and then possibly saving an ISO image of the disc. Since this is music, and not data, you have more options. For data, you'd save as ISO.

3. Make new CDs, at least two of each. Use good discs, too. Look for well-sealed media, preferably name-branded discs. I'd look for some Verbatim CD-R, if you can get them. For even better backups, use two different types of discs. Not just different "brands" necessarily, but try for discs from two totally different manufacturers.

There's also a chance your CD burner is "infected" with the bacteria. I don't really know for sure. It may be spreading from disc to disc due to the location/method it's being stored, or even due to the reader/players that you use.

Nature is all over the place. You have moisture, I have high spore/pollen count and dust. Everybody has something environmental. Keeping plenty of backups, in several locations, on several different medias, is the best we can do.

Good luck. :)