How to Clean a CD Drive

All computer owners should know how to clean a CD drive. All of your systems components need to be properly cleaned and your CD drive is one of the most used ones. It is very frustrating to try to use your CD drive and to run into problems in doing so. Your CD drive needs cleaning if you are having any problems such as your CDs are not recognized by your computer when you put one in, the read time is longer than it should be or you experience repeating (or skipping) when you play your CDs. All of these are signs of a dirty CD drive that should be cleaned. If you experience any of them, you should use the following steps to learn how to clean a CD drive. The process is easy and can be accomplished in a short amount of time.

Things You'll Need

• Can of compressed air OR air bulb
• CD cleaning disc (kit)

Instructions

1. Determine the real problem. You must first establish if the problem is your CD drive or the CD disc. If you have any of the previously mentioned problems with your CD drive, try another CD in the drive. If the new CD works fine, it was probably the CD that you tried that was dirty and not the actual CD drive. You should then clean the CD disc and try it again. If the new CD does not work, then you should clean your CD drive as detailed in the following steps.

2. Turn off your system and unplug it. Use the can of compressed air or air bulb to gently blow particles out of the CD drive. If you use canned air be sure you hold the can upright to prevent the liquefied gas from damaging your CD's lens. It is better to use small, quick air burst than longer ones. Try the CD again to see if this cleared up the problem.

3. Use a specifically designed cleaning disc for computer CD drives only if you are still experiencing problems after steps 1 and 2. Follow the directions provided with the CD cleaning disc. Most of these CD cleaning disc (kits) are actually designed for audio CD players that spin slower than CD drives on computers so use them cautiously.

Tips & Warnings

• It is better to not overclean a CD drive, but to wait until you experience problems before you actually clean it. The lens on your CD drive is very sensitive

• Do not blow into the CD drive with your mouth, since this will not clean the drive and small particles from doing this may damage the CD drives lens.

• If you follow all of the steps provided and still have problems, you should probably have a professional clean the CD drive.