I my brother in law recently died and while cleaning out his house, we
found a CD that I had made for him 24 years ago. It was found in the
case that I had made for it, and the disk appears to have no damage.

What are the chances to recover the data on the CD. When inserted in
the player the bad disk warning comes up. When you open the disk in
File explorer, it shows the directories, and list the files in the
directory. However they will not open nor can you copy them.

Is it absolutely toast?

On 19/03/2024 12:24, knuttle wrote:
> I my brother in law recently died and while cleaning out his house, we
> found a CD that I had made for him 24 years ago.  It was found in the
> case that I had made for it, and the disk appears to have no damage.
>
> What are the chances to recover the data on the CD.  When inserted in
> the player the bad disk warning comes up.   When you open the disk in
> File explorer, it shows the directories, and list the files in the
> directory.  However they will not open nor can you copy them.
>
> Is it absolutely toast?

Probably, but it may be worth trying it in as many CD players as you can
find, because the sensitivity may vary.
--
Cheers,
Roger

On 3/19/24 08:24 AM, knuttle wrote:
> I my brother in law recently died and while cleaning out his house, we found a CD that I had made
> for him 24 years ago.  It was found in the case that I had made for it, and the disk appears to have
> no damage.
>
> What are the chances to recover the data on the CD.  When inserted in the player the bad disk
> warning comes up.   When you open the disk in File explorer, it shows the directories, and list the
> files in the directory.  However they will not open nor can you copy them.
>
> Is it absolutely toast?Have you looked at file permissions?
--
Linux Mint 21.3 Cinnamon 6.0.4
Al

knuttle wrote:

>Is it absolutely toast?

You could probably try to read it using the Dvdisaster software.

-jw-

--

And now for something completely different...

On 03/19/2024 11:04 AM, Big Al wrote:
> On 3/19/24 08:24 AM, knuttle wrote:
>> I my brother in law recently died and while cleaning out his house, we
>> found a CD that I had made for him 24 years ago.  It was found in the
>> case that I had made for it, and the disk appears to have no damage.
>>
>> What are the chances to recover the data on the CD.  When inserted in
>> the player the bad disk warning comes up.   When you open the disk in
>> File explorer, it shows the directories, and list the files in the
>> directory.  However they will not open nor can you copy them.
>>
>> Is it absolutely toast?Have you looked at file permissions?
Having created the CD, the files have the standard permissions.

On 3/19/2024 8:24 AM, knuttle wrote:
> I my brother in law recently died and while cleaning out his house, we found a CD that I had made for him 24 years ago.  It was found in the case that I had made for it, and the disk appears to have no damage.
>
> What are the chances to recover the data on the CD.  When inserted in the player the bad disk warning comes up.   When you open the disk in File explorer, it shows the directories, and list the files in the directory.  However they will not open nor can you copy them.
>
> Is it absolutely toast?

Use Imgburn, to convert the CD back to an ISO.

https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/imgburn.html

[Picture]

https://i.postimg.cc/VkdMcH7S/imgburn-CDto-ISO.gif

If it was a CD-RW, it might have "gone transparent".

It might work better if it was a CD-R (write once) instead.

I had some Memorex CD-RW that went transparent. Took about
three months, and, without direct sunlight. It wasn't like
the media was abused. One of the discs failed chemically so
bad, that the polycarbonate disc ended up completely
transparent, with no evidence it was ever a CD.

If the drive cannot find the spiral groove, this is generally
the reason a disc won't be readable at all. The Reed Solomon error
correction, can otherwise correct a lot of errors, as long
as the drive can follow the groove and make an attempt to
get the data.

*******

To read media details, you can use Linux and disktype.
Nobody has ever ported disktype to Windows, so no
native version exists. But it is available as a Cygwin
program (for running in Windows) and that is what I use
here.

sudo disktype /dev/cdrom

It can also check an ISO file, if you make an ISO file from the media.

disktype somename.iso

and the results should then more or less match, in terms of detection.

If I check a Windows 10 installation DVD right now, with the
Cygwin (Windows) disktype, it goes like this. (This is a Hybrid disc with
a lot of overlays.) There is no mention of Rock Ridge, so it
probably does not support permissions.

D:\> disktype.exe Win10_22H2_English_x64v1.iso

--- Win10_22H2_English_x64v1.iso
Regular file, size 5.719 GiB (6140975104 bytes)
UDF file system
Sector size 2048 bytes
Volume name "<5500><4400><4600><2000><5600><6F00><6C00><7500><6D00><6500>" <=== UDF Volume
UDF version 1.02
ISO9660 file system
Volume name "CCCOMA_X64FRE_EN-US_DV9"
Publisher "MICROSOFT CORPORATION"
Preparer "MICROSOFT CORPORATION, ONE MICROSOFT WAY, REDMOND WA 98052, (425) 882-8080"
Application "CDIMAGE 2.56 (01/01/2005 TM)"
Data size 5.719 GiB (6140975104 bytes, 2998523 blocks of 2 KiB)
El Torito boot record, catalog at 22
Bootable non-emulated image, starts at 514, preloads 4 KiB
Platform 0x00 (x86), System Type 0x00 (Empty)
Bootable non-emulated image, starts at 516, preloads 512 bytes
Platform 0xEF (EFI), System Type 0x00 (Empty)
Windows / MS-DOS boot loader
FAT12 file system (hints score 5 of 5)
Volume size 1.390 MiB (1457664 bytes, 2847 clusters of 512 bytes)
Volume name "EFISECTOR"

I don't have a Drag and Drop burn handy, from the WinXP era,
and all I can suggest, is the format will be a lot simpler.

If it was UDF, and not ISO (unlikely), you'd start by
reading Wikipedia about UDF. Apparently, modern Windows
supports all versions. Older Windows was pretty picky.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Disk_Format

UDF can even be used on hard drives (as a way to annoy
people), instead of using FAT32, ExFAT, or NTFS.

Summary: I doubt you'll get a clean ISO using Imgburn, and
the disc is likely severely damaged in some way
(chemical failure, groove gone). Imgburn will tell you
some sort of story while trying to read it. Reed Solomon
is only for discs that are "functional". A "magic program"
cannot do any better, as Reed Solomon is the magical part
of optical media. Only if the drive was doing 2D error
correction, and a magic program raw-read and applied 3D error
correction, might the results be different. And this still
assumes the groove is working. If the groove is not present,
there is no recovery. The fact you can see files, means there
is hope. That's a real good sign.

You can extract all the files from an ISO file (the output of Imgburn),
using 7ZIP. That's in case, right-clicking the ISO and selecting
Open, did not give a readable or copy-able media. When Imgburn is installed,
the Mount verb in the Context Menu goes missing, and then you resort
to Open instead.

Paul

knuttle wrote:
> I my brother in law recently died and while cleaning out his house, we
> found a CD that I had made for him 24 years ago.  It was found in the
> case that I had made for it, and the disk appears to have no damage.
>
> What are the chances to recover the data on the CD.  When inserted in
> the player the bad disk warning comes up.   When you open the disk in
> File explorer, it shows the directories, and list the files in the
> directory.  However they will not open nor can you copy them.
>
> Is it absolutely toast?
Stick with it. If today's File Explorer immediately found the indexes,
and the indexes were fully readable, yet the files refuse to open, then
it's just a matter of finding something to read those files.
We need all the info you can give us about those files. Is Properties
accessible? How large are they? Do you have any recollection at all
about them and their contents? Text files? Images?
Ed

Ed Cryer <ed@somewhere.in.the.uk> wrote:
> knuttle wrote:
> > I my brother in law recently died and while cleaning out his house, we
> > found a CD that I had made for him 24 years ago.  It was found in the
> > case that I had made for it, and the disk appears to have no damage.
> >
> > What are the chances to recover the data on the CD.  When inserted in
> > the player the bad disk warning comes up.   When you open the disk in
> > File explorer, it shows the directories, and list the files in the
> > directory.  However they will not open nor can you copy them.
> >
> > Is it absolutely toast?
>
> Stick with it. If today's File Explorer immediately found the indexes,
> and the indexes were fully readable, yet the files refuse to open, then
> it's just a matter of finding something to read those files.

Agreed, but *copying* them should be possible and Keith says he can't,
but he also did not say which exact error(s?) he got.

> We need all the info you can give us about those files. Is Properties
> accessible? How large are they? Do you have any recollection at all
> about them and their contents? Text files? Images?

Properties will still only look at the 'index' area of the CD, but
it's certainly worth a shot.

Frank Slootweg wrote:
> Ed Cryer <ed@somewhere.in.the.uk> wrote:
>> knuttle wrote:
>>> I my brother in law recently died and while cleaning out his house, we
>>> found a CD that I had made for him 24 years ago.  It was found in the
>>> case that I had made for it, and the disk appears to have no damage.
>>>
>>> What are the chances to recover the data on the CD.  When inserted in
>>> the player the bad disk warning comes up.   When you open the disk in
>>> File explorer, it shows the directories, and list the files in the
>>> directory.  However they will not open nor can you copy them.
>>>
>>> Is it absolutely toast?
>>
>> Stick with it. If today's File Explorer immediately found the indexes,
>> and the indexes were fully readable, yet the files refuse to open, then
>> it's just a matter of finding something to read those files.
>
> Agreed, but *copying* them should be possible and Keith says he can't,
> but he also did not say which exact error(s?) he got.
>
>> We need all the info you can give us about those files. Is Properties
>> accessible? How large are they? Do you have any recollection at all
>> about them and their contents? Text files? Images?
>
> Properties will still only look at the 'index' area of the CD, but
> it's certainly worth a shot.
I think there's no doubt those files are recoverable; judging from what
he's told us so far. The disc appears fully readable, no visible defects.
Even today you find similar cases; files unreadable for some reason.
Maybe encrypted. Maybe with a password. Maybe in a RAW data format.
Maybe with an extension that the Win system has nothing to handle.
Before we start advising the OP to use hex examiners, or binary data
recorders, let's suppose there's some available software that can get
straight into the stuff.
Ed
You

On 3/19/2024 3:25 PM, Ed Cryer wrote:
> Frank Slootweg wrote:
>> Ed Cryer <ed@somewhere.in.the.uk> wrote:
>>> knuttle wrote:
>>>> I my brother in law recently died and while cleaning out his house, we
>>>> found a CD that I had made for him 24 years ago.  It was found in the
>>>> case that I had made for it, and the disk appears to have no damage.
>>>>
>>>> What are the chances to recover the data on the CD.  When inserted in
>>>> the player the bad disk warning comes up.   When you open the disk in
>>>> File explorer, it shows the directories, and list the files in the
>>>> directory.  However they will not open nor can you copy them.
>>>>
>>>> Is it absolutely toast?
>>>
>>> Stick with it. If today's File Explorer immediately found the indexes,
>>> and the indexes were fully readable, yet the files refuse to open, then
>>> it's just a matter of finding something to read those files.
>>
>>    Agreed, but *copying* them should be possible and Keith says he can't,
>> but he also did not say which exact error(s?) he got.
>>
>>> We need all the info you can give us about those files. Is Properties
>>> accessible? How large are they? Do you have any recollection at all
>>> about them and their contents? Text files? Images?
>>
>>    Properties will still only look at the 'index' area of the CD, but
>> it's certainly worth a shot.
>
> I think there's no doubt those files are recoverable; judging from what he's told us so far. The disc appears fully readable, no visible defects.
>
> Even today you find similar cases; files unreadable for some reason. Maybe encrypted. Maybe with a password. Maybe in a RAW data format. Maybe with an extension that the Win system has nothing to handle.
>
> Before we start advising the OP to use hex examiners, or binary data recorders, let's suppose there's some available software that can get straight into the stuff.
>
> Ed

Well, let's say the directory information for the entire disc, is
at the beginning of the disc, instead of spread across it like
a conventional file system. It could be that the directory area is
readable, but other parts are not.

But if that was the case, you might get some SCSI like "sense error"
codes coming back from the drive. These can be seen in Imgburn
sometimes (which is why I'd try to make an ISO9660 from the disc
using IMGBurn, because of its good device handling).

Any audible symptoms (hunting, extreme latency before it
fails to copy), could indicate the information cannot
be copied because it is physically inaccessible.

There is an error rate of errors, where the Reed Solomon cannot
deal with the number of errors. But generally, if this was
happening, the tracking of the groove would fail. You could have
a case where the error rate really is that high >10^4 , in which
case the 2KByte sectors could return the equivalent of CRC errors
(not correctable).

Rough set of conditions for optical media:

Cannot find groove ??? (Drive CPU goes crazy... stuck in loop, no sense code)
Not correctable ??? Potential sense code, groove still OK
High error rate 10**4 Can be corrected without telling you

Always has errors! ==> 10 Good discs are around 10
Error rate 0 Maybe a pressed disc is this good (low jitter)

There is the possibility the problem is related to "Multi-Session"
and "Closing Sessions", but I don't know anything about that aspect.
Even without a session closed, something should still be readable
as far as I know. Again, IMGBurn knows a lot about the state of
what you feed it, and can present dialogs if some abnormal
condition is detected.

Paul

On 03/19/2024 3:25 PM, Ed Cryer wrote:
> Frank Slootweg wrote:
>> Ed Cryer <ed@somewhere.in.the.uk> wrote:
>>> knuttle wrote:
>>>> I my brother in law recently died and while cleaning out his house, we
>>>> found a CD that I had made for him 24 years ago.  It was found in the
>>>> case that I had made for it, and the disk appears to have no damage.
>>>>
>>>> What are the chances to recover the data on the CD.  When inserted in
>>>> the player the bad disk warning comes up.   When you open the disk in
>>>> File explorer, it shows the directories, and list the files in the
>>>> directory.  However they will not open nor can you copy them.
>>>>
>>>> Is it absolutely toast?
>>>
>>> Stick with it. If today's File Explorer immediately found the indexes,
>>> and the indexes were fully readable, yet the files refuse to open, then
>>> it's just a matter of finding something to read those files.
>>
>>    Agreed, but *copying* them should be possible and Keith says he can't,
>> but he also did not say which exact error(s?) he got.
>>
>>> We need all the info you can give us about those files. Is Properties
>>> accessible? How large are they? Do you have any recollection at all
>>> about them and their contents? Text files? Images?
>>
>>    Properties will still only look at the 'index' area of the CD, but
>> it's certainly worth a shot.
>
> I think there's no doubt those files are recoverable; judging from what
> he's told us so far. The disc appears fully readable, no visible defects.
>
> Even today you find similar cases; files unreadable for some reason.
> Maybe encrypted. Maybe with a password. Maybe in a RAW data format.
> Maybe with an extension that the Win system has nothing to handle.
>
> Before we start advising the OP to use hex examiners, or binary data
> recorders, let's suppose there's some available software that can get
> straight into the stuff.
>
> Ed
>
> YouI have not been able to do anything with it yet.
No password. Some files are TXT, some HTML, some jpg. I don't think
there are any other formats. There are the standard permissions, and
it is on a write once read many disk.

knuttle <keith_nuttle@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I my brother in law recently died and while cleaning out his house, we
> found a CD that I had made for him 24 years ago. It was found in the
> case that I had made for it, and the disk appears to have no damage.
>
> What are the chances to recover the data on the CD. When inserted in
> the player the bad disk warning comes up. When you open the disk in
> File explorer, it shows the directories, and list the files in the
> directory. However they will not open nor can you copy them.
>
> Is it absolutely toast?

No. I would definitely try different drives. In years gone by I regularly
experienced different drives having different abilities to read CDs.

Also if you have linux installed, try that. I used to be more reliable.

If you're using an internal laptop drive get an external USB drive and try
that.

On 19/03/2024 12:24, knuttle wrote:
> I my brother in law recently died and while cleaning out his house, we
> found a CD that I had made for him 24 years ago.  It was found in the
> case that I had made for it, and the disk appears to have no damage.
>
> What are the chances to recover the data on the CD.  When inserted in
> the player the bad disk warning comes up.   When you open the disk in
> File explorer, it shows the directories, and list the files in the
> directory.  However they will not open nor can you copy them.
>
> Is it absolutely toast?

Don't know how many of these are still viable.

File recovery from damaged files/cd

Bad Cd/Dvd Reader - http://www.aivsoft.com/downloads/
CD Check - http://www.kvipu.com/CDCheck/
CDFixer (via lan) - http://shodan.ru/
CD Reader - http://www.topshareware.com/CD-Reader-download-36680.htm
CD Recover - http://www.adrianboeing.com/tools.html
CD Recovery - http://www.prvsoft.com/
CD Recovery Toolbox - http://www.oemailrecovery.com/
- http://www.snapfiles.com/get/cdrecovery.html
CHK-Mate - http://www.diydatarecovery.nl/download.htm
- FileCHK (Martin Kratz) - http://www.ericphelps.com/uncheck/
- UnCHK (Eric Phelps) - http://www.ericphelps.com/uncheck/
Copy Cat - http://vcsoftwares.com/cc.html
CopyFat - http://www.abhishekchatterjee.com/?p=15
Copy it Anyway -
http://www.freewr.com/freeware.php?download=copy-it-anyway&lid=2035
Corrupt DOCX Salvager (was Damaged DOCX2TXT) -
http://sourceforge.net/projects/damageddocx2txt/
Damaged Doc2Txt (doc file recovery) - see Corrupt DOCX Salvager
Data Retriever - http://zsoftwares.googlepages.com/DataRetriever.htm
Ddrescue - http://www.gnu.org/software/ddrescue/ddrescue.html
Dead Disk Doctor - http://www.deaddiskdoctor.com/index.php?q=1
DvDisaster (save error data) - http://dvdisaster.net/en/
Emsa Disk Check - http://www.e-systems.ro/diskcheck.htm
EnCopy - http://www.micware.110mb.com/micp.htm
Exact Audio Copy - http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/
FileSalvage - http://www.softella.com/fsalv/index.en.htm
Greenfish DataMiner - http://greenfish.xtreemhost.com/downloads.php
Ice Ecc - http://www.ice-graphics.com/ICEECC/IndexE.html
Indisc Recovery - http://www.octanesoft.com/products.html
ISO Puzzle - http://members.aon.at/marsoupilami/IsoPuzzle.htm
ISO Puzzle - http://www.videohelp.com/Tools/IsoPuzzle
-
http://www.softpedia.com/get/CD-DVD-Tools/CD-DVD-Images-Utils/IsoPuzzle.shtml
Jfile Recovery - http://www.jfilerecovery.com/
Puran Data Recovery - https://www.puransoftware.com/Data-Recovery.html
Recovery Toolbox for Cd - http://www.recoverytoolbox.com/help_cd.html
Scratch Copy - http://www.asperus.com/products.html
Scratched DVD Copy - http://www.effectmatrix.com/
Unstoppable Copier - http://www.roadkil.net/datarecovery.html
ZipRec - http://sourceforge.net/projects/ziprec/

Good luck

--
Regards
wasbit

On Tue, 19 Mar 2024 14:07:47 +0000, Roger Mills
<mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

>On 19/03/2024 12:24, knuttle wrote:
>> I my brother in law recently died and while cleaning out his house, we
>> found a CD that I had made for him 24 years ago.  It was found in the
>> case that I had made for it, and the disk appears to have no damage.
>>
>> What are the chances to recover the data on the CD.  When inserted in
>> the player the bad disk warning comes up.   When you open the disk in
>> File explorer, it shows the directories, and list the files in the
>> directory.  However they will not open nor can you copy them.
>>
>> Is it absolutely toast?
>
>
>Probably, but it may be worth trying it in as many CD players as you can
>find, because the sensitivity may vary.

It's a long shot but if you have a Blu-ray player or player-writer,
that might read it better.

Alternatively, if it's worth the effort, take it to a local repair
shop. This may cost a few quid but they know lots about stuff like
this.
Cleaning the CD with soapy water might help. Soft cloth, nothing
abrasive. That has helped me a few times when fingerprints have
scattered the lasers. Make sure it's dry before trying to read it.

Or you could use a Unixy tool to *copy* the disc to some platform
then try to read the copy.

hth

J.

knuttle <keith_nuttle@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On 03/19/2024 3:25 PM, Ed Cryer wrote:
> > Frank Slootweg wrote:
> >> Ed Cryer <ed@somewhere.in.the.uk> wrote:
> >>> knuttle wrote:
> >>>> I my brother in law recently died and while cleaning out his house, we
> >>>> found a CD that I had made for him 24 years ago.  It was found in the
> >>>> case that I had made for it, and the disk appears to have no damage.
> >>>>
> >>>> What are the chances to recover the data on the CD.  When inserted in
> >>>> the player the bad disk warning comes up.   When you open the disk in
> >>>> File explorer, it shows the directories, and list the files in the
> >>>> directory.  However they will not open nor can you copy them.
> >>>>
> >>>> Is it absolutely toast?
> >>>^M
> >>> Stick with it. If today's File Explorer immediately found the indexes,
> >>> and the indexes were fully readable, yet the files refuse to open, then
> >>> it's just a matter of finding something to read those files.
> >>
> >>    Agreed, but *copying* them should be possible and Keith says he can't,
> >> but he also did not say which exact error(s?) he got.
> >>
> >>> We need all the info you can give us about those files. Is Properties
> >>> accessible? How large are they? Do you have any recollection at all
> >>> about them and their contents? Text files? Images?
> >>
> >>    Properties will still only look at the 'index' area of the CD, but
> >> it's certainly worth a shot.
> >
> > I think there's no doubt those files are recoverable; judging from what
> > he's told us so far. The disc appears fully readable, no visible defects.
> >
> > Even today you find similar cases; files unreadable for some reason.
> > Maybe encrypted. Maybe with a password. Maybe in a RAW data format.
> > Maybe with an extension that the Win system has nothing to handle.
> >
> > Before we start advising the OP to use hex examiners, or binary data
> > recorders, let's suppose there's some available software that can get
> > straight into the stuff.
> >
> > Ed
> >
> > YouI have not been able to do anything with it yet.
>
> No password. Some files are TXT, some HTML, some jpg. I don't think
> there are any other formats. There are the standard permissions, and
> it is on a write once read many disk.

As I mentioned, *copying* should be possible. When copying a file,
Windows does not care what format (i.e. TXT/HTML/JPEG/etc.) the files
are and doesn't care if the file has a password.

Which exact errors do you get when trying to copy the files and which
exact errors when trying to open them?

And, as Ed indicated, can you display the properties of the/some files
(i.e. right-click a file -> Properties)?