[Dr. John13]

I have tried the Videos, found webpages and even posted in Random Questions but my problem is just not ending. Here's the Story:

I had been playing with mt GTA 4 CD for long time. The other day I found my CD was not getting identified by my PC. I checked the CD and Holy sh*t, there were scratches than my hair. I was really pissed off, I couldn't play GTA 4 again. I was thinking of buying the Complete Edition anyway but oh lord, I tried that toothpaste trick. Now I have left my CD dry. I am worried I can't recover my CD again.

Here are the steps which I did:

1) Cleaned my CD with a dry cloth.
2) Put some water on the surface.
3) Cleaned any dirt or fingerprints.
4) Applied Toothpaste on the disk surface.
5) Removed extra paste.
6) Placed it for dying for around 10 min.
7) Added water and removed it with cloth.
8) Kept it dry.

I can still see some scratches and and I think I have damaged it more. Does anyone has any other trick which helped you? Please I need to run it.

[kmlwin.1996]

The first thing to do when coming across a CD with a read error is to clean it, to check whether it the error is not being caused by a dirty surface. You can even wash the CD gently with a little detergent, using your fingers to clean it (avoid sponges, since they can scratch the CD). If the error persists, try reading or playing the CD on another drive. If another drive (or CD player, in the case of audio CDs) gives the same result (read error or skipping, in the case of audio CDs), it will mean that the CD is scratched.

Looking against the light, the recording surface (the flip side of the label) of a CD with this kind of trouble will allow you to easily see one or more existing scratches. A CD's data is recorded on a metal layer inside it, a silvered layer on commercial CDs, which is usually golden on CD-Rs. This metal layer is inset in a transparent plastic covering (polycarbonate), used to protect the CD's metal layer and allow printing a label on the side not used for reading.

A CD-ROM drive or CD player utilizes a laser beam to read the metal layer. This laser beam crosses the plastic layer and reads the metal layer. If the plastic layer is scratched, the beam will be unable to pass through it, resulting in a read error or skipping the music. In other words, the data to be read are still in the CD, the trouble lies in the layer of plastic.

If there are still scratches that the toothpaste has not managed to removed, use a metal polish (Brasso) in the same way as described above. Finally, rub Vaseline on the CD, very gently (do not press hard), from moving out from the centre to the rim.

The last step will be testing the CD. If it starts working properly, great. If not, repeat the above procedure, looking for the scratch that is causing the error and concentrating your polishing efforts on it.

This post has been edited by kmlwin.1996 on Saturday, May 5 2012, 12:51

[Slamman]

What I do is use wet tissue and plain water, maybe Windex, though I'm told it can do some harm, or standard glass cleaner, lens cleaner for glasses and displays, also available fabric to that end. There are professional disc resurfacers since the advent of vinyl record cleaning, there have been optical disc cleaners so stores renting optical discs can maintain them, this was always a bit of a concern since any fool could rent a disc and not have sense enough to handle them from the edges only, which is not an impossible task.

^That inner metal layer used to record the pits and lands used to represent digital data music is aluminum, if not in all cases, there's a layer called the Substrate as well, not sure if that's the tech name off the top of my head

This post has been edited by Slamman on Saturday, May 5 2012, 16:30

[Wolf68k]

@Dr.John13
Thing you need to mention is how to remove/wipe the toothpaste off of the disc; from center out in a straight line, not around the disc or circles of any kind.


@Slamman
Pressed aka factory made discs all of the pits and lands are part of the plastic on the disc. The label of the disc is several layers the important one is the reflective layer that bounces the laser beam back.
The side that people scratch is completely flat.
Recordable disc uses a special material, the plastic itself is completely flat on both sides.

[Dr. John13]

Hmm, if I remember well what I did:

I applied the toothpaste then kept it for 10 min then used a cloth and wiped it from all directions. I did straight, circles, curved and washed it.

[Wolf68k]

That might have been your problem then. Scratches that go inline with the disc, around, or circles is a bad thing. That data is written around the disc, so you're adding to that in a way.
You can try getting one of these things http://www.amazon.com/DVD-Classic-Disc-Rep...m/dp/B0015ACUNO it basically buffs the whole disc trying to smooth it out. No promises it'll work

This is a case where I can suggest, but can't link to of course, downloading an ISO of the game so you'll at the very least be reinstall it again at a later date. Also get a no-cd crack and play from that.

This post has been edited by Wolf68k on Saturday, May 5 2012, 17:31

[Slamman]

They say micro-abrasions are what can cause issues in a number of cleaning situations, this is small scratching that the eye cannot perceive.
Since the dawn of portable CDs, what was known as a beam-splitter created three tracks of light from a single laser diode, the two on either side were used for error corrections, I don't know what advances have come since, but that's part of what's expected to compensate for read errors on the fly, since a 5 inch disc spins at 300 to 500RPM, as I recall

[Dr. John13]

QUOTE (Wolf68k @ Saturday, May 5 2012, 22:57)

This is a case where I can suggest, but can't link to of course, downloading an ISO of the game so you'll at the very least be reinstall it again at a later date. Also get a no-cd crack and play from that.

Download the ISO? What would be it's size? OK, I found one crack called Razor 1911. I think it will prevent that securom error. I will retry again. If it still not works then I will buy the Complete Edition and keep those CDs safe.

Also, if there is another freeware which can fix that read error then I would appreciate it.

[PrometheusX]

QUOTE (Dr. John13 @ Sunday, May 6 2012, 04:23)

QUOTE (Wolf68k @ Saturday, May 5 2012, 22:57) This is a case where I can suggest, but can't link to of course, downloading an ISO of the game so you'll at the very least be reinstall it again at a later date. Also get a no-cd crack and play from that. Download the ISO? What would be it's size? OK, I found one crack called Razor 1911. I think it will prevent that securom error. I will retry again. If it still not works then I will buy the Complete Edition and keep those CDs safe. Also, if there is another freeware which can fix that read error then I would appreciate it.

I think the crack is for fixing that right?

[Wolf68k]

@John
The ISO is around 13GB.
I have no idea which no-cd crack to get. I tried a few back when I was playing and never got any to work and I haven't tried since. I forgot to mention; be really careful while looking for and try these cracks. Scan them for viruses just to be safe. If you don't have an anti-virus, get one.
Another option, if you're going to buy it over again, Steam. http://store.steampowered.com/app/12210/
Steam has it right now for $20 for just GTA4. $30 for GTAIV plus EFLC or the complete pack is $50 which includes every thing from the GTA series (minus GTA London). However if you're not in a hurry to get that then wait for a holiday sale and I'm sure they will have the complete pack for $25 or less.
The upside to Steam, no more worry about a scratched, lost or broken disc. Whether or not you'll be able to bring your saved games over, I'm not sure but since you should be able to use your same WGL account I don't see why not.


@PrometheusX
The no-cd crack won't fix the disc itself. It'll just allow him to play without the disc.
If that's not what you meant then I'm confused.

[PrometheusX]

QUOTE (Wolf68k @ Sunday, May 6 2012, 14:23)

@PrometheusX The no-cd crack won't fix the disc itself. It'll just allow him to play without the disc. If that's not what you meant then I'm confused.

I meant the securom error.

[Sup3rman]

I had a GTA4 Cd that was heavily scratched, i tried all these methods here and they didn't really work. Then i tried with oil and with a bananapeel. I don't remember what worked exactly, but try those methods. Bananapeel is good because it has basically wax on it, and that wax gets into those scratches and i guess the CD then works. One of those methods worked for me..thats for sure.

[Gareth Croke]

QUOTE (PrometheusX @ Sunday, May 6 2012, 15:32)

QUOTE (Wolf68k @ Sunday, May 6 2012, 14:23) @PrometheusX The no-cd crack won't fix the disc itself. It'll just allow him to play without the disc. If that's not what you meant then I'm confused. I meant the securom error.

The crack by its very nature would be for getting around such things.

But adding to Wolfies suggestion that cleaning gadget should do the trick, however if it doesn't then yes I would on this occasion suggest a internet special copy.

I suppose this is one of those common occasions where the call for 'legalized' No-CD patches should be listened to by producers.

[Stinky12]

High volume disc are stamped pressed, not burned like we do at home. if R* did the buring method, it will take them forever and lots and lots of DVD burners.

[ccrogers15]

It would not surprise me if it had scratches, due to the crappy case the PC version is shipped in. I almost broke disk 1 the other day removing it from the case. This is the case in the video im talking about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4328qds6i8

[Dr. John13]

QUOTE (Wolf68k @ Sunday, May 6 2012, 19:53)

The ISO is around 13GB.

Holy sh*t. It takes me 10 min to download 5mb stuff. I have no other option but to buy the Complete Edition.

Anyways, I yesterday tried the Car Polish method. Actually, there was only wax so when I spread it, the scratches disappeared but the read error still persists. I need to check my CD Drive. It might have got damaged because when I tried with GTA SA DVD, it wasn't responding. After a few tries, it identified.

[Gareth Croke]

QUOTE (Dr. John13 @ Monday, May 7 2012, 07:41)

QUOTE (Wolf68k @ Sunday, May 6 2012, 19:53) The ISO is around 13GB. Holy sh*t. It takes me 10 min to download 5mb stuff. I have no other option but to buy the Complete Edition. Anyways, I yesterday tried the Car Polish method. Actually, there was only wax so when I spread it, the scratches disappeared but the read error still persists. I need to check my CD Drive. It might have got damaged because when I tried with GTA SA DVD, it wasn't responding. After a few tries, it identified.

A-haa, there might be then your problem that it be.

If you've tried another disk in your drive and that took a couple of attempts it might even be the laser in your drive has a slight scratch or a build up of dust or other particles. Try giving the laser a quick clean with a clean, soft, non-shedding cloth (that is a cloth that doesn't leave behind lint), it could be that your disc is now fine and that the laser in the drive could now be the problem. Try giving that a clean if you can and then try the disks again.

If you can't get into the laser because it's internal, you would be best then to use an air-duster, which you can pick up from good camera stores, computer shops or even stationary shops.

Also without this turning into a Warez topic, try looking just a No-CD patch instead of a full download, it might save you a few GB's

[Wolf68k]

I'm not saying there is no other option but to buy the Complete Edition, not really sure what you mean by that. You can get just GTA4 for $20 on Steam but yes it will be a huge download. The site says you need 16GB of HDD space so it'll be close to that.
10minutes to download 5MB?! What kind of connection are you on?

After thought; have you tried the disc on another system?

[Dr. John13]

I have only one laptop in my home. I will try with my friend's laptop and see if it works. Or else, I will call a computer expert and tell him to fix it. Here, the complete Edition is around 12$ (650 INR) and the mechanical service will cost around 7$ (400 INR). I may think that the Complete Edition which includes EFLC is more profitable.

In India, there is no Wi-Fi so we use Broadband which has maximum 512kbs speed. Mine is worse.

[Warlord.]

No way man, India's gotta have more than 512KBPS, since even we get more than that (max of 21MB afaik with HSPA and around 4MB with broadband) over here in Sri Lanka.