Dirty DVD Drive

[yog]

My DVD-RW drive is dirty. I tried installing a game the other day and it wouldn't get more than 43% done, I tried it in my other drive and it worked fine. Anybody have any suggestions for cleaning a dirty DVD drive?

[ManOman]

Canned air works wonders. Just remember to keep the can upright so there's no liquid spray comng from the nozzle.
It could also be a problem with the DVD too. If the DVD has enough errors within it, some players are sensitive to the point of not being able to read the data correctly. The second drive that it worked on could be a model that is less sensitive to this type of problem.

[yog]

I though blowing canned air into your drive was supposed to hurt it.

[ManOman]

If you do it carefully, going with multiple slow blasts off air you should be ok. Just don't spray full force and everything should work out all right I think.

Anybody have any evidence of damage to drives using canned air?

[yog]

I have never had any damage but I read recently that it is a bad idea to get your air can anywhere near your optical drives.

Thanks

[shellshock]

your really not suppossed to blow air in the drive, it jsut blows the dust around it the drive and settles on sensitive parts like the lazer

[SavageBasher]

take the drive out of the computer... and take the top metal casing off, then use the canned air.