Cleaners

I have heard that CD-ROM drive cleaning discs do not work at all.
Many people on these Virtual Doctors Forums have recommended trying them.
Not many people have reported positive results however after using these.
How do CD-ROM drive lens cleaning discs work?
What is the theory of operation? How do they clean a CDROM drive's reading lens?

Well I've used them with some success on several occasions. The one I have at home has small brushes on the surface that rub across the lens, I'm not sure if they all work exactly the same way. Just the other week I had a brand new DVD burner right-out of the box that would only burn coasters - a quick clean with my cleaning CD and it's worked perfectly ever since.

As I posted in the other thread where you rasied this, micro brushes atatched to the cleaning CD come in contact with the lens eg like this
http://www.computercleanusa.com/prod...oduct_id=56700 or
http://shop.game.net/ViewProduct.asp...314&mid=324959

For those too lazy to follow the links
http://www.computercleanusa.com/prod...arge/56700.jpg
http://img.game.net/images/gameware/...enscleaner.gif

A cleaning disk can certainly help deal with light contamination, dust or fluff deposits. It can also sometimes indicate, by giving an improvement, if more thorough cleaning could completely solve a reading problem.

Heavier contamination, especially things like tar deposits from smoking, can only be properly removed by manual cleaning.