Step 1: Clean it. Your first step should be to wash the disc gently under warm water.

Step 2: Try playing the disc. Try to play it in your normal player. If that doesn’t work, try a different drive.

Step 3: Burn a new copy of your disc. Unless your disc now plays perfectly in all drives, you should burn it to a new disc

Step 4: Find the scratch. If nothing’s working so far, inspect the disc and find the scratch.

Step 5: Polish the CD. Apply baking soda toothpaste to a lint-free cloth…#34;an old T-shirt or an eyeglass cloth…#34;and then rub it onto the disc. When rubbing, start at the centre of the disc and rub out to the edge.

Step 6: Wash the disc. If you’re using toothpaste, rinse the disk under warm water and then let it air dry.

Step 7: Try to play the disc. If it works, good. If it doesn’t work, inspect your disc again…#34;there may be another scratch that you didn’t polish the first time.

Step 8: Wax the disc. You can use Vaseline or a neutral-colored shoe polish. Coat the playing surface, then follow the manufacturer’s directions for removing the wax.

Step 9: Play the disc again. If it works this time, copy the disc.

Step 10: Go to a store that sells used. A used CD or DVD store will have a machine that can remove scratches.

You may take great care of your discs, but you will probably have a scratched disc at some point. Follow these steps, and a scratch won’t be a cause for alarm.