Civ 3 conquests CD just broke in half

[vmxa1]

That is what I have heard, It burst into pieces. I don't know if that is from defects or just the constant spinning at high revs.

I used to have my game Cd's in all day, one day after another and never had that happen. Now I will used a virtual CD to be safe.

[asleepathewheel]

Originally posted by bongo
If it happens when it is in the drive, it don't just break, it literally explodes!! I have seen it happen.

do you have to replace the drive after that, or can you just pick out the pieces and go on?

[bongo]

Varies, the drive I saw it happen with had to be replaced. It is rare though, I work with computers every day(I'm one of those guys that run networks, take backups, install workstations and servers, we've got almost 1500 computers here) and I have never even heard of anyone with the same experience.

[Harovan]

I had a CD explode in the drive. The drive was destroyed afterwards, totally deformed.

[okblacke]

Originally posted by vmxa1
That is what I have heard, It burst into pieces. I don't know if that is from defects or just the constant spinning at high revs.

I used to have my game Cd's in all day, one day after another and never had that happen. Now I will used a virtual CD to be safe.

There's a show on discovery called "MythBusters" where they explore the possibility of certain urban legends by, e.g., blowing up toilets, microwaving kittens, making bullets out of ice, etc. (OK, they didn't actually microwave the kitten, but they did microwave lots of metal.)

They did this experiment with the CD and they found they could make it happen, but it would be extremely rare.

It's the high speed and not-so-minor defects in the disc that make it occur. They really had to thrash the CD to get it to explode.

[ok]

[vmxa1]

I watched a few episode of that show last year. I have to keep an eye out for it.

[vmxa1]

BTW way, I would think it would be hard to test as it woulld require 100,000's of hours to say it was bogus. If it is a defecive drive ro media, then it would require some luck to find them.

[bongo]

When 16X cd-roms entered the market some years ago (-97?) I remember discussing the possibility of a break-up with a colleague. We concluded that the increasing speed eventually turned the cd-rom players into kinetic-energy-storage

The possibility must be very small indeed. With my job, I should know it if it happened often. That I experienced it myself, before I even read about it is just plain luck.

I found a pic we took. It happened in 2001, I don't think it has happened again where I work...

Some of the pieces were flipped over manually after we opened the drive, just for the effect. there were also a gazillion small dust-like pieces which isn't visible on the pic.

Enjoy

[vmxa1]

Send it to the boys at Myth Busters.

[bongo]

Do you think they will like it?

It's just another example of 'the law of large numbers' in action.

[vmxa1]

It would be a nice touch for them to finish off the segment. A documented case.

[davewallace41]

As far as exploding CDs, I had it occur TWICE on me, both times THE SAME GAME! (Not a Civ game.) First time, I figured it was a fluke, went out and got another copy. It also trashed the CD ROM drive. No problem, I also had DVD drive that I could use. Less then 2 days later, the SECOND Cd exploded. (Sounds like a plate being dropped.) The game manufacturer told me, to paraphrase, Tuff Sh**. They would replace ONE copy of the game for shipping and handling (almost the cost of the game btw), but refused to replace either drive. Sounds like low quality CDs to me...

[asleepathewheel]

that sucks. does sound like cheap cd's if it happens 2x with the same game.

[bongo]

davewallace41 , in your case I would try to get the company to replace your destroyed drives. When two discs blow up without any mishandling on your side, it is a clear indication that they sold you a defective product, which in turn damaged your equipment.

If a gas company filled leaded fuel in the unleaded pumps, they would surely be forced to repair any damage on customer cars. Don't you have some 'consumer rights' organization or 'small claims court' in your country?

You always have the media, no-one wants bad publicity....

[MattH]

Ahhhh, the sadness. My $10 el-cheapo worst-buy CD-RW did this to poor Mr. Morrowind. The noise was heart-rending .