Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Optical drives let your computer read and interact with discs like CDs, DVDs, and Blu-rays. However, they're quickly becoming outdated.
Optical drives for computers come in two main form factors: half-height (also known as desktop drive) and slim type (used in laptop computers and compact desktop computers). They exist as both internal and external variants. Half-height optical drives are around 4 centimetres tall, while slim type optical drives are around 1 cm tall.
However, not all optical drives provide this capability, and support for this feature can vary significantly between manufacturers and drive models. On drives lacking raw data access, users may rely on a less precise method: monitoring unexpected reductions in read speed, though this is a far less reliable indicator of disc health.
A head crash in a modern drive. Note circular scratch mark on the platter. A head crash. A head crash is a hard-disk failure that occurs when a read–write head of a hard disk drive makes contact with its rotating platter, slashing its surface and permanently damaging its magnetic media. It is most often caused by a sudden severe motion of the ...
Disc rot is the tendency of CD, DVD, or other optical discs to become unreadable because of chemical deterioration. The causes include oxidation of the reflective layer, reactions with contaminants, ultra-violet light damage, and de-bonding of the adhesive used to adhere the layers of the disc together.
Gradual hard-drive failure can be harder to diagnose, because its symptoms, such as corrupted data and slowing down of the PC (caused by gradually failing areas of the hard drive requiring repeated read attempts before successful access), can be caused by many other computer issues, such as malware.
AOL Mail welcomes Verizon customers to our safe and delightful email experience!
An optical disc drive is a device in a computer that can read CD-ROMs or other optical discs, such as DVDs and Blu-ray discs. Optical storage differs from other data storage techniques that make use of other technologies such as magnetism , such as floppy disks and hard disks , or semiconductors , such as flash memory .