Data Recovery From A CD?

[Dr_Seuss]

about a year ago i backed up all my family pictures onto a CD using Nero Burning ROM. As i remember it an error came up just as the disc was finishing (ive had this happen a few times over the years of using Nero Burning ROM and never thought anything of it; the data/music etc. that i put on the disc was always fine).
However, i recently had a hard drive fail and ive lost all my family pictures and when i try to get them from the backup disc my entire computer freezes until i eject the CD. i can open explorer and see the folders on the disc (e.g. Mum + Dad, Holiday 1995) but its only when i click on them to view the pictures inside that the computer freezes.

Is there anyway i can get my incredibly important (to me personally) back??

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Just a guess, no idea if it'll work as the CD may be totally unreadable: if you have Autoplay enabled, disable it, then open the Command Prompt and try copying your data from the CD to your HDD via xcopy.

 

[Dr_Seuss]

ive never used xcopy before...ive found some online instructions for it but how long should it take? its a full CD of pictures so 700MB

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Err, what command have you entered?

I can't say for sure how long it's going to take for you, I mean you're essentially copying all the data from the CD to your HDD, so it's not going to be instantaneous if that's what you're wondering.

 

[captaincranky]

Question....

Can you move the pictures folder at a time to the desktop using simple copy and paste. sometimes only one file or folder may be corrupt. I have found importing pictures as pictures to be a pain in the a**. I simply copy them to the desk top, then import them to Photoshop in the next step.

 

[Dr_Seuss]

xcopy F: K: /S

 

[Dr_Seuss]

i dont get a corrupt message...explorer freezes when i try to open folders on the disc..or sometimes even just view the disc
i have managed to get a few folders off (i had a good day with the disc)

 

[captaincranky]

Telegraphing it's Intentions......

First, a corrupt file may not be announced as such, it may as you say simply lock up explorer. Getting files off an "iffy" CD is not going to be a 100% successful undertaking. Simply select one folder at a time, then copy (Control C) and paste (Control V) to the desktop. (Or a folder you have created on the desktop). Many time media files have to be copied to the HDD before they can be manipulated.
If the CDs are not going to co-operate to your satisfaction, then maybe someone will ring in with some sort of data recovery, software based solution.
This program was suggested in a thread a while back. I have never used it, I don't know if it will work in the way you need it to, but it a least seems worth investigating, if only for a comparison/starting point to other recovery programs. http://www.pcinspector.de/Sites/file_recovery/info.htm?language=1

 

[Nodsu]

IsoBuster is a free tool to recover data from broken/bad CDs.