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Monday, March 26, 2007

Xbox 360 game disc is scratched and will not play anymore!

The disc is scratched and will not play anymore!!! An issue that some among us may experience with one or more of their Xbox 360 discs, getting any error message like "Unreadable disc" or "To play this disc, put it in an Xbox 360 console".

Frankly, if any device that reads discs moved or repositioned while it's reading the disc inside that's for sure may harm the disc and result on a scratch, so if you move your Xbox 360 console or reposition it while there is a disc inside that will be the main reason your disc has been scratched, but there is still some other reasons for a disc to get scratched.

For Xbox 360 disc there were some tests or investigations done by the technician department in Xbox 360 team, according to them, If you describe the scratch to be like a perfect circle near to the edge of the disc that would be due to repositioning the Xbox 360 console while the disc is there, and for that kind of scratch they do not take any action as it's not a fault with the Xbox 360 console or with the disc.


If the scratch appears to be on any other shape, that might be due to an intermittent issue with your Xbox 360 disc drive, so you can then contact Xbox 360 customer support and they will tell you exactly what to do, basically you'll have to send them a photo of the scratched disc or discs to get it sorted out.

The problem is always with the perfect circle scratch that the Xbox 360 support team can't assist you on getting it fixed, exchanged or even they can't give you a compensation for, well i have searched about that and got to some options that might help:
1. According to EA Games any scratched game disc can be exchanged for 10£, so if your scratched disc is an EA Games one you can contact them to get it exchanged, they asked to send the original disc with a cheque payable to payable to Electronic Arts Ltd, to the address:

Electronic Arts UK Ltd
Customer Services
PO Box 181
Chertsey Surrey
KT16 0YL

And that's for the UK you can ask them for their address in your country, also asked to include full details of the defect, your name, address and if possible a daytime telephone number where they can contact you.

Also if If you have any more questions, you may also contact their warranty department at: UK-Warranty@ea.com.

2. Now the very new thing that also Microsoft has offered the same to as a game manufacturing company, we can exchange the scratched or damaged Microsoft game disc directly from Microsoft but till now not all games are available on the list, you can check the list of games that are available at Microsoft for replacement as it is subject to availability on This Link.

For sure you'll have then to include the damaged game disc also you'll have to fill the "Replacement disc form" that you can download from Xbox website and you'll find all information about it at This Link.

3. If it's not an EA Games, some companies provide a scratched discs repair service so that might help and it's always for around 2.5 to 3 pounds or dollars, if you are living in the UK check this link OR if you are from the US check this link you'll find a list of repair centers that do repair scratched discs.

Warped or cracked discs cannot be repaired. Basically providing the data layer of the disc is not damaged they should be able to repair the disc. If a scratched CD has damage to the data layer itself there is nothing that can be done to retrieve this data. The data layer is very close to the label side of the disc and so is vulnerable to scratches from the top. To see if the data layer is damaged, hold the disc label side toward a light bulb. Any pin-pricks of light that show through indicate damage to the data layer. The good news is that discs with minor damage to the data layer often play perfectly after restoration. Naturally, the worse the damage, the less likely it is that the disc can be restored.

They said also that some people have dealt with moderate scratches with metal polish, rubbed on with tissues, to cut the polycarbonate around the scratch down to the scratches level; next, a wipe of clear furniture polish will fill the mild scuff mark the abrasive left, I don't know whether that gonna work or not.

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

check out http://www.cdrefinishers.com. I totally jacked my discs up and tried everything to fix them. This place made the surface of the disc like it was brand new.

Anonymous said...

ummmmmmmmm.....so did the polish work???

Anon. said...

Many thanks for the suggestions, my disk has the perfect circle scratch and I'm glad Ea & Microsoft do replacements, I hope it applies for those in Australia though..