If you have a lot of scratched Cd's or DVDs that will not play, there are a few solutions to repair your discs.

If the disc will not play, try to copy the data onto your PC hard drive using a free programme such as DVD Fab Decrypter. This will rip the data from the disc and store it on your PC. You can then burn another copy onto a disc.

Ensure that your discs are clean and smudge free before you try any of the methods here, sometimes a disc may not be readable simply because of a fingerprint or a little dirt on the surface of the disc. Discs can be wiped clean with a soft, lint free cloth, and a little warm (not hot) water. Do not rub disc in a circular motion but instead rub from the inner circle, out to the edges of the disc. You can also use a disc cleaning solution which are available in stores.

If cleaning does not work, check discs for scratches. Scratches can be filled with a little Vaseline to smooth out the surface. To do this apply a little Vaseline to a clean, lint free cloth, rub into the scratch the same way as you would clean the disc (from the inner circle to the outside rim), do this for about 3 minutes making sure not to rub too hard. Rinse disc with warm water making sure to remove any Vaseline, let disc dry naturally or pat dry gently. Vaseline can be substituted for polish, or toothpaste.

If this does not work or if the disc has important data and you do not want to risk scratching it further, you may want to try data recovery software. Bad Copy Pro is an excellent one that will recovery data from dvds, cds, games, etc. this will save the data to a folder on your pc which you can then burn onto another disc.