*BANG* What's that? MY CD EXPLODED?!

[Dark Jaguar]

Wow, this is weird... Okay so last night I was installing an old game and in the midst of installing it, I hear a bang, like a fire cracker going off, and then a horrible noise coming from my computer. I didn't know what happened yet, could have been a lot of things, but I did know to cut the power to the machine like instantly. Then I tool around and find out, it was the DVD/CD drive. I open it up, which requires using that emergency release... hole... and prying it open to find a shattered CD. Also, that CD is EVERYWHERE in that drive. I got most of the pieces out that I could shake out, but in turning the drive back on, I find now that it seems to be totally ruined.

So... I'm out an old game CD and an optical media drive. My only question, did this ACTUALLY happen, seriously? Okay that's not my only question. My next one is, do I need to worry about sticking CDs into modern drives from now on?

[BenK]

It happened to my coworker once. Mythbusters experimented with this and they called it busted (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MythBusters_%28season_1%29#CD-ROM_Shattering). Although, as it says there they could get a CD to shatter at speeds CD drives are able to attain but they couldn't do it with an actual drive.
Perhaps you drive is able to read a CD at maximum speed for extended periods, your CD was damaged and weak, or a combination.

[PixyMisa]

That's why CD-ROM drives stopped getting faster - they were getting close to the reasonable stress limit for CDs. Your disk might have had a small crack in it, or you might just have been unlucky.

[GodMark2]

Older CD's were also constructed with less exacting methods, and are more prone to the breakage. Old CD + New fast drive = disaster waiting to happen.

[Smike]

I've had this happen to me twice, both on slightly cracked CDs that I was attempting to copy.

[Dark Jaguar]

I get the impression I should shove an old 24x drive into my machine for my older disks...

[Beady]

Just off-hand, what would happen if the CD wasn't all the way onto the spindle?

[Zep]

Unbalanced CD can do this also. Especially so if people put labels or stick those round CD-labels on them. NEVER do this! NEVER!

Just use a sharpie to write on them, or if they are the printable type, inkjet ink. Otherwise nothing with even the slightest bit of weight.

[Diamond]

This sort of thing happens with Windows XP CD all of the time, and it happened to me. If the CD/DVD has a metallized surface, then the differential heating of the laser can cause thermal shock and the disc disintegrates in the drive.

[GodMark2]

I get the impression I should shove an old 24x drive into my machine for my older disks...

I use an external 8X for 'questionable' disks, and copy them to newer media for actual use.

[Grimoire]

This has happened to me once with a very tattered looking Microsoft ActiveSync CD. It blew with a very loud bang and knocked the plastic faceplate off of the drive. Scared the poo out of me, as my head was about 1 foot away from it at the time.

[Dark Jaguar]

Well there's some good news. The place I bought it from has a nice system where if the device is still under warrentee (mine was), they'll go ahead and ship it back to them to get it replaced. Unfortunatly this could take 6-12 weeks... Fortunatly, I do have a few extra drives in my closet so I'll be fine in the mean time.