Important:
This safety advice concerns a potentially dangerous issue which could cause physical harm when using a high speed CD ROM.  It explains the dangers and tries to answer some FAQs.
The key points of this notice are:

• Do not use CD ROM disks that are cracked.
• If cracked CD ROM disks are used in high speed CD ROM drives they can be dangerous.

What is the problem?
It has been found that in very rare circumstances, damaged or poor quality CD disks can explode when used in  high speed CD ROM drives (48X or higher speed). The result is that the disk can shatter and, in very exceptional circumstances, fragments of the broken disk can be expelled through the front cover of the drive at high speed. This could cause serious physical injury.  The problem can only occur when a damaged CD ROM disk is used in the CD ROM drive.

What products does this affect?
All high speed CD ROM drives.

What is the solution to the problem?
It appears to only  occur when a damaged CD ROM disk is used in the CD ROM drive. Our recommendations are:

• Users should check all CD ROMs before each use, to ensure that they contain no cracks. If they are cracked you should not use them.

You should especially look at the clear plastic on the inner rim of the disk – cracks here are the cause of disk shatter.

• Cracks are more likely in poor quality media which we believe have become significantly more prevalent recently and are made of more brittle materials. Our care recommendations for CDs are:
  • When not in use remove CDs from the computer.
  • Always store CDs in the packaging supplied with them.
  • Always store CDs out of direct sunlight, and away from heat sources.

What do I need to do?  Users of  CD ROM drives should check to ensure that the disk they intended to use is not cracked or damaged. You should not use any CD media that has a crack.

How fast do I need to act?
Immediately. This is because using damaged disks could cause serious injury.

What do I do if I find a cracked CD ROM disk?
You should immediately stop using the damaged disk.

Do I need to stop using CD ROMs altogether in my computers?
No, as long as you ensure that every CD ROM is checked for cracks before each use.

How can I find out more?
Use Google to search both the Web and News Groups

Also visit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD_shattering

http://www.rm.com/safety/

http://www.powerlabs.org/cdexplode.htm

http://www.vnunet.com/News/1134831

http://www.paintbug.com/cdexplode/

http://askbobrankin.com/exploding_cdroms.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0QT4Y1Y3ug

What does a cracked CD look like?
The illustration shows a portion of a CD ROM with a small crack. This is an example of the kind of crack you should examine your CDs for. You do not need to discard CDs that only have light scratches on the metallic surface of the CD.