CRC Errors

Data errors or ‘Cyclic Redundancy Check’ (CRC) errors occur to ensure that your data is intact when being transferred. If the data has been damaged this checking procedure immediately identifies it. When CRC messages are displayed on your screen, it means that the files are being read by the system or the software has failed, but it does not indicate towards the complete loss of data.

Data are generally transferred in small blocks and each block is assigned a CRC value. If there is something amiss while the data is being transferred from the source to the destination, the CRC reaching the source fails to match the calculation at the destination, resulting into appearance of and CRC error. These errors are usually thrown out when the system tries to read data from a damaged CD or DVD. The respective drive may grind or whirl away and your system may slowdown just before a CRC error is displayed. System crashes, incomplete download and buggy software can also cause this error.

For the case of your CDs and DVDs, if the drive gets a CRC message, it tries to read the disk again and after repeated failed attempts, it throws out a CRC error. A problem related to hardware, software or damaged media causes this error. You can try cleaning the disc to fix it but if the problem persists, it can be attributed to a hardware issue. You can check the discs in another drive. Poorly burnt discs or USB burners burnt at a very high speed also can cause this problem. Using a reliable recovery tool is advisable to recover data from damaged discs.