Maybe you're one of those people who always neatly puts CDs or DVDs music, multimedia, application, or otherwise--back in their cases. But for the rest of us who are just too darn busy (lazy?) to do so, there's Wipe Out ($15 list price) to repair the damage we inflict. I've given this stuff to well-traveled friends whose CDs get road damage; friends with claw-bearing cats; and friends who are just plain careless slobs like me who stack naked CDs on their desk, pile them on the floor near the stereo, and scatter them in the car like gum wrappers.

Esprit Development's (908/284-0426, www.cdrepair.com) little bottle of goop clears up even big, scary scratches, such as the one that appeared on my Blur Modern Life Is Rubbish CD after a bookcase was dragged over it repeatedly (don't ask). As long as the damage is in the plastic layer and doesn't reach the inner layer, the Wipe Out fluid and its little cloth can buff it away. Deep scratches take a few repeated applications and extra polishing, but CDs end up essentially as good as new. Of course, the best damage protection is prevention, but tell that to somebody who just inadvertently rolled a desk chair over her system-backup CD-R.

Copyright © 1998 Mac Publishing, L.L.C.