CD-DVD Using A Sharpie or Labels - Is There A Problem?

I was asked a question last week about whether it is OK to use a sharpie or stick on CD labels on CD’s and DVD’s. Good question since there is some debate on using either method to label your disks.

There are labeling pens that are specifically made for writing on disks which is one of the preferable ways to label your disks. And then there is also LightScibe [here] for which your hardware must support this process.

Using a sharpie pen. Sharpies contain solvent based inks, that in theory MAY attack certain CD/DVD protective coatings. If this happens data could be lost. I use shapie’s to label my disk, and thus far have not had this problem. But your mileage my vary. So I took at look at Sanford’s site, the makers of Sharpie pens and sure enough they do have a model made specifically for CD / DVD’s. Look here.
CD stick on labels. I have read that a misaligned label stuck onto a CD/DVD could cause wobble and a misread of data. Since I do not use stick ons, I don’t know how true this maybe or not. It does seem possible. I have heard of CD disks exploding inside of drives before, but have fortunately not experience this as well. It should be noted that exploding CD’s have nothing to do with labels being affixed but more with high speed rotation.

So here is my question to you the reader. What has been your experiences with using sharpies or stick on labels? Have you had any problems? Let us all know.

Your comments are highly appreciated.

And here is a very good site for answers on CD /DVD disk problems and solutions located here.

Tags: cd, dvd, sharpie pens, labels, problems, lightscribe