CD/DVD Diagnostic recovers data from unreadable, scratched, or corrupt CD-R, CD-RW, DVD+R, and DVD+RW discs. Unlike programs that use Windows' file system to access bad files, CD/DVD Diagnostic bypasses Windows and ignores the original software that created the lost data file. Whether the bad files were created by Roxio Easy CD Creator, Ahead Nero and DLA, digital cameras that record directly onto discs, other proprietary PC or Macintosh software, or are even audio disc files, CD/DVD Diagnostic can find, retrieve and copy the files to your hard drive. No attempt is made to repair the damaged disc. Rather, the unreadable files are repaired and written to your hard drive.

The program can perform a readability test of the entire disc, giving you an idea of how much damage you're dealing with. It's easy to balance examination speed with thoroughness by setting the level of automatic retries that are performed whenever an error is encountered. With its built-in disc memory and checkpoint features, you can interrupt your disc examination, and resume your work at a later time. After a disc has been examined, it only takes seconds to bring up all of the files that have been recovered.