Best practice for ripping defective/ problematic CDs?

[audiobomber]

16 hours ago, botrytis said:

I have used EAC (Exact Audio Copy) for discs like that with no problems.

Same here. I had a couple of CD's that were severely compromised when played in a CD transport, and took several hours to rip, successfully. Whichever software you use, it's important to tick the box for error checking. 

[audiobomber]

The first thing I do with a damaged disc is to polish it with CD Doctor: 

"Repairs scratched CDs and DVDs" 

[audiobomber]

20 hours ago, firedog said:

I've found that most CDs that won't rip only need a simple cleaning: 

A little distilled water on the disk,  microfiber cloth (like for cleaning glasses) and wipe out perpendicularly from the center till dry. 

95% of my problem CD's ripped after this. Sometimes 2 cleanings were needed. 

Of course if there are deep scratches it won't work. 

The CD Doctor kit does more than clean, it is a buffing compound that will remove a scratch. There are instructions for repairing light scuffs and scrapes, and a more in-depth procedure for deep scratches. I've only used this on a few discs where simple cleaning didn't solve the problem. I would have liked to provide a link to the product but it looks like it's no longer available. Too bad, it was a useful tool.