Introduction
We have found that in very rare circumstances, some high speed CD ROM drives (48X or higher speed) can become dangerous when used with CD ROM disks with small cracks. The result is that the disk can be damaged further or shattered and, in very exceptional circumstances, fragments of the broken disk can be expelled through the front cover of the drive at high speed. This could cause serious physical injury. We have confirmed that the problem can only occur when a damaged CD ROM disk is used in the CD ROM drive.

You need to ensure that every CD ROM is checked for cracks before each use. This issue only affects 48X or higher speed CD ROM drives. We have provided stickers for you to apply to the front of your CD ROM drives, to remind users that they should always check CD ROM media before use.

Can I have a risk assessment? How risky is it?
This is a very rare event. On one hand, the rate of items being ejected from drives that have not been flashed or shielded is only once every 13,000 years of computer operation.  However, in a school with 100 computers this may equate to roughly a 10% chance of experiencing a disk shatter in 3 years, and roughly a 2.5% chance that CD fragments may be ejected.  That is one reason why RM has taken this issue very seriously.

In the 6 months before shields and firmware updates were available to users, RM became aware of 13 instances of disc shatter where fragments were ejected from users' computers.   In the subsequent 6 months, RM is aware of only 3 similar events, and all of those are from drives where users had not fitted shields or made firmware updates, despite these being provided by RM.  All of these occasions have been since April 2001, and RM remains concerned that this could indicate a change occurring in the quality of CD ROM media in use.  Among the instances of items being ejected from the drives we have found from our customers, no injuries have been reported.

If you don't use cracked media our experiments show that there is no measurable risk at all.

How worried should I be?
There's no need for panic however you should take seriously the actions that RM has advised to prevent this problem occurring.

Should I stop using my computers?
No, as long as you follow RM's advice it is safe to use your computers.

RM worked with the CD ROM drive manufacturer to make available a protective metal shield that users can readily fit into the drive. This is designed to prevent pieces of disk escaping from the front of the drive in the rare event of a CD ROM shattering. For affected drives where the shield is unsuitable, RM has provided a firmware update that restricts the operating speed of the CDROM so that disc shatter with fragment ejection has no measurable risk. 

Even with the shield or firmware update fitted, RM recommend that you consider whether you can reposition any affected computers so that the CD ROM drive is not positioned at the face level of the users. For example, moving a computer from the top of a desk to stand it sideways under the desk (CD ROM drives can be used horizontally or vertically). As this issue affects computers manufactured by a number of companies, you may wish to consider your actions for other computers with high speed CD ROM drives.