Right, this fix might not be for everyone, but it's definitely worth trying. Firstly, there are two types of incident here:

• those people who put a CD or DVD in the drive and lost a burn halfway through
• those people who were stupid enough to put a CD or DVD into the drive with a paper label on it

This applies to the latter group only; if you cannot get your CD or DVD out for a physical reason.

I was stupid enough to put a paper-labelled DVD into my Macbook's optical drive last night. I needed to copy it and so made an image which took about 15 minutes. When it finished, the disc would not eject, but not for want of trying (nasty groaning sounds, then automatically remounting without popping out of the slot). "Damn," I mused, "I'd better Google this one."

After only finding info on Macbook Pro users' problems with software, I eventually stumbled across an article which did the trick (for the life of me I can't find it again).

The Solution

Everyone knows that Macbooks, although lovely and shiny and Appley, can reach temperatures that will melt diamonds, and apparently, this is the key to the paper label CD/DVD problem. At these extreme levels of heat, the CD expands, the sticker glue melts and the paper... well I don't know what the paper does, but it doesn't help things. If you don't find a website in time to help you out, you might be mislead to believe this can be fixed by sticking a credit card/other firm item into the drive. Do NOT assume this is the solution - it will not solve this type of problem (as far as I discovered). The best route to enlightenment, and returning your DVD scratch-free is very simple. Let the Macbook and optical disc re-solidify at room temperature (e.g. turn it off). After you have let it cool down for a few hours, boot it up, press eject, DVD-a-la-presto, pops out a treat.

I maybe of course stating something that all Mac users have been used to for years and therefore making a dipstick of myself, but it helped save part of one Windows-user's seven-and-a-bit hundred nicker investment from a credit card/sharp object related death. I will add this disclaimer and say I'm not responsible for anything I suggest here - you do it at your own risk (but letting your Macbook cool down isn't too risky to try first, surely?).