Windex on games... this sounds very familiar... Was it The Game Trader by any chance? In my local mall, they used the name GameSwitch.
Personally, I don't use alcohol unless a cart gives me a problem. First I'll try a DRY q-tip, just to wipe off the contacts and get any dirt or dust out of the channel. If it still won't boot, I use tap water. Just moisten the q-tip and clean the contacts. Then, I immediately follow up with a dry q-tip until it's dry.
The owner of my local Play N Trade has a rather neat cleaning method. There's special cleaning spray for PCI cards and slots. I can't remember if he actually sprayed a game, but he squirted a good bit of the stuff into a Genesis Model 1 that wouldn't boot up, and it was perfectly fine afterward.
Every time I go to my local flea market and buy NES games, the guy always gives it a good clean with a sandpaper stick. I hate it when he does that though as when you think of it, sandpaper will take the dirt but the connectors off too. I wouldnt do it. Just use a light bit of rubbing alcohol and a cotton swab. Sandpaper is risky.
DERP
Recently, I've taken to using these along with Dawn hand soap, followed by an alcohol wipe:
I cleaned a batch of SNES games with that method, and every single one of them booted up. They're even better than the Scotch-Brite green scrubbies.
Use sandpaper ONLY as a last resort.
My local game shop they use, I believe, Simple Green. All the carts I have bought from there still have that scent.
This is the answer. I would advise against sandpaper. An eraser is the way to go. You need to open the cart in general to get it as clean as possible, but I've had excellent luck getting non-working carts going with a pencil eraser followed by a quick q-tip with electronics grade alcohol to clean away the residue.
A dremel with a soft buffing attachment also will work, but you have to be very careful.
On a side note, electronic contact cleaner (with silicones) is great for controller ports and cart slots.
The chore boy pads work wonders. I have been using them for years. Highly, Highly recommended.
My cousin uses sand paper all the time to get games to work, but only if a q-tip and rubbing alcohol won't do the trick. He demonstrated to me how sand paper can fix games by using it on an SNES copy of Battletoads & Double Dragon that I had been trying to get to work with no luck. The game had really bad corrosion on the pins, but after he sanded them out, it worked like a charm.
What would I do for a Genesis cart that works in a Model 1 only with a Game Genie, but not a Model 2? Does that have anything to do with the contacts?
We use 1500 black sandpaper and wet it down with windex. With the cart taken apart we barley rub it across on contacts and it will polish them up real nice.Then we wipe them clean with windex. I have done 10,000+ carts and never had a problem.
If you are ever in St louis stop by my store Trade-N-Games. I have a huge selection of vintage games along with the new systems. Or shop online now www.tradengames.com
Jason
Populous. It's an EA cart.
I also have a copy of Revenge of Shinobi that doesn't boot in the Model 2, the PRODUCED BY OR LICENSED BY SEGA message comes up and hangs on a black screen. Haven't tried that one on the Model 1 yet.
Do not use sandpaper. Do not use windex. Do not use rubbing alcohol. Do not use a pencil eraser. These are all terrible ways to clean a game cartridge or pin connector.
DeoxIT is the only product that can get them truly clean. It is what I use exclusively and I stand by it 100%.
I use rubbing alcohol and a qtip, if that doesn't work i open it up and use an eraser, then wipe it down with windex.
I've used 2000 grit and 800 grit. 2000grit works great because you don't want to remove a lot of surface material, but it's hard to fun at the local store. It does polishes up the contacts real nice though