Abstract-As the performance of the CD-ROM drives continues t o increase, special attention should be paid t o any element in the system that disturbs the desired specifications. When very low access times are considered, it will be mandatory t o reach the target track within only one seek action, i.e. without any consequent retry or correction seek. Many CD-ROM drives count the tracks crossed during seeking and, by comparing this count with the pre-calculated seek length, the exact target location can be detected. This paper considers the error that affects the track-counting mechanism due t o the rotating disc spiral. It will be shown that, for a given seek length, the number of crossed tracks differs between outside-and inside-oriented seeks. The involved equations will be derived and an algorithm will be proposed for determining the correct number of tracks t o be crossed during a seek action. The proposed algorithm, which is optimized for microprocessor implementation, relies on two look-up tables and a learning scheme that allows look-ahead seek correction for both spiral rotation and system tolerances.