diff --git a/include/reHDD.h b/include/reHDD.h
index 746f62b..40f93e4 100644
--- a/include/reHDD.h
+++ b/include/reHDD.h
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 #ifndef REHDD_H_
 #define REHDD_H_
 
-#define REHDD_VERSION "V1.2.1"
+#define REHDD_VERSION "V1.3.0"
 
 // Drive handling Settings
 #define WORSE_HOURS 19200    // mark drive if at this limit or beyond
diff --git a/src/reHDD.cpp b/src/reHDD.cpp
index ab00ef5..e7b0a98 100644
--- a/src/reHDD.cpp
+++ b/src/reHDD.cpp
@@ -418,8 +418,8 @@ void reHDD::searchDrives(std::list<Drive> *plistDrives)
 }
 
 /**
- * \brief   filter out drives that are listed in "ignoreDrives.conf"
- * \param	pointer of list <Drive>* plistDrives
+ * \brief   filter out drives that are listed in "ignoreDrives.conf", loop devices, and optical drives
+ * \param   pointer of list <Drive>* plistDrives
  * \return  void
  */
 void reHDD::filterIgnoredDrives(list<Drive> *plistDrives)
@@ -428,9 +428,8 @@ void reHDD::filterIgnoredDrives(list<Drive> *plistDrives)
     if (getSystemDrive(systemDrivePath))
     {
         // Logger::logThis()->info("Found system drive: " + systemDrivePath);
-
-        list<Drive>::iterator it;
-        for (it = plistDrives->begin(); it != plistDrives->end(); ++it)
+        list<Drive>::iterator it = plistDrives->begin();
+        while (it != plistDrives->end())
         {
             string driveName = it->getPath();
             // Remove /dev/ prefix
@@ -438,6 +437,7 @@ void reHDD::filterIgnoredDrives(list<Drive> *plistDrives)
             {
                 driveName = driveName.substr(5); // Skip "/dev/"
             }
+
             if (systemDrivePath.find(driveName) != std::string::npos) // compare found system drive and current drive
             {
                 // system drive found --> ignore this drive
@@ -446,59 +446,123 @@ void reHDD::filterIgnoredDrives(list<Drive> *plistDrives)
 #endif
                 it = plistDrives->erase(it);
             }
+            else
+            {
+                ++it;
+            }
         }
     }
 
-    list<tuple<string>> vtlIgnoredDevices; // store drives from ignore file
-    ifstream input("ignoreDrives.conf");   // read ignore file
+    // Filter out loop devices (loop0, loop1, etc.)
+    list<Drive>::iterator it = plistDrives->begin();
+    while (it != plistDrives->end())
+    {
+        string driveName = it->getPath();
+        if (driveName.find("/dev/") == 0)
+        {
+            driveName = driveName.substr(5);
+        }
+
+        if (driveName.find("loop") == 0)
+        {
+#ifdef LOG_LEVEL_HIGH
+            Logger::logThis()->info("loop device found --> ignore this drive: " + it->getPath());
+#endif
+            it = plistDrives->erase(it);
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            ++it;
+        }
+    }
+
+    // Filter out optical drives (sr0, sr1, cdrom, dvd, etc.)
+    it = plistDrives->begin();
+    while (it != plistDrives->end())
+    {
+        string driveName = it->getPath();
+        if (driveName.find("/dev/") == 0)
+        {
+            driveName = driveName.substr(5);
+        }
+
+        if (driveName.find("sr") == 0 ||
+            driveName.find("cdrom") == 0 ||
+            driveName.find("dvd") == 0 ||
+            driveName.find("cdrw") == 0)
+        {
+#ifdef LOG_LEVEL_HIGH
+            Logger::logThis()->info("optical drive found --> ignore this drive: " + it->getPath());
+#endif
+            it = plistDrives->erase(it);
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            ++it;
+        }
+    }
+
+    // Read ignored drives from config file
+    list<tuple<string>> vtlIgnoredDevices;
+    ifstream input("ignoreDrives.conf");
 
     for (string sLine; getline(input, sLine);)
     {
-        // Logger::logThis()->info("read uuid: " + sLine);
-        vtlIgnoredDevices.emplace_back(sLine); // add found path and uuid from ignore file to vector
+        // Skip empty lines and comments
+        if (!sLine.empty() && sLine[0] != '#')
+        {
+            vtlIgnoredDevices.emplace_back(sLine);
+        }
     }
-    // loop through found entries in ignore file
+
+    // Loop through found entries in ignore file
     for (auto row : vtlIgnoredDevices)
     {
-        list<Drive>::iterator it;
-        for (it = plistDrives->begin(); it != plistDrives->end(); ++it)
+        it = plistDrives->begin();
+        while (it != plistDrives->end())
         {
             string sUUID;
             char *cLine = NULL;
             size_t len = 0;
             string sCMD = "blkid ";
             sCMD.append(it->getPath());
-            // cout << "cmd: " << sCMD << endl;
-            FILE *outputfileBlkid = popen(sCMD.c_str(), "r"); // get UUID from drive
+
+            FILE *outputfileBlkid = popen(sCMD.c_str(), "r");
             if (outputfileBlkid == NULL)
             {
-                exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+                Logger::logThis()->error("Failed to execute blkid for: " + it->getPath());
+                ++it;
+                continue;
             }
 
-            while ((getline(&cLine, &len, outputfileBlkid)) != -1) // parse UUID from blkid
+            while ((getline(&cLine, &len, outputfileBlkid)) != -1)
             {
                 size_t ptuuidPos = string(cLine).find("PTUUID");
                 if (ptuuidPos != string::npos)
                 {
                     string sBlkidOut = string(cLine);
                     sBlkidOut.erase(0, ptuuidPos + 8);
-                    sBlkidOut.erase(8, sBlkidOut.length());
+                    if (sBlkidOut.length() >= 8)
+                    {
+                        sBlkidOut.erase(8, sBlkidOut.length());
+                    }
                     sUUID = sBlkidOut;
-                    // cout << "blkid uuid:" << sUUID << endl;
                 }
             }
             free(cLine);
             pclose(outputfileBlkid);
-            // cout << "blkid uuid:" << sUUID << endl;
 
-            if (!get<0>(row).compare(sUUID)) // compare uuid from ignore file and uuid from drive
+            if (!get<0>(row).compare(sUUID))
             {
-                // same uuid found than in ignore file --> ignore this drive
 #ifdef LOG_LEVEL_HIGH
-                Logger::logThis()->info("same uuid found than in ignore file --> ignore this drive: " + it->getPath());
+                Logger::logThis()->info("same uuid found in ignore file --> ignore this drive: " + it->getPath());
 #endif
                 it = plistDrives->erase(it);
             }
+            else
+            {
+                ++it;
+            }
         }
     }
 }