Say Goodbye To Your CD-Rs In Two Years?

Little Hamster writes "According to an article on cdfreaks.com, a test done by the Dutch PC-Active magazine showed that among 30 different CD-R brands tested, a lot of them were already unreadable after twenty months. This is shocking, and makes me wonder how should I backup my data, photo and music collection."

Comments

CD = Inferior Storage Technology

[Arbogast_II]

The CD is an inferior storage technology that has propagated due to 3 reasons IMO.

1. For the average person, a file is in some way less real if it is on a hard drive, and more real if it is on a CD, where it is a physical object they can touch.
2. Familiarity with CD's due to long term use on music CDs.
3. Vastly superior marketing to hard drives.

Removable hard drive bays should be standard on all PC's. Once you are used to these, the Hard Drive is just a Cartidge to plug into the PC. Data is easily backed up, and a Hard Drive in closet is safe.

Hard drives are faster, take up less space, and are very cost competative with CD's. I am unclear why CD's are popular with the tech savvy crowd. It's an inferior storage technology.

Re:CD = Inferior Storage Technology

[Idarubicin]

Hard drives are faster, take up less space, and are very cost competative with CD's. I am unclear why CD's are popular with the tech savvy crowd. It's an inferior storage technology.

I can put a CD in its jewel case, then drop it off a desk and on to a concrete floor--and I can expect the data to still be intact.

Hard drives are impact sensitive, and still prone to failure after a year or two.

Also, if I need to move a file from point A to point B CDs are convenient and lightweight--everybody has a CD-ROM drove. Subsequent to that, many people prefer to make backups to CDs because they are a technology that they already have installed for other reasons. Rhetorical question by hypothetical individual: Why would I go to the trouble and expense of another backup method when I already have a CD burner?

Bad CDs also make excellent coasters.

Re:but something is missing...

[KingRamsis]

You can do the experiment, but you will need a cheap-o-media try burning at 1x and then at the maximum your CDR drive can handle, and try it on a variety of CD-ROM drives, the odds that the 1x copy will be readable on more drives.
I still have a SONY CDR burned at 1x in 1997 ! and still works just fine. (but useless old software anyway)

Re:but something is missing...

[FirstOne]

"But something is missing, The speed in which the CDR is burned sometimes it makes a difference, for the highest reliability I think 1x is the best."

I agree.. Slower recording speeds will usually improve the contrast ratio of the resulting recording.
One can confirm this by making several cd-r's writing at different speeds using the same type of media, and then visually comparing the cd-r's data surfaces, (For recorded areas, Darker is better).

A fair number of CD recording programs DO NOT have a VERIFY cd-r contents option after a burning, and is a major pain in the ass. This problem got me good when I used some 12x Office Depot media for saving some TV show mpegs. Bad move,
I found out months later, that 50% of initial recordings had one or more non recoverable bad spots. :-(

Nero is the only mastering program I know of, which will verify cd-r contents after burning :-),
But it doesn't do it for all recording formats :-( .

Re:simple

[LostCluster]

Do a full backup once a year and a 20 month lifespan for the media doesn't matter...

Re:Which CD-R(W) brands are worth getting?

[mrjive]

The test I do now (which I learned the hard way from early burning experiences) is to hold the cd-r up to the light. If you can see through it, chances are it won't last. The cheapo bulk disks that have nothing but a silver top are very likely to be the first to flake on you.

Also, keep your burned discs out of direct sunlight and excessive heat, both which will cause the top foil layer to come off. Even quality media will give out on you after exposure to the elements.