Images aren't being read from CD

[Burzum]

I burned a CD about a year ago and right now it's not reading the picture files. The files show up on the CD but the files have "No display image" and are 800kb in size which is proper, but for some reason it can't be read. This is really frustraiting since these are pretty good pictures that I've wanted to see for some time.

Any help is appreciated.

[Jim G]

I get similar results from dvds sometimes - "cyclic redundancy errors" when I try to read certain files.

I tend to make two backups and another on a hard drive - I have had way too many problems with cds failing randomly over the years to trust them with a sole copy of my images.

I hope someone here can provide you with a link to recovery software or similar - can you transfer the files to a hdd and try reading them from there? That might not make any difference at all but it's what I'd try and do.

[Burzum]

I get similar results from dvds sometimes - "cyclic redundancy errors" when I try to read certain files.

I tend to make two backups and another on a hard drive - I have had way too many problems with cds failing randomly over the years to trust them with a sole copy of my images.

I hope someone here can provide you with a link to recovery software or similar - can you transfer the files to a hdd and try reading them from there? That might not make any difference at all but it's what I'd try and do.
I'll try now! Thank you!

[gjl711]

I burned a CD about a year ago and right now it's not reading the picture files. The files show up on the CD but the files have "No display image" and are 800kb in size which is proper, but for some reason it can't be read. T...

Any help is appreciated.
You might try to read them on another CD drive as well. I have had a few CD drives which have failed, or were in the process of failing and had a lot of trouble reading. Secondly, open the door just a bit using a paperclip with the CD turned off, just enough for the door to open but not the whole tray come out. Then using a vacuum, suck out the slot. Every once in a while some dust gets stuck in the sensor and that can affect reading.

[sandpiper]

I get similar results from dvds sometimes - "cyclic redundancy errors" when I try to read certain files.

I tend to make two backups and another on a hard drive - I have had way too many problems with cds failing randomly over the years to trust them with a sole copy of my images.

I hope someone here can provide you with a link to recovery software or similar - can you transfer the files to a hdd and try reading them from there? That might not make any difference at all but it's what I'd try and do.

I'm not sure if recovery software will help with CDs, failure is generally due to the dyes fading, so the data has literally disappeared, unlike faulty HDDs where the magnetic data is intact, you just can't get at it.

recordable CD life is quite short, theoretically they last for 5 years or more but frequently they can fail much earlier, often within a year depending on the quality of the discs (and therefore the quality of the dyes). DVDs last a bit longer but still can fail quite quickly.

Because of this, CDs and DVDs are not really suitable for backing up important data unless you use the much more expensive archival DVDs, which are claimed to last up to 50 years, although again they may fail much earlier. Personally I back up to two different external HDDs, one of which is kept offsite. It is highly improbable that both of these could fail beyond recovery, but just in case, all my best stuff is also stored on the internal HDDs as a third copy.

I hope that you can get these images back, if you do then I recommend that you make additional backups.

[gjl711]

recordable CD life is quite short, theoretically they last for 5 years or more but frequently they can fail much earlier, often within a year depending on the quality of the discs (and therefore the quality of the dyes). DVDs last a bit longer but still can fail quite quickly.

:-| WOW!!! I read this and couldn't believe it but a quick search on the web confirms that todays CDs can have lifespans as short as 5 years or less. I am using CDs as my long term backups. I guess I need to re-think my strategy.

[sandpiper]

:-| WOW!!! I read this and couldn't believe it but a quick search on the web confirms that todays CDs can have lifespans as short as 5 years or less. I am using CDs as my long term backups. I guess I need to re-think my strategy.

Yes, that is why I always post this info whenever I see this type of thread. Early CDs were even worse for fading than current ones and I know a couple of photographers who lost a lot of their early digital work because of this issue. It's only when you go back to an old CD that has faded, that you realise the problem. Then, when checking all your others you can find that several others may have degraded too.

I try and spread this info around, because there are a lot of people like yourself who aren't aware of the issue. If I can save a couple of fellow photographers from losing some of their images, it will be a good thing.

My personal method of storage is USB hard drives, a 300Gb HDD is quite cheap (around £80 over here in the UK) so I buy them in pairs and backup onto both, so that a HDD failure isn't catastrophic. I store one of each pair at a friends house, in case someone steals my computer gear or the house burns down. I hope that your CDs are all intact and you can back them up onto HD.