CD-R not as archival as you think?

[Ken Fong]

Interesting article about CD-Rs. I didn't know CD-R uses light sensitive dyes that can degrade over time (in as little as 2 years!) I think this article says CD-RW is better because it uses metallic materials that aren't disturbed by sunlight. I guess until we switch to a better media, it's better to keep the discs in a dark cool place.

What do you all think and what has been your experience? I've been storing photos on the 'free' CD-Rs from Officemax...this might have to change.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0404/04042201cdrlifetime.asp

or

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/story.jsp?story=513486

[shelbix2020]

I have never had a problem with any CD-R, besides scratches, but Ive heard of people having problems with the black CD-Rs ... losing data and having no scratches at all...

[mapollo]

To give your cdr backups the best chance of withstanding the tests of time use genuine Grade A media. The simple rule to follow is

Grade A = Made In Japan
Not Grade A = Made In Taiwan

You are right it is the quality of the dye used in manufacture. Taiyo Yuden is THE manufacturer of CDR in Japan. They out source there discs to other companies such as Fuji but be carefull as Fuji also sell Made In Taiwan discs in almost identical packaging. Look for Made In Japan on the label.
Taiyo Yuden also sell there media "unbranded". This is the safest way to buy IMO (you know what you are getting). I order mine online in the UK and pay about 27p per disc which is more expensive but you get what you pay for. In the States I guess they would be cheaper.

David..

[4walls]

What about DVD-R?

[Ken Fong]

I think the article said DVD-R had the same vulnerability as the CD-R.

FYI, one company is taking it to an extreme by testing a disposable DVD ...an even more light (or air?) sensitive dye. These expire within 24-48 hours after opening the package. This is supposedly marketed as the 'blockbuster video' killer...no need to return the disc, it becomes a useless coaster.

[mookiemeister]

To give your cdr backups the best chance of withstanding the tests of time use genuine Grade A media. The simple rule to follow is

Grade A = Made In Japan
Not Grade A = Made In Taiwan


What about CD-R that are not made in either Japan or Taiwan? Are they consider good or poor grade? I've been using Maxwell CD-R and not sure if they are good or bad quality. Do I need ot worry about loosing data in a couple of years?

[shelbix2020]

I think the article said DVD-R had the same vulnerability as the CD-R.

FYI, one company is taking it to an extreme by testing a disposable DVD ...an even more light (or air?) sensitive dye. These expire within 24-48 hours after opening the package. This is supposedly marketed as the 'blockbuster video' killer...no need to return the disc, it becomes a useless coaster.
thats so retarded ..... think of the resources gone to waste everytime you rent and view a movie :roll: its sick...

[Ken Fong]

Talked to a computer technician at Fry's today (no jokes please)...he seemed to be an enthusiast on storage media. He agreed that CD-R should not be used for archive and added that CR-RW is not much better for other reasons.
He recommeded external Firewire hard drives (USB2 is okay, but not as great) as the more permanent and economical solution. External gives you modularity (in case something happens to your PC).

I did some pricing on Amazon (4/23/04):
Western Digital Firewire 120GB: $200; 200GB $267; 250GB $334
Some other brands even include built-in card readers.

From what I understand about hard drives...even if there is a mechanical failure, you can always use a service to recover your data (but costly).

[mttmrphy]

Well, My Guns and Roses cd still plays and it has to be at least 16 years old or so...

[seawasp]

mttmrphy: Audio CDs you buy from the store are pressed while CD-Rs are etched. So the latter are less tolerant to sunlight and temperature.

But, etched or pressed, their lifespan is shortened if not handled properly (dirt, nasty scratches, placed on top of your CRT or stereo, big changes in temperature, moisture, gravity [yes gravity, store your backup CDs vertically in a dark cool space or make it a standard procedure to backup the backups every ~2 years] and those pesky and slightly acidic fingerprints).

[Bytes U]

The tests I have read suggest that putting a custom label on the CDR can make it lose data at a much faster rate. Apparently the adhesive causes the reflective foil to break down. Guess who always used to use CD Stomper to make his CD's look good. :oops:

[Volatile]

There's nothing wrong with usb2 compared to firewire, the two are nearly indistinguishable. My external HD has both, and I use usb2 with my desktop, and firewire with my laptop.

Quick question: If you are archiving, doesn't that kind of imply storage in a cool, dark place?

[Gerdav43]

Just to be fun I thougt I would be the Devil's Advocate for a second. :twisted:

thats so retarded ..... think of the resources gone to waste everytime you rent and view a movie its sick...

Now how much can it actually cost to press a DVD. Now think of all the families hopping in their monster SUV's and trucking to the Video store. Then having to truck back to return it. HMMM! Sounds like a wash to me 8) Either way its retarded and resources gone to waste everytime you rent a movie......It really is sick. :evil: :)

[Jemmind]

Does anyone know of any other articles showing that CD-r's have shorter life spans than CR-rw's? I cannot get that top story without subscibing, and I won't for the one article. I want to show my husband about it. The kid at Circuit City was trying to tell us that CD-rs will last for 100 years! Maybe the disk but not the data!
Thanks guys. I tried a search on Yahoo but couldnt find any real evidence to show him.

Julie

[Longwatcher]

based on fairly extensive research I did so I could judge for myself (ie take this for what it is worth).

CDs that are pressed should last about 100 years, which is the longest any storage medium can be judged.
CD-R depend on who manufactered them and when. Very early CD-Rs should last pretty close to the same 100 years, but more recent CD-Rs, especially the cheap ones may only last 6 months at most. The dye used seems to be the big factor. I never finished finding out one thing that used to be an indicator was the the sheen on the write side of the disk apparently used to be a good indicator of the quality, green, silver, gold, but not sure if it is any more. 10 cent disks are highly unlikely to be good quality disks though.
DVDs again pressed DVD will last the same 100 years, DVD+-Rs currently are probably still overall good.

As to magnetic drives, good as long there is no strong electro-magnetic field near them (such as the fabled terrorist nuke or a very near-by lightning strike. Note that lightning/nukes are highly unlikely to wipe data without also destroying the disk, but it could happen, whereas it would have to destroy a CD to kill the data on the CD.

My oldest CD-R I can find easily (and with a label on it no less) was written on 04 Jan 1998, still reads fine. I have not lost one yet after a sucessfull write. My old ones have a deeper green sheen to them, the newer ones are closer to silver, but still have a green/blue tint so maybe that is the key.

Just my experience,

[DocFrankenstein]

Either way its retarded and resources gone to waste everytime you rent a movie......It really is sick. :evil: :)
Yeah - save the trees, the fuel and the green forest.

Just download them :lol:

[DocFrankenstein]

I don't know about how long they last, but there was a test where they compared major CD brands in terms or errors and quality.

FUJI is the best. It ruled and had a score higher than 3 other leading competitors combined :shock:

So now, when I burn cds, I take a Fuji if I burn for myself and a 20c one if I burn for a friend :twisted:

[Ken Fong]

I think disposable DVDs will do better than an earlier attempt at pay-per-view "DIVX"...anyone remember this? (not DIVX the movie compression format).
Think applications like people wanting to check out a movie before getting on a long flight (and not having to return it). But the test I heard was McDonald's passing out disposable movies with Happy Meals. They should come up with a better way to recycle those things though.

CDs that are pressed should last about 100 years, which is the longest any storage medium can be judged.

This should be a good reason to avoid buying bootleg CDs assuming they are not pressed...why encourage those guys anyway?