Can't read old photos from CD-RW

I've been trying to read some photos (jpgs) that I saved 4-5 years ago as jpgs. The pics are saved onto a CD-RW. Back then I would reopen and drag n drop pics many times to archive using the same disc. Now my current CD burned doesn't even recognize the disc exist. I would also backup to a HD but that crashed and burned many years ago.

Does anyone know or have used a service company that can retrieve files like this in this situation?

Have you tried other machines? For some strange reason, it might be the drive you are trying to use. Is the disk damaged?

First of all, when the images were originally saved, did you test the CD then to see if it worked? If the sessions were not closed properly, then that would account for it.

Second, some CD drives work with some types and not with others. For example, I have one brand of CD reader/recorder that will record only with CD+RW. If I try CD-RW or similar-sounding types, it will not work at all.

I don't think this is a Canon EOS digital camera problem, so it probably does not belong in this forum section.

---Bob Gross---

No, I don't believe it's damaged at least no visual scratches. I tied two other drives but no success. I also tried to use some "recovery" program that claims to be able to recover lost data but it didn't help either.

Like SageOne said, try it in as many machines as you can, CDs can be weird like that. I hope you've learned your lesson - everyone has to lose data once before they realise the importance of backups.

I had the same problem with my files burned to CD-RW. Every time I updated my CD burning software (Roxio EZ CD creator), the software failed to read the older CD-RWs although the software never had problems reading the CD-Rs. Because of that, I only use CD-RW as temporary storage and burn all "permanent" backup to CD-Rs.

If you have access to an older machine that has an old copy of the UDF reader program that was available from Adaptec and later Roxio during the time you burned those CD-RWs of your, you may be able to recovery the data from them. If not, I'm afraid you're out of luck.

I didn't know it until last year, but CD's DO have a shelf life.
It has been recomended that CD's should be backed up by burning a new one every couple of years. Another thing, I don't use rewritable CD's because their shelf life reportedly is even shorter, and I further heard that they get corrupted easier.
Regular writable CD's are cheap enough to use, and if I mess one up while burning, I simply chuck it and burn another.
Another point, try to buy "Archival" quality CD's for your important stuff.
One of the guys on another forum was playing with the idea of using a DVD writer with writable DVD's for storage. I didn't hear any more about how the DVD's worked out for Him though.
Good luck finding a way to recover your files. Let us know if you manage it.
-Bruce

Thanks everyone for your time and advise...sorry this thread is not specific to EOS but I thought it would be helpful to other EOS users like myself to hear about some things to avoid.

I don't use CD-RW or other re-writeable discs anymore. I use both an external 160Gb HD and DVD-R for backups and keep an additional in-work copy on my internal HD until ready to archive. External HD cost about 1 USD per Gb and fast access ....only way to go IMHO.

There are 2 ways to use a CD-RW disc. One way is the "burn" it normally as you would a CD-R. This way will make it readable by anything that can read a CD-R. Which has you select the files to burn, name the disc, then goes through the burning process.

The second way is the use it as a "big floppy" where you don't select which files to put to it, you access the CD-RW disc as you would one of your hard drives or your floppy drives. If you used this method you need to have the same software on the computer now as you did when you were using the CD-RW as a "drag and drop" disc. Where you can delete just one file if you want. I think this may be why you cannot access your files. Once I found out the difference I stopped using CD-RW discs as "drag and drop".

I have burnt CD-R's that would work fine in one player but not another [work in my new Chevy truck and my Denon home stereo but not in the Sony system at work]. I have also had several CD-RW's that could not be read on the machine that made them after they have set for a few months. I bought a 160 Gb HD and put it in a desktop enclosure and use it for my primary backup now. I still burn CD's but I just don't count on them working. The external HD's are the way to go. I have $100 in mine after rebates, Western Digital 160Gb & Venus DS3 USB enclosure. It works great and is lightning fast.

Are there any archival quality DVDs out there?

Think Hellashot has hit the nail on the head, your CD and it's contents is probably fine, but you'll have to come up with the software that allowed you to "drag 'n drop" to the CD in the first place as using this method results in a CD that isn't readable in the normal sense on other machines. I remember seeing HP software that did this a few years ago and commenting at the time that I'd avoid it like the plague as inter-machine compatability is what makes CD's great. Have you got the original install CD that came with your writer?

Sagebrush, can I assume from your response that you did test the original CD disks after they were created? Or not?

I've seen people who created CD backups on one machine, and then they decided to migrate to a better/faster machine. They dragged their old backups over to the new machine and discovered that they were unreadable there, so they dragged them back to the old machine, transferred them to other media (like a hard disk), and then moved that over to the new machine. Once the moved hard disk was there, it could be off-loaded onto the new machine's primary disk.

As we say, "There's always more than one way to skin a cat."

---Bob Gross---

I don't trust any optical media, and they haven't been around long enough for anyone to know how long they'll really last. It's fine as an extra backup, but I want my data on a hard drive or three.

If you write using ISO9660 it should be readable across multi platforms.A bug can eat through the inner layers of a CD & migrate to other CD's touching it,therefore make sure CD's are stored away from the light in a wallet that separates each one.Try not to use -RW use -R & for more security & longevity write to DVD.Do not use the cheapest media you can buy use a well known branded name.Following these steps will help to alleviate storage & replay problems.