CDR's only last for five years??? WTF???

[Peak_Oil]

from www.whatreallyhappened.com

The Myth Of The 100-Year CD-Rom
Posted Feb 5, 2005 12:40 PM PST
Category: COMPUTERS/SECURITY
If you check the claims made by some manufacturers of popular CD-R brands, you will see that some make bold claims indeed. Typical boasts include: "100-years archival life", "guaranteed archival lifespan of more than 100 years" and "one million read cycles". One company even says data can be stored "swiftly and permanently", leaving you free to bequeath those backups of your letter to the electricity company to your great-great-grandchildren. But an investigation by a Dutch personal computer magazine, PC Active, has shown that some CD-Rs are unreadable in as little as two years, because the dyes in the CD's recording layer fade.
When I moved into CD-R burners and disks for archiving, I checked with the company that made the blanks and was told to expect a lifespan of 50 years with "proper care". Proper care in my case is a fire safe in a cool, dry, and dark place.

This morning I went to recover some music my wife recorded to CD-R 5 years ago, and EVERY SINGLE DISK from 5 years ago is unreadable.


Snip...

Damn! I don't even know how much music I have stored on CDR. Not good.

[burrowowl]

1. Yes

apparently CDs' do not last long. So re-back them up every year or so.
Tape for your puter stuff probably lasts longer. I think the US Library has worries about this.

[BlueJazz]

2. It truly does depend on the manufacturer

I've been using Memorex Disks for about 7 years and have had Zero problems with them.

[Swede]

3. It could be your cd player.

As the laser gets older it has a harder time reading a disc. CDRs have a smaller eye-pattern so are harder to read. Combine the two and viola, a problem. Try your discs in more than one player.

[cornfedyank]

4. they been doing it to us since 8-tracks...maybe even 78's.

and each iteration loses us a little more history.

[Maddy McCall]

5. I was trained as an oral historian.

We still use cassette tapes because of the longer shelf life. Most archives do.