Do Burned CDs Have a Short Life Span?

[suppafreak]

IS THIS TRUE???

http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20060110/tc_pcworld/124312

[ROF]

I can say without a doubt it's mostly false. Most of my burnt CDs are over 5 years old. They still work like the day I burnt them.

[pepegot1]

Only if you do not handle them with care. Lots of uninformed people just pick it up with fingers on the recorded side. That's a No! No!

[adam]

Well he works for IBM and is warning people to stop archiving data on CD and start using magnetic drives instead..... no bias or ulterior motives there. He says CDs last 2-5 years, a while back some CDr manufacturers ran their own tests and reported that it was more like 50 years. And 3 out of 4 Doctors recommend Trident gum. Its just media spin.

I'd wager to guess that the vast majority of people who have owned cd recordable drives for more than 5 years also have burnt discs that old that still work/play just fine.

[funnel71]

I notice he didn't mention media such as SD memory cards. Anyone got a life expectency on these?

[RottenFoxBreath]

yeah,its until they break.
nothing in this life lasts forever.
magnetic drives,flash memory,optical media..its all flawed.

[offline]

Put it this way, most governments use microfiche for long term data storage. Certain databases are kept on etched disk.

[waheed]

I have burned CDs from several years still working fine.

[SLK001]

I got my first CD burner ten years ago. I checked some of the disks I burned the first day I had the burner, and they still work fine.

Of course, I've never seen the savings in buying cheap blanks.

[jman98]

This article was also posted to Slashdot (http://www.slashdot.com) where it has had a lot of comment. Many posters there talked about having CDs 5+ years old that still worked fine.

I have a relatively large collection of laser discs. I'm sure everyone remembers the dire warnings of laser rot that came out many years ago. I admit that I don't watch them much these days, but every now and then I will pull one out and convert it to DVD as I have a few things on laserdisc that never got put out on DVD. I am only aware of one laserdisc that I have that has bit rot. I keep my discs stored in a cool, dark place. I think as long as you take care of your discs and don't subject them to temperature extremes, you should be OK.

[Ironballs]

Chisseled rocks last quite a while

[ROF]

I think as long as you take care of your discs and don't subject them to temperature extremes, you should be OK.

I've got quite a few CDs that have never left my vehicle since being burnt. They are over five years old and besides being kept in slim cases they are subject to some of the most extreme temperatures and in some cases they are left to be drenched in sunlight.

I wish I could say the same for my poor magnetic cassette tapes.

[greymalkin]

the older cd-r's seemed to use better dye's as well. Most cd-r's you find in stores today are just about see-through.

[kisrum]

Guess it's asking too much for the author or the interviewee to offer any actual, you know, data to support the claims of CD failure.

With the millions upon millions of blanks sold, one would think the evidence would be piling up pretty fast 10 years into the CD burning phenomenon.

[Wile_E]

You guys do know there is a difference in dye-type in different CD's? Some manufacturers have poor quality control or use a different cheap dye.

I had some Memorex CD-R's that were stored away in my closet for a year. These were good when I burned them, with some C1 errors and no C2 errors. There are several programs that can show you this information, but your CD drive has to be able to show it to you. Anyway, I checked them after a year, and several of them had C2 errors. C2 errors mean uncorrectable data. My data was lost forever.

Don't buy cheap quality media. There is a difference between Taiyo Yuden, CMC, Ritek, etc... So YES, the article is TRUE. Discs can go bad. That's why I use external hard drives now to back up all my stuff too.

[lordsmurf]

That writer should go work for Fox News, where bullcrap, propaganda and opinion happen more than fact. This article follows in that style.

[phelix]

I have a relatively large collection of laser discs. I'm sure everyone remembers the dire warnings of laser rot that came out many years ago. I admit that I don't watch them much these days, but every now and then I will pull one out and convert it to DVD as I have a few things on laserdisc that never got put out on DVD. I am only aware of one laserdisc that I have that has bit rot. I keep my discs stored in a cool, dark place. I think as long as you take care of your discs and don't subject them to temperature extremes, you should be OK.

Laser rot is the result of a manufacturing defect. It is not something that will just happen to a disc. Certain factories (like sony DADC) were notirious for producing shoddy discs that would rot. Not all discs will rot, just the defective ones.

[Dasun]

Lets see....

I have CD-R's going back 7 years now - still perfect as far as I can tell (the oldest being KODAK Golds), I have 1 Princo CD-R around 6 years old that never leaves the car glove box and it still seems fine - and Oz summers are often hot and humid! I have DVD-R's going back like 3 years and they seem fine as well.

I have 8mm Video tapes 20 years old and some of them are a sorry sight to behold - literally! I have VHS tapes 26+ years old and they are better than the 8mm tapes and seem in good condition. I have some audio reel to reel tapes over 40 and some near 50 years old and last time I checked (3 years ago!) they still played on the original recorder!

I have pressed CD's going back 16 years, so far no problems and pressed DVD's going back 6 years, so far no problems....and only 1 hard disk I have had over the years has failed - so far...

I think we can safely conclude the author of this article does not have much of a clue! In fact I expect my DVD's to outlast me at this rate, given that most of my media stubbornly refuses to listen to the "experts" and die after 5 years!

Incidentally, I keep most of my stuff in a dark cupboard or two along with some clothes and no other special attention.

As for SD cards I have been told 10 years is a good bet....lets see! One can see why though, as the electric charge is trapped and will slowly leak away...


Perhaps we should start a poll and find out just how long media lasts and where contributers live....

[Wile_E]

You missed something...DVD and CD Recordables is what the article says will go bad. NOT a pressed DVD/CD! My dad has reel-to-reel tapes that are probably 40 years old too, and everyone I try still plays fine. But these recordables discs (DVD+/-R, CD-R). I don't trust them. I trust VHS tapes more than these discs. I think they are more suspectible then tape. The article tells it like it is. Go to sites like http://www.cdrlabs and you will see the complaints that others have with cheap media. Even if it burns good today and you can read it, doesn't mean it will still be good a year from now.

First buy a drive that can show C1/C2 errors. Then get the software that shows you C1/C2 errors, and test your discs the day you burn them. Write the number of errors down. Put the disc in a protective binder and store away in the closet for one year. Take it back out and check for C1/C2 errors. They will increase! The dye changes over time. Especially the cheap junk. Hell, even the TY media I have had a slight increase in C1 errors. But not as bad as the Memorex CMC crap!

[offline]

Just to add...

I have some cdr media from Jan. 1989 - Mitsui. There are no unreadable sectors. Interestingly I did have to throw out one pressed silver music cd I bought in 1985 though - no scratches or warping - it just developed errors. I have thrown out countless cheap light green and blue azo dye cdrs.

The authors five year limit claim for quality media is just not supported by any facts. I suspect he was talking about C1 errors. Cheap media, on the other hand, can last less than a month - anyone try Shinto brand DVDR?

[Dasun]

Wile_E,

You missed something - my first paragraph! I talk about CD-R and DVD-R and these are recordables and I have come to have some faith in them, but I only use good quality media (bar a couple of princos). I have washed the occasional disc in water, and had the hell scratched out of them - courtesy of the same 4 year old and they still play. Heck I have even used nail polish remover on a disk to remove permanent marker from the data side (the wife and not the kid in this case) and I backed up this disk but the original recordable is fine.

In short I think recordable DVD is quite dependable if you have quality media.....

[ROF]

Guess it's asking too much for the author or the interviewee to offer any actual, you know, data to support the claims of CD failure.

With the millions upon millions of blanks sold, one would think the evidence would be piling up pretty fast 10 years into the CD burning phenomenon.

Those would AOL CDs.

[Cornucopia]

I just ran a scan/test on a Maxell disc from Jan '98. No errors! GIGO and you get what you pay for. I don't buy crap media, so mine last.

Now, all media needs to be "forwarded" or "renewed" at some point. I'm guessing good CD-R's to be ~15-25 years, so I'll transfer/backup to "renew" them before they come due.

I've also got pressed CD's from '83--sound great! 23 years isn't bad. I'm guessing their claim of ~50 years is close to the mark. Just treat 'em right.

Scott

[Nitemare]

Acid free paper... good for 300 years if you avoid moisture.

[slacker]

Reading very carefully, the article does not claim that dvds last only 2-5 years, only cds.

[ROBERT BLACK]

That writer should go work for Fox News, where bullcrap, propaganda and opinion happen more than fact. This article follows in that style.

Yes. Out and out Bullshit. Like the rest of you I have cd-rs from 5 years ago, and DVD-Rs from over 3 years ago that work fine.

[pfh]

Chisseled rocks last quite a while

As funny as this is, it brings good point to the discussion. Think about how we've managed to archive the written word into the 21st century.

I can comfortably conclude that my children will have the ability to view and preserve their life history and pass on most of the really important stuff to theirs.

[the * dude]

humm it seems a life time is only 5-10 yrs.... (thats what those mr data cd say!!)dude i should be dead by now...

get your priorites stright!!!

porn on cheap discs...

vidz on good discs...

work on paper!!!!!!

why not use floopies?? i sware i found one that was 10++ years old... yeap win 3.11 innstallation disks....

[kisrum]

pfh wrote:

I can comfortably conclude that my children will have the ability to view and preserve their life history and pass on most of the really important stuff to theirs.

I hope you're right but I suspect I'll just be leaving behind better organized rubbish for my grandchildren to throw away when I'm ashes in the wind.

"What do you think grandpa was thinking when he left these weird silvery disks in the safety deposit box marked 'old 8mm'?" "Oh well, wouldn't know how to read them anyway."

[rkr1958]

That writer should go work for Fox News, where bullcrap, propaganda and opinion happen more than fact. This article follows in that style.

Yes. Out and out Bullshit. Like the rest of you I have cd-rs from 5 years ago, and DVD-Rs from over 3 years ago that work fine.

Yes, it's too bad the writer of this article didn't follow the fair-and-balanced and intellectually honsest approach that Fox News brings to all their reports. Too bad they chose instead to follow the elite media's approach of using half-truths and intellectual dishonesty. Thank goodness for Fox News.