How long do they last?

[justleesa]

Interesting James....so for my stuff the CD-RW would be the way to go.....Thanks!
Lisa

 

[glbirch]

I worry far more about degradation through normal use than through long term storage. I tend to burn two copies of my data; one to archive and one for use. When the used one starts to go, I copy the archive and rotate the stock. So far, so good.

 

[justleesa]

Once I have it on the disc....I pretty much don't need to go back because the pictures that I really, really need, I still have on my HD...Maybe I should start writing the date I made the CD on the CD too....

 

[glbirch]

Once I have it on the disc....I pretty much don't need to go back because the pictures that I really, really need, I still have on my HD...Maybe I should start writing the date I made the CD on the CD too....

Dating archived data is always good practice for several reasons. Just don't do it with water-soluble ink (like one of my guys did once.) One spilled glass of water in the server room and...

 

[justleesa]

Opps!

 

[fdog]

Just re-read the article in Network Computing. Although it references the article in the Independent , it appears the original research was done by the Dutch magazine PC-Active .

Credit to those who really did the legwork.

All the best, James

 

[zboss]

Good quality CDs will last a long time I have music CDs from the early 80s that are still fine. Cheap CDs may not last as long. Abused cheap CDs may last only several months. Use high quality CDs for long term storage. We ran into the same question in the medical records field and found to our surprise, CDs are not all the same I use the good $0.55 (wholesale) ones not the cheap $0.28 ones for patient studies and records.

The Kodak archive CDs at $2.50?? each (retail) are said to be the best available. I moved to high quality DVDs to get 4.5gig (or so) per at $9.50 each for long term storage. This was cheaper than the 640 meg CDs.

not all CD's a made equal. Many of the cheap cd's are made of a single layer of plastic with the data surface also acting as the label. When the label flakes off or gets scratched there goes your data!

In theold days so cd's had a plactic layer so thin that when scratched it would expose the data layer to oxidation. As far as I know - this problem doesn't exist with newer cd r/ws.

I agree - if longevity is important and copy them to archival quality cds or dvds.

 

[adshepard]

The other day my SO was listening to the Kim Komando show and he heard something about the fact that the data we burn onto CDs (our pictures) only lasts about 2 years (or less) depending on how they are handled....he went back and looked up the show and came up with this:

http://www.komando.com/kolumns_show.asp?showID=5747

Should I make a copy of a copy of a copy (already am making 2 for safe keeping) to ensure the life of my photos?

Actually the concern over long-term storage is a worry voiced by more than a few industry insiders and by some "historians" in a very serious manner. The worry is two-fold at least. One is, as you were concerned with, the potential degradation or loss of material on the CD. The other is the ever changing technology which in the future will make the CD obsolete. Historians are worried that an entire era of images will be lost because the technology to read them is no longer used by most people. How many of us have a disk drive to read those large 5"+ floppy disks? How many will bother to convert their old CD stroed images to the new technology? What images will be lost due to hard drive crashes or simply tossing out an old computer and not saving the old images to the new machine? Will your grandchildren look through your CD's like we flip through old photo albums?

I'm not sure how long negatives or slides last but with them you had the image right there in some fashion to look at. With a CD you don't have anything unless the CD is readable.

DSDO

Alan

 

[Kim]

Although I don't have anything to back it up, except - as ReyeR - CD's that are 8/9 years old and still work fine - I would say this: I have never heard of this happening in practice. Many millions of people use, and have used, CD's for a long time now. I have yet to see any documented reports of people having CD's failing where the reason was simply 'old age'. Yes, if they get damaged or scratched it can be a problem - but otherwise...... If this was something that happened a lot - we'd know - people would talk. As far as I know the jury is still out - no-one KNOWS how long CD's last - because up until now (from the time they were introduced) there hasn't been any significant failure rate. If someone else knows this to be false I would love to know! In the absence of concrete evidence - I wouldn't worry. (Mark you - I wouldn't put it past the manufacturers to 'build in' a life cycle as they do for instance with automobile parts!)

 

[divebomb]

Should I make a copy of a copy of a copy (already am making 2 for safe keeping) to ensure the life of my photos?[/QUOTE]

Lisa,

I would not make a copy of a copy of a copy. If you're talking about just copying from an old CD to a new CD you could be copying problems.

Since you upload your pics to your PC then burn them to CD, make fresh burns from your PC to a new CD. Be sure to date and rotate.

Beck