Storage: Do burned CDs and DVDs have a shelf life?
- 2/13/09 2:55 PM
Shelf life of CD's and DVD's
by davidn48 - 2/3/09 1:03 AM In reply to: Do burned CDs and DVDs have a shelf life? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I only have long-term expereince with CD's but I suspect DVD's would be similar. I have found that recordable CD's do have a shelf-life, but it seems to depend on how much information is on them. For an audio CD, if the maximum amount of music on the CD is 60 to 65 mins then shelf life seems OK. But if you record 70+ mins of music the shelf-life may be 5 to 10 years (or less, it just seems better with some recordable CD's than others -- the brand doesn't seem to make much difference). It seems to be the outer (last) track that goes.
However, the same goes for bought CD's, though not to the same extent. I have a CD with 73 mins of music on it, made by a reputable CD company, and which I bought in June 1995. I have recently noticed that the end of the outer track (about last 1 to 2 mins) has digital distortion. I would have last played this CD about 4 to 5 years ago, and it was OK then.
My general advice would to be to keep the amount of info on a CD below 65 mins of music, (or about 650MB of data). Also, if it is REALLY precious, make 2 copies. And backup important bought CD's with 70+ mins on them.
Do burned CD's and DVD's have a shelf life
by emjayaitch - 2/3/09 2:23 AM In reply to: Do burned CDs and DVDs have a shelf life? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Short answer YES THEY DO although most manufacturers will say otherwise all CD/DVD's have a limited shelf life. I know this to be true because recently I rediscovered a CD I had burnt as a compilation, with some of my all time favorite tracks from my collection for use in the car. I had not played it for about 3 years after trying it in 3 in car players, 2 different home players ( Panasonic and Sony) with all units not recognising it, I tried to copy it using my computer burner( reader is a Panasonic DVD/CD drive, writer is Panasonic DVD/CD multi format burner) even this did not recognise the disc I have had to bin it.
So beware anyone who thinks DVD/CD's are lifelong,.
Always the best solution is to make regular backups of important data/info anyway.
I would advise anyone to regularly check to see if DVD/CD's are still accessible,
CDs - only part of a good backup plan
by daeby - 2/3/09 7:19 AM In reply to: Do burned CD's and DVD's have a shelf life by emjayaitchIf you really value the files, don't put them all in one basket. If you use optical discs as your sole backup, make fresh copies at least every year or two and retain one or two old copies. Servers usually have at least three backup versions (mostly still mag tape) in rotation, with at least one of those stored off-site in case of fire or other problems.
Burned CD/DVD discs can last many years, especially if stored properly and not used too frequently. That doesn't mean that every burned optical disc will read perfectly for many years. You may have noticed that burned CDs don't last as long as pressed commercial music CDs when they are stored in your car - and thereby exposed to huge temperature swings. CDs don't have to get hot enough to warp or melt to fail, and winter cold can be nearly as hard on them.
Hard drives fail too often to rely upon them as the only backup method. We're still learning how long to trust Flash memory. Professional tape backup systems for IT management may work well, but the consumer versions have always been disappointing to me. Any of these methods can be PART of a good backup plan, but one copy does not make a complete backup plan.
I have burned master CDs of our production CDs at work. The image files are on the production equipment hard drives. The first backup of the production hard drives is a USB hard drive that I keep. The last resort backup is on a network server in another city - and that server is backed up on tape nightly. The more critical the data, the more steps you must take to assure that it is never lost.
Wikipedia has some good info for those who want lots of details. See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_Disc
All CD-R's & DVD+-R's Are Not The Same *
by Winchester257 - 2/3/09 10:01 AM In reply to: Do burned CD's and DVD's have a shelf life by emjayaitchThere are blank discs suitable for long term back-ups.They are ARCHIVAL GOLD discs.It is irrelevant if you personally had a cheap Sony or Memorex CD-R fail.Professional archival grade Gold discs are made differently.
All about cd's
by SODAMU - 2/5/09 1:17 AM In reply to: Do burned CDs and DVDs have a shelf life? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scots_Guide/intro/electron.htm
Use this link and enter on signals or the telephone icon.Look for the CD subject. You will find all about the cd disk and how it work.
Shelf life of recordable CD's and DVD's
by Practical-Mac - 2/5/09 3:10 PM In reply to: Do burned CDs and DVDs have a shelf life? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Nothing lasts forever.
How long is the question.
What is clearly known is lower temperature (freezing may NOT be safe for CD/DVD) and dark places will let the disk last longer.
Another problem, Obsolescence!
You not find a device to read your old disks any more!
To be safe, every 10 years copy to new media, using the latest technology. The good news is, you will need fewer disks to back up your old backups. 
Not to worry
by im a gamer - 2/5/09 9:36 PM In reply to: Do burned CDs and DVDs have a shelf life? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
About the thing that CDs and DVDs have a shelf life, I don't think that's plausible. However, if you want to keep your discs for a longer time, try to handle and store them carefully. Discs can run for a long time, but one scratch is all it takes to ruin them. So I suggest that you handle them from the edges, store them in cases and keep the disc label side down when using them, that means the data layer shuold be at the top. Another thing, if you need to clean your discs, do so with a soft cloth and I have heard that the disc can be washed with mild soap safely.
How to repair scratches in CD/DVD
by skelax - 2/6/09 9:08 AM In reply to: Not to worry by im a gamerAs the above post suggests, taking care of your disc is your best defense against disc failure. But sometimes minor scratches are inevitable. So for minor scratches, I have found that applying car polish/wax over the disc and buffing it with a soft cloth (preferably cloth for cleaning eye glasses) in a radial direction will make the disc readable again. However, we cannot do anything about deep scratches.
Is there any cover for cd or dvds?
by Gurujimmy - 2/6/09 3:18 PM In reply to: Do burned CDs and DVDs have a shelf life? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Is there any clear coating that can be put on the disk either in a liquid or sticker form? I've seen some cds with a plastic coating on them. I think it was a game for the Ps2 I rented from Hollywood Video where I seen this.
Use Gold Lacquer Thermal CD/DVD/Blue Ray Media
by gkearnes - 2/6/09 11:56 PM In reply to: Do burned CDs and DVDs have a shelf life? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Most if not all cd/dvds and blue ray all use the silver lacquer which only last so long like two years to five depending on the manufacturer but the gold laquer media last 100 years for DVD 300 years for CD and Blue Ray Media. I thought all my photos were safe until I lost my hard drives. When I bought new drives and intalled my back up CD's only 87% of the data was available. Now they don't even work. I researched a long time getting the advice that I should use tape back up but that media does not always stay available with each new version of windows as drivers change like my old data drives that won't work with VISTA etc. A company called Mitsui has Gold Lacquer Media which will not degrade over our life time and you get the same media from Delkin. Not matter how well you take care of your CD's and DVD's they lose the data for oxidation and there is nothing you do to change that just make them last a little longer. Hope this helps.
Someone should come up with a cheep resurfacing cd/dvd serv
by Gurujimmy - 2/7/09 8:35 AM In reply to: Use Gold Lacquer Thermal CD/DVD/Blue Ray Media by gkearnesUse Gold Lacquer Thermal CD/DVD/Blue Ray Media is a good idea Gkearnes and thanks for the advice. But someone should come up with a cheep resurfacing cd/dvd service. Not just take off scratches, but actually replace the clear coat. Well till then I will just rebackup my media every so often.
Life Span of CDs, CDRs, and CDRWs as well as DVD...
by GERRY RAINS - 2/7/09 2:16 PM In reply to: Do burned CDs and DVDs have a shelf life? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I have something to add that never seems to be mentioned. A friend of mine stores his CDRs in the paper slips only. I use plastic jewel cases. His fail fairly frequently, about 4 - 8 years. I have been cutting CDRs since 1995 and putting all of them in jewel boxes. I frequently play those. So far not a single one of them has gone bad. The ones that I leave in my car and since I have no garage or carport are thus subject to extremes of weather don't do very well. It seems to me that the heat is worse than the cold but I can't swear to that. After all, car batteries weaken in the summer heat but fail in the winter cold.
Additionally, I have read and been told that CDRWs fail far more frequently than CDRs. Since I don't use CDRWs I can't swear to that. Since I don't back to DVDRs or DVDRWs except under rare conditions I really can't add personal experience to that, but I have also read and been told that DVDRWs fail more frequently than DVDRs. Since I have a huge classical music collection as well as some other music I have used hundreds of CDRs and, as long as they're kept in jewel cases indoor they seem to be great.
On the other hand I ***always*** use Sony brand CDRs. I've heard some real horror stories about others, especially Verbatim. I don't think that the cheaper CDRs are as good as Sony CDRs but then Sony everything lasts pretty much forever.
less air expose the better!
by AnthonyNYC - 2/8/09 4:29 PM In reply to: Life Span of CDs, CDRs, and CDRWs as well as DVD... by GERRY RAINSI agree with you plstic containers offer better air protection than just paper sleeves.
It is like using tupperware instead of a brown bag for storing food in the refrigerator. One goes bad much faster, but eventually both suffer the effects from air.
So I say it once again, air tight storage is probably the best way to prevent cd data loss.
They make these nice square air tight, snap lid containers now, probably great for a stack of important cd in paper sleeves to be kept in long term.
Sony Does Not Make Their Own Discs
by Winchester257 - 2/15/09 6:43 AM In reply to: Life Span of CDs, CDRs, and CDRWs as well as DVD... by GERRY RAINSThere is no such thing as a Sony CD-R or DVD-R , only a Sony branded CD-R or DVD-R.Check the packaging.Some say "made in Taiwan",some say "made in Japan",some say that they are made in other places.Sony does not have their own disc factories in all of these places.
Sony is just a brand name that people associate with quality because of what they did decades ago.The only things that Sony is good for now are LCD TV's (but Pioneer and some Panasonic plasmas are better), digital cameras (but Canon's are better), and the Playstation 3.
I do give them credit for developing (or helping to develop) Super Audio CD's and Blu-Ray discs,however.They had better hope that they can get OLED TV's out there larger than 11 inches.
Back to the blank discs,once again "Archival Grade" gold recordable discs by MAM-A (Mitsui),Kodak,Quantegy,Verbatim (not to be confused with their regular recordable discs),Falcon, and Delkin Devices (E-Film) will far outlast any batch,good or bad, of Sony branded recordable discs.
Shelf Life for CDs & DVDs?
by amax2 - 2/8/09 1:06 PM In reply to: Do burned CDs and DVDs have a shelf life? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
First of all, make sure that you purchase good to excellent quality media. The Dollar Store "bargains" just won't cut it.
The better quality media is reputed to have a Shelf Life of 30 - 50 yrs provided they are stored in a proper container, in a vertical position - although I've never heard any substantial arguments as to the proper position - and in a consistent environment - more than likely a place out of direct sunlight where the mean temperature varies little.
You might want to check out the website:
http://www.cdfreaks.com/
This website can offer a lot of info in regards to the choosing & care of CD/DVD media.
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