CD-R qualilty

18 years ago

Just a quip...

I was destroying some old back-up disks today -- rendering them useless by scratching the reflective plating through. Noticed that in the case of about six of them, my scratching caused large areas of the plating to spontaneously lift right off almost on its own. The surface bonding had almost completely failed. Brand name of these was Imation. They were five years old, stored cool, dry, and protected. Bought new at retail. Except for the back-up burning, never used.

Wouldn't have expected it. Now re-thinking quality considerations of CD's and DVD's.

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Comments (10)

bob414
18 years ago
You might want to check out this link which poohbear posted a while back.
genes
18 years ago
I dont see Memorex on the list. It distributed in the States and made in Taiwan. I use both the CD-R's and DVD-R & DVD+Rs and havent had any problems with them
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asolo
Original Author
18 years ago
Hey, Bob414 (and poohbear!)....

Thanks for this link. I have quite a lot of archival stuff I do, indeed, want to preserve long-term. The thought of my chosen media spontaneously disintegrating makes me profoundly uncomfortable. Time for some research.
jane__ny
18 years ago
Please post back and tell us what you find...

Jane
DA_Mccoy
18 years ago
No arguement with PB"s link here.

For what is is worth, at work the digital data storage retention is mandated by statute; varying up to indefinite. For years we have been retaining data on traditional commercial name-brand CDs. It is only recently the IT Department has advised a change to "archival" quality CDs. There claim is the "oxide" on the recording surface begins to deteriorate over extended time thus potentially rendering the disk useless.

This entire thought goes back to a thread shared here some time ago. The focus was on the retention of data and pictures, and what media to use.

A strong conclusion was we as users have no idea how long any storage media will last as the whole process is in the infancy stage. The claims of data availability are based on controlled labratory studies and estimations(guess-tamations).

A 25-30 year guarantee on photo paper will not help if it fails in 20 years. Any guarantee on CDs/DVDs will not help if there is a premature failure. Only time will actually tell.

DA
ravencajun Zone 8b TX
18 years ago
Those issues are exactly why it is so highly suggested to never depend on one type of medium alone if it is of great importance. Use multiple methods of backup, and hopefully one will stand the test of time and the elements.

Think of all the things we used to save and store on floppy disc, today it is rare to even find a pc that has a floppy drive to be able to access the data if it is in fact still there. I have one of the original Sony Mavica cameras that save to floppy, I loved the camera and took a lot of pictures with it. I have a file box full of floppies! Thankfully I still have 2 computers that have floppy drives so I can access them and so far they are looking good. But that is on my to do list, decide what to do with all those floppies!

I do use several online storage sites as an added backup option.
DA_Mccoy
18 years ago
Gosh! That was the worst spelling post I think I have ever done, or at least a long time. I am an excellent speller, but a much less than average typist; more a word processor. See what happens when you are on lunch, not totally focused on what you are doing, and yes being in a little bit of a hurry.

Normally signed DA, but today I am Chagrined.
daylilydayzed
18 years ago
I use the Kodak disc, I bought a spool of 100 of them from Kodak when I first got my computer. Haven't had a problem with any of them I have burned information or pictures on.
asolo
Original Author
18 years ago
Clarifying...

I haven't had a "problem" with any disk bought/used to date. Only saying I noticed this obvious deterioration/weakness within five years and am doubtful of these particular disks' likelihood of holding up for the long term. For my intention of "archiving" my important data, surely I must find something better.
rrcrossing
18 years ago
I think I recall the thread DA refers to. What struck me in that thread was that while various media may have a satisfactory life span, we don't know whether the means to use that media will exist, as ravencajun speaks to re his small floppies. While I do create archives of my data on DVD, I am relying on external hard drives as a more permanent solution.

I do agree that multiple media backups is preferable.

Bob