have you ever tried viewing the dvd on another pc to see if your files show up ok?
I personally never ever trust just one method of back up, I would also pick up a little flash thumb drive and back them up on it also. I buy them at big lots all the time for $10 for a 4 gig size.
I also have a lot of my stuff backed up online at Adrive which gives you 50 gig of space for free which will hold a lot of pictures.

Here is a link that might be useful: adrive

Yes, presuming you closed all those discs to be read on any computer when you finalized them. The use of a new operating system is not an issue.

Why don't you just try one or two of those discs on a new computer at a friend's or even at a store to make sure you made them readable on other computers?

Closing/ finalizing a disk with pictures should not be an issue. If they are created and stored in a traditional format such as jpeg or bmp they should open on any system just fine. It is music that has to be closed/finalized so it can be universally played.

RC is correct. If these pictures are important to you save them on multiple media as nothing is 100%.

DA

In my experience, it is safest to finalize all disks. There just seem to be too many hardware and software differences out there to not take this short, final step....

Here is a link that might be useful: Finalize/Close

DVD optical technology is the best choice for a backup media. As long as you keep the disc in a protective case it should have a storage life of 30 years or more. Solid state technology,like flash drives, and magnetic storage, like hard drives, may loose data within a decade.

johnkr, do I understand you correctly that I would be better off backing my photos and other important data on a 2nd set of DVDs than put them on a flash drive? Is DVD RW OK?

I have almost 8 years of photos on my computer and have them mirrored on two hard drives. If one HardDrive dies it is on the other one.

Also, it's a simple solution which nobody has mentioned . . . if you want another back-up method . . . what ever happened to good 'ol printing the photos out?! Go down to a CVS or Duane Reade and get prints. Then let the computer crash all it wants. You will always have your hard copy photos and it will last longer then any computer hard drive.

mare_wbpa-
R/W is ok, but it is better to simply burn them to a regular disc that is read only. As R/W discs get re-written, the storage medium can begin to degrade. Better to use a disc whose space can only be written to once, and not have to worry about re-use issues.

For long term storage it would be a good idea to research archive quality DVDs.

In CDs there is a substantial production quality difference between the generic CD and archive quality. Of course cost differential comes along with it. My employer switched to archive quality CDs a few years ago since no one knows for sure the life expectancy of CDs as a whole and our stored data is critical. In fact, a new data storage system is coming shortly which will elevate the storage to DVD. The IT people are suppose to be researching the generic vs archive quality, but they move at their own pace and are very territorial when questions are asked.

DA

If they're important photos, you may also want to make sure they're in a format that doesn't "bleed away" when transferred. Believe best for permanence is TIF. Downside is that TIF takes a lot more room than JPG. However, disks are cheap.

Optical technology is currently the textbook solution to long term archival storage. I don't think it matters if you use CDs or DVDs. A DVD would obviously allow more storage on a single disc.

I would stick to name brand discs and create an additional copy for added protection against loss. If you are really concerned about loosing data you can keep a copy at a different location, like a relatives home. This would save your data in the event of a fire or other disaster.

I really don't see an advantage of storing photos as TIF files. Files become currupt when part of the file is damaged and a TIF has a lot more bits to damage.

A CD or DVD might last for 30 years but what guarantee is there that a computer will still be out there that can read such--by then--ancient technology? Has anyone tried to find a computer that will read an old floppy disc? I have and they don't exist.

Technology moves very fast and I don't believe there is any such thing as permanent except a hard copy on archival paper.

If they are important photos, print them out.

Ginny12, I believe photos should be migrated to the technology available. That is why I scanned all my old paper photes to digital media. I have thousands of photos on a few DVDs instead of taking up boxes of space in my home.
When DVD storage becomes outdated I will move my photos to the new technology. The key is to be able to access the photos to transfer them and I believe the photos on my DVDs will be accessable when I want them.

As far as floppy drives, it took me all of about 5 seconds to find a floppy drive available online. Many people still use them as many people will be using DVDs in the future.

Here is a link that might be useful: Floppy Drive

you can still find the 3.5" floppy drives (I always put one in at least one of my machines) but the older bigger floppies are very hard to come by. The very old 8 inch and the 5 1/4 inch ones are rare these days. I spotted a couple of old used 5 1/4 ones on ebay but thats about it.
When we moved I found boxes of the old floppies with various stuff on them but with no way to access them I just threw them away.