Hello Brad,
I haven't been archiving on this media personally (I still have
everything on a huge internal HDD), but do have some idea from forums
etc. points
out that putting lables or writing on CD can cause the data to be
lost. There are some other interesting points in the article as well.
I also remember reading another thread where some claimed that
"re-writable" DVDs were more reliable than plain "once-writable"
media. I am not sure if that is true for CD's as well.
Most big banks use "tapes" as backup medium. I am not sure if that is
because they are more reliable, or just cheaper.
-Navjot
On Wed, 08 Dec 2004 09:34:49 -0800, Brad Davis <DocBradd@mac.com> wrote:
>
>
> Archiving:
>
> I've been using CD's for archiving for at least 6 years. When I started, I
> used an HP burner that worked at 2X. It still works. In fact, if a CD
> won't read on another burner or CD drive, it may read on the old HP. This
> doesn't surprise me, running slower would seem likely to be more robust.
>
> But, as I try to access older CD's, I consistently find files that I can't
> open - with any CD reader, even the HP. While CD's written by the HP are
> likely to have fewer bad files, it seems that virtually all of the older
> CD's have some files that are unreadable, or if read, can't be opened by
> photoshop for one reason or another. It seems that the question isn't if I
> am going to lose files, but how many on a given CD.
>
> Now, I may be doing things that increase my chances of losing a file, or
> even an entire CD, but I haven't been able to identify what I might be
> doing. I pretty successfully avoid scratches, and beyond that, I keep the
> CD's in books that have sleeves in them. They are stored at room
> temperature which is never above 75 degrees, nor below 60 and the humidity
> remains in a range around 40% - not a lot higher or lower.
>
> I've always purchased the more expensive name brand CD's, even though I am
> somewhat suspicious that on occasion what I got was no better than the no
> name sold by Fry's out here. In talking to others, I hear the same stories
> irrespective of brand of CD used.
>
> CD's written by companies (that contain software, such as my Photoshop CD)
> seem to do better, I rarely have any trouble, and on the rare occasion I do,
> putting it in the old HP has always taken care of it. I've never had to
> request a replacement CD and I don't back them up - I probably should.
>
> I have been in the habit of making multiple backups, so I haven't lost
> anything of value - yet.
>
> I've been considering DVD's, but reading about the problems they many have,
> they seem to be an even more fugitive medium.
>
> Someone must have a solution, must have found way to reduce the losses. The
> only way I can see to reduce my losses is to write everything on my old HP
> burner and make multiple copies - perhaps 4 copies each. That seems a bit
> much as it reduces the effective capacity of a CD to about 160 megabytes.
>
> Suggestions?
>
> Brad
>
> --
> Science is built up with facts, as a house is with stones. But a collection
> of facts is no more a science than a heap of stones is a house.
> Henri Poincare --Science and Hypothesis
>
>
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