Report: CD-Rs Are not Reliable

[mman74]

[citation][nom]JasonAkkerman[/nom]This just in, water is wet!Really, who expects a CD-R to last 9-10 years?[/citation]
Seven 8 years ago, this problem was unheard of. If you knew you were clearly in a minority. Further when you pull out the packaging on these CDRs at that time they come with marketing speil such as "Lifetime Warranty".
I have countless data from that era on CDRs some of which I can't even find around my house. Nowadays HDD costs have fallen so much it's not a major issue, but I am sure there are a lot of people who burnt discs back then that are not readble now.

 

[Guest]

CD rot which is what im assuming is being referred is going to occur on most cd/dvd based mediums.
Im not a chemical engineer but I believe its to do with the disk being exposed to oxygen and other agents.

 

[jadeite]

It could also be the case that all the discs are just fine. The problem could be an interchange issue meaning the discs were written to with drive A and drive B has trouble reading the data. This can be a problem immediately and not have anything to do with aging. But it is still a big issue just the same.

 

[doomsdaydave11]

[citation][nom]JasonAkkerman[/nom]This just in, water is wet!Really, who expects a CD-R to last 9-10 years?[/citation]
I do.

I like to install Starcraft and Duke Nukem 3D from time to time.

 

[Darkk]

Think of paper which age over time. Ink used will also fade so best thing you can do is make a copy before it's unreadable.

Every few years whatever important stuff I have backed up on DVDs / CDs are copied onto fresh media. I also have them backed up on at least two or three hard drives replicating the data automatically.

 

[PLATTERMAN]

This must be more for other types of computer data not music cds because i have all the original cds i bought over the years and almost all are classic rock titles that are a minimum of at least 12 yrs old and all play fine. The last new cd i bought was Metalica's first album. Even the compilations i made onto cd r that are much newer play fine too.

 

[PLATTERMAN]

I heard this about Laserdiscs too and over the many years since my first LD player a CLD-1070. I know of only a handful of LD titles that had laser rot due to the disc sandwich not staying totally sealed or never was in the first place. Out of 400 plus titles i have 1 was bad from jump street when it was made the movie "Unforgiven". There was one plant that had a terrible manufacturing facility and many of movies they did had high rot rates.

 

[ravewulf]

CD-RW and DVD+/-RW are far worse than CD-R and DVD+/-R. I had a whole package of them die within a matter of months

 

[joeman42]

First rule of any person in charge of an archival data library: multiple copies. Second rule: verify your backups on a regular basis (depending on media type 3-10 years). Third rule: refresh/retire/transfer media at set intervals (all data librarians assume media will either eventually go bad or become inaccessible--seen any open reel tape drives lately?).

 

[anamaniac]

I've gotten a pack of 50 CD-R's, and only half of them were of any use (tested on multiple disk drives).
DVD-R's are barely any beter sometimes.

If I got a pack and a instant 10% failure was all, I may be actually happy...

 

[belardo]

This is NOT new. Its been known for YEARS that optical Recordable media (DVD/CD)is not reliable for long-term storage.

Media failure starts within months of a burn.

Hence, NEW PCs in which you "burn your own" recovery discs are a joke. Its why I never bought a DVD-R Recorder for TV shows.

In the end, its HARD DRIVE that is cheapest and easiest way to store data... including movies, etc. And then spend $100 for a 1TB backup drive.

Think of all those poor SOBs who bought DVD-R Camcorders... 🙁

 

[doomtomb]

CDs suck ass. Flash solid state memory is where it's at in terms of reliability but even there it could be improved...

 

[TechGuru78]

Varying factors cause this to happen. There's an issue known as "DVD rot" in which the aluminum layer of a disc can slowly oxidize in spots (like rusting). Depends on storage environment; humid environments contribute to this. My personal experience is that proper storage of discs has kept them working for well over a decade. I never touch either side whenever possible (BOTH sides are prone to scratches and smudges). I've also found that the plastic tabs in storage books can cause a chemical reaction to the data sides of discs - so be sure to flip them over the discs, not allowing them to touch the data sides. Cigarette smoke is bad for discs and electronics in general - another reason I quit

 

[powerbaselx]

I remembered when the CD's came out it was first said they would last 100 years, than later just 10 years.
My personal experience is that many CD's won't even reach the 10 years limit as i find many old CD backups with problems to read on some files.

 

[chikara]

Wonder how long it will be, before the CD / DVD manufacturers get sued.

If it's proven they are having such high failure rates, even if discs are stored according to their specifications, their original claims about lasting 10+ years is at best false advertising, and at worst a straight out lie.

Can anyone spell 'Class Action Suit'!!!

 

[spiketheaardvark]

Oddly enough here's a time when the US government got it right. My friends Dad work at a National lab in Idaho and they have never allowed optical media to be used for backup because of a 20 year stability requirement.

 

[thearm]

If this is true, they may not of done enough testing to read those disks. Often when I'm reimaging a PC at work, I have to go through six CDROM drives before I'll get one that will complete the image. Is this a company that wants some publicity maybe? Because two drives are not enough and people should know that before they assume their CD/DVD is no good.

 

[eyemaster]

You can't really compare magnetic (HDD or diskettes) to chemical (CD-r and DVD-r). The magnetic medium will not go bad over time, but it will lose a bit of it's magnetic properties, it will even still be readable after degradation. The chemical type will degrade chemically and will lose information right away. The only thing that protects the data on CD-r's is a cheap painted layer of silver or gold. Not very resistant.

 

[Ciuy]

pff CDs, who uses those anymore? What CAN u do with 700 mb?/

 

[martel80]

I have a Dysan CD-R from 1997 and it's still perfectly readable.