Life of a CD Rom Disk
 

Hi,

From time to time, I come across an article about CD roms, etc.
What I have learned so far, CD-R (I use) is better than CD-RW for long
term storage of important data. Also, how they are stored can have
a bearing on their "life".

I keep CD roms in a dark cool location. To test the integrity of my
"burned" CD roms, I use "Finder" (search engine) I downloaded from
www.simtel.net. I "search" for a non-existant text pattern such as "i don't
exist" in order to get "Finder" to read through every file on the CD rom as a
way to check for corrupt data. Note: "Finder" has reported read errors on
some of my floppy disks. So far, no read errors were reported. However, I
started burning CD roms about 4 years ago.

Is the integrity of commercial CD roms better than those I "burn" at home?
How long can we expect to keep our CD roms, assuming they are stored in a good
environment, before we begin to encounter corrupt data?

Thanks in advance, Brad

Before you type your password, credit card number, etc.,
be sure there is no active key logger (spyware) in your PC.

Life of a CD Rom Disk
 

(Brad) wrote:

Hi,

From time to time, I come across an article about CD roms, etc.
What I have learned so far, CD-R (I use) is better than CD-RW for long
term storage of important data. Also, how they are stored can have
a bearing on their "life".

I keep CD roms in a dark cool location. To test the integrity of my
"burned" CD roms, I use "Finder" (search engine) I downloaded from
www.simtel.net. I "search" for a non-existant text pattern such as "i don't
exist" in order to get "Finder" to read through every file on the CD rom as a
way to check for corrupt data. Note: "Finder" has reported read errors on
some of my floppy disks. So far, no read errors were reported. However, I
started burning CD roms about 4 years ago.

Is the integrity of commercial CD roms better than those I "burn" at home?
How long can we expect to keep our CD roms, assuming they are stored in a good
environment, before we begin to encounter corrupt data?

Thanks in advance, Brad


A Google web search for CDR Longevity turned up a number of
interesting hits. This one is a bit dated but the source is quite
reputable:

http://www.informationweek.com/story...cleID=15800263

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."