CD longevity tips
I thought I'd share tips I've collected that pertain to preserving CD media. I presume these tips also apply to DVD media as well
First an article about the bad news:
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/7751
"The tests showed that a number of CD-Rs had become completely unreadable while others could only be read back partially. Data that was recorded 20 months ago had become unreadable. These included discs of well known and lesser known manufacturers..."
Some tips I've gathered through the cough...cough ages:
1) Don't use an alcohol based pen like Sharpie. These pens eat into the CD plastic and will corrupt data. Use a pen specially formulated for CD writing I believe Maxell makes one and TEAC makes one. They are under $3. Hard to find in office supply stores but a good music instrument store (got mine at Sam Ash) should have them.
If you have no choice but to use a traditional marker, write only on the clear plastic inner ring.
2) Keep your CD out of direct light even room incandecent light. Light bleaches the dye. I keep my blanks in a dark closet (with my other secrets) and I keep my burned CDs in a dedicated CD file box.
3) Store your CDs flat! The dye is technically a liquid and will follow gravity over time thus corrupting data if it is stood on end.
4) Important data? Making secondary and even ternary backups? use different brands of CD. This gives you a better chance of long term survival in the event that one brand is inherently of poor quality.
5) From:
http://www.cybertechhelp.com/forums/...723#post133723
"I cannot remember where I read the full article, slashdot maybe, where they stated that disks burned at lower speeds lasted longer due to the amount of burn into the disc. Faster speeds mean that the laser is not concentrated on the same spot as long as at slower speeds so I would assume that has an effect on the depth of the pattern burned and over time shallow impressions would wear away.
It sounds pretty plausible to me."
I have not tried this one (#5) yet but I think I will.
One other thing, Read this guide on updating/installing ASPI layers. This is a must have article (2 pages). Most impressive:
http://aspi.radified.com/
