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Many people make use of recordable digital media to store anything from personal home videos and pictures to important documents and financial information. Digital media such as CD-Rs and DVD-Rs are inexpensive, readily available, have large storage capacities, and best of all last forever... or do they?
It's a common misconception that burned digital media's shelf-life is infinite. Unlike pressed original DVDs and CDs which are near invulnerable to degradation, burned media have a relatively short life span, typically between 2 to 5 years depending on the quality of the media and the handling of the discs. The problem is material degradation and general misuse of the medium. Optical discs commonly used for burning, such as CD-R and DVD-R, have a recording surface consisting of a layer of dye that can be modified by heat to store data. Over time the dye begins to break down and fade. This degradation process can result in the data "shifting" on the surface and thus becoming unreadable to the laser beam. Once this degradation begins to occur, there is little that can be done to stop it. There are, however, several things you can do to increase the lifespan of your burned digital media.
Seven tips on increasing your media lifespan:
- Keep your disks stored in a cool dry place and keep out of direct sunlight. Unlike pressed media, burned discs are subject to discoloration of the surface when left in direct sunlight. This fading of the surface will lead to quick degradation and media failure.
- Always handle the disks by the edges. Though this may sound like common sense, it's a process many people often neglect. Each time your fingers touch the surface of the media oils and debris is absorbed, which can lead to read errors on the disc.
- Do not use ball-point pens, markers or felt-tip pens to write on the surface of the media. Chemicals in the markers can eat or etch the coating on the disk which leads to air invading the media coating, causing it to fail. Only use markers designed specifically for writing on the surface of the media.
- Do not apply any adhesive labels. Most lasers and media reading devices are extremely sensitive in how they read data. A slightly off-axis label can make a disc unreadable as it will wobble the media as it spins.
- Avoid using solvent, polish, or antistatic solution to clean the surface area. These cleansers may attack the coating of the plastic surface, creating pits that could render the disk unreadable. Instead use a soft, lint-free cloth or photographic lens tissues to wipe away debris.
- Purchase name brand, quality media and avoid the generic brands. Generic brands are sold for a fraction of the price of name brands, but the old adage 'you get what you pay for' applies here. Often the generic brands are made of cheaper materials and low grade surface dyes that are more prone to degradation and malfunction than some of the higher quality name brand media such as Verbatim DataLife or Pioneer. The life of generic and poor quality media, if handled properly, is typically between 2 to 3 years while name brand and higher quality media can be greater than 5 years.
- Make a backup copy and store in ideal conditions, only accessing when you need to make another copy from it. This is important if you store personal and sentimental material on CDs and DVDs, such as home videos, photographs, or financial information. If your media fails, you’ll have a backup version to make another copy from. It’s recommended that you rotate out the old copy with the fresh burn; always ensuring you have the newest copy in storage.
Unfortunately, burned CDs and DVDs won't last forever but applying the steps above will help to preserve the life of the media until the next generation of storage devices hit the market. With HD DVD and Blue-Ray looming in the near future, the next wave of digital media and storage is just around the corner. Will these new storage devices finally offer us a reliable and safe means for archiving our precious data? Only time will tell.
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