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lemmy - Link to source

Your burned CDs and DVDs are decaying, and the photos on them may already be gone

Your burned CDs and DVDs are decaying, and the photos on them may already be gone

Before you laugh at floppy disks, check whether your DVDs are still readable.
Oluwademilade Afolabi (MakeUseOf)
#technology
in reply to ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆

Ooops
lemmy - Link to source
Ooops
• •

Yes, the older ones of the rotating backups are still readable.

But that's not even the actual problem nowadays: CDs and DVDs were nice when their size was still relevant in comparison to usual amounts of data. The real problem behind their decay is that we are lacking a widely available, properly scaled backup solution for more than a decade. So the mean reason people have now unreadable optical data is that they stopped thinking about it a long time ago for an utter lack of options.

in reply to Ooops

mbirth 🇬🇧
lemmy - Link to source
mbirth 🇬🇧
• •
So the mean reason people have now unreadable optical data is that they stopped thinking about it a long time ago for an utter lack of options.


Well, there are 100GB and 120GB Bluray M-Discs. But yeah, the only things larger are either spinning rust (i.e. HDDs that need to be refreshed regularly to prevent bit rot) or very expensive LTO hardware and tapes.

in reply to ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆

4grams
lemmy - Link to source
4grams
• •

Just had this thought, and realized all my backups had been through a flood. I wound up with several damaged disks, but was able to get all the content off of them, damage was to the outside edges, and most of them didn’t have much data written.

I have a Blu-ray burner, but I’ve never burned one (only a couple DVD’s). Probably never will.

in reply to ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆

Scrubbles
lemmy - Link to source
Scrubbles
• •
I can confirm, found an old disk from ~15 years ago, was excited to see what was on it. In a jewel case and everything, but completely unreadable :(
in reply to ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆

AceFuzzLord
lemmy - Link to source
AceFuzzLord
• •
I still refuse to believe in disc rot until I see it happen to me. Until that occurs, I will consider it a urban computer myth.
in reply to AceFuzzLord

ramble81
lemmy - Link to source
ramble81
• •
I was ripping my entire DVD collection and I lost at least 3 movies to disc rot. They looked perfectly good, no scratches or anything when looking in the light, and I’ve always taken good care of my discs (out of sunlight, in their cases, in my house) and yet multiple players just could not read some or all of the disc.
in reply to AceFuzzLord

TrickDacy
lemmy - Link to source
TrickDacy
• •
I refuse to believe you have burned and then later used more than a handful of discs if that's not happened to you. I've seen it many, many times.
in reply to TrickDacy

Double_A
lemmy - Link to source
Double_A
• •
Back in the days this even happened after a couple of months if you bought the cheaper brands.
in reply to AceFuzzLord

Double_A
lemmy - Link to source
Double_A
• •
It depends on the type of CD you used. The older ones with a Gold layer didn't degrade as much.
in reply to Double_A

AceFuzzLord
lemmy - Link to source
AceFuzzLord
• •
I've got regular DVD-R and CD-R discs, si IDK. Maybe I've just been pretty lucky because I have never personally experienced this supposed thing we call disc rot.
in reply to AceFuzzLord

ChristchurchAsshole
lemmy - Link to source
ChristchurchAsshole
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My old music CDs still work on the stereo and I bought some of my Megadeth albums in 2011. Perhaps music lasts longer than data.
in reply to ChristchurchAsshole

manuallybreathing
lemmy - Link to source
manuallybreathing
• •
I have cd's from the 80s, they last if you look after them, but i also think older ones were 'better', i've definitely had CDRs that have had the printed layer start flaking off
in reply to ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆

ohshit604
lemmy - Link to source
ohshit604
• •
Still got a shelf full of 360 discs, I refuse to open them and hope that the cases they’re in protect them for life longer than mine.
This entry was edited (3 weeks ago)
in reply to ohshit604

subterfuge
lemmy - Link to source
subterfuge
• •
Schrodinger’s Disk is both readable and unreadable until you try to read it.
in reply to ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆

SkaveRat
lemmy - Link to source
SkaveRat
• •

Reminder to plug in any flash media (thumb drives, ssds) from time to time

They can also start to lose data after a couple years without power

in reply to ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆

WormFood
lemmy - Link to source
WormFood
• •
A small handful of my burned CDs from 20 years ago are unbearable and as far as I can tell, none of my pressed CDs are. I'm sure they'll rot eventually but I think your average cd is quite robust. Still, there's no excuse not to have backups!
in reply to WormFood

Cort
lemmy - Link to source
Cort
• •
Burned CDs use photo sensitive ink to create the 0s & 1s, while pressed CDs physically alter the plastic. Even archival CDs were only rated for like 25yrs
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