cd longevity

[sothsegger]

Is it true that CD-Rs and CD-RWs can deteriorated after as little as 20 months? I thought they had much better longevity than that. I have some valuable recordings on this media. Hate to lose it. Please advise.

 

[hydro1234]

I think it depends on the media. Probably 80% of my memorex cds that are more than 4 years old don't work any more regardless of the condition they're in. Some of my other brands are still going after 5+ years though.

 

[tcsenter]

Originally posted by: santer
Is it true that CD-Rs and CD-RWs can deteriorated after as little as 20 months? I thought they had much better longevity than that. I have some valuable recordings on this media. Hate to lose it. Please advise.

Cheap media indeed can begin to deteriorate or destabilize (post-write) in a matter of months.

I purchased a 100-pack of cheap KHypermedia (Ritek or CMC) CD-R discs in one of those Almost Free After Rebate deals (OfficeMax). I used several discs to make short-term backups of files while I formatted a computer. I decided to keep a few of them 'just in case', stored in a sturdy CD holder. The conditions were optimal; no exposure to heat or light, no frequent handling, controlled temps and humidity.

After about 10 months, over a dozen files were unreadable, several compressed files extracted with checksum error (out of about 200 files), even using a CDRW drive that scores high marks for reading scratched CDs (the discs were not scratched or dirty). One CD errored out every time I tried to read it, the TOC couldn't even be opened. I know the files were good because I used those CDs to restore those same files a few days after burning them.

None of the files were precious cargo, but it still was a PITA to replace or recreate them. I knew cheap media had questionable lifespan, but I didn't expect it to be that bad.

Now I use El Cheapo media for very short-term strategy (days or weeks), but if there is any real chance I will keep the CDs more than six months, I use only branded Japanese media (bulk Taiyo Yuden or MAM-A).