CD-Rs going bad?

db

Lifer
Dec 6, 1999
10,575
292
126
I've noticed lots of people mention that their CD-Rs eventually go bad. I'm wondering if this has anything to do with the "top" of the CD letting light through b/c it doesn't have a label or other "covering".

If this IS one of the causes of CDRs going bad, couldn't you just spray paint the top of the CD as a cheap way of protecting it? (If you don't label).
 

Platypus

Lifer
Apr 26, 2001
31,046
321
136
Depends in the CD. There are a lot of cheap CD-Rs out there, most of cheap ones eventually break or get damaged.
 

NikPreviousAcct

No Lifer
Aug 15, 2000
52,763
1
0
Even if you keep them in a darkroom, they'll go bad. Plastic dries out, man. Just like video tape, floppy disks, and other CD's, CD-R's will go bad eventually. 5-10yrs maybe, but they'll go bad.

nik
 

Nefrodite

Banned
Feb 15, 2001
7,931
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at worst the cheapies probably die in 10 years, but who cares:p unless you have important data on discs u love to kick around anyways and leave baking in the sun... theres no point worrying about your little porn collection:)

in 10 years you can trasnfer that spindle of messy files to one holocube or whatever we'll be using by then.


Even if you keep them in a darkroom, they'll go bad. Plastic dries out, man. Just like video tape, floppy disks, and other CD's, CD-R's will go bad eventually. 5-10yrs maybe, but they'll go bad

sorry your estimate is way low. i can't remember exact numbers but good cdrs last 50+ years.
 

Rahminator

Senior member
Oct 11, 2001
726
0
0
Cheap CD-Rs (Silver/Silver I think) have a shelf life of about 5 years. More expensive CD-Rs (Gold/Gold I think) last up to 100 years. There are also different variations with shelf life in between. Buy Kodak InfoGuard (Gold/Gold) or Verbatim (Blue Azo) if you want your data to last a century or more.
 

atrowe

Banned
May 20, 2001
253
0
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CD-Rs are sensitive to heat and UV light. If you leave them in the sun, or in a hot car, don't expect them to last too long.
 

Eli

Super Moderator | Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
50,419
8
81


<< Even if you keep them in a darkroom, they'll go bad. Plastic dries out, man. Just like video tape, floppy disks, and other CD's, CD-R's will go bad eventually. 5-10yrs maybe, but they'll go bad. >>



But with a video tape and floppy disk, the "plastic" actually has contact with the read mechanism.. A CD could, technically, last forever(or at least a very, very long time..)

I bet in a few hundred thousand years, they'll find some ancient CDs.. and try to extract the data from them.. lol..
 

SludgeFactory

Platinum Member
Sep 14, 2001
2,969
2
81
I wasn't a believer in cd-r quality until I had the experience of several of my mp3 discs going bad less than one year after being burned. They were Verbatim Valu-Life, bought in 100 spindle packs at Sam's. This sounds really strange, but they absorbed fingerprints over time. Fingerprints on the bottom surface of the disc eventually turned into smudges in the dye. I don't know how long this process took, but I was looking for a song one day and the cd drive couldn't read it. The data in the area of the fingerprint was toasted. I salvaged what I could and have since converted all of them over to Taiyo Yuden.

compusa cd-r's are HORRIBLE. The top started flaking off of several of mine.
 

NikPreviousAcct

No Lifer
Aug 15, 2000
52,763
1
0


<< I think the worst CD-Rs are the crapusa ones. The record layer chips off very easily. >>

How is that possible? Seeing as though the record layer is razor thin encased in a layer of plastic...
rolleye.gif


nik
 

Cyberian

Diamond Member
Jun 17, 2000
9,999
1
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<< I bet in a few hundred thousand years, they'll find some ancient CDs.. and try to extract the data from them.. lol.. >>

I'll take that bet!
:)

 

Eli

Super Moderator | Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
50,419
8
81


<< << I bet in a few hundred thousand years, they'll find some ancient CDs.. and try to extract the data from them.. lol.. >>

I'll take that bet!
:)
>>



You don't think so? I mean.. If we can find some of the other stuff that we do.. I don't think a CD would degrade much with the absence of light and oxygen..
 

NikPreviousAcct

No Lifer
Aug 15, 2000
52,763
1
0


<< You don't think so? I mean.. If we can find some of the other stuff that we do.. I don't think a CD would degrade much with the absence of light and oxygen.. >>

No CD is going to last 100 years. I doubt very much whether a CD would last 50 years and still work.

nik
 

tops2

Senior member
Oct 6, 2000
711
0
0
my friend had these real cheap silver/silver cds..and a few months after he burned me a few cds, they developed some bad sectors and i couldn't read them in my drive. its strange since i barely used those cd's, and i keep them with the rest of my cds, and the other burned ones r fine
 

Nefrodite

Banned
Feb 15, 2001
7,931
0
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Fingerprints on the bottom surface of the disc eventually turned into smudges in the dye.

?? the recording surface is NOT on the bottom of the disc. all your finger prints are on nothing but plastic. if you had some solvent or something on your hands yes you'd burn the plastic and well screw it up.

as for the shiny layer that chips off, yes cheapies without protective layers on top will chip off. i think the dye layer goes with it:p so far i've used tons of cheapie discs for music mixes that i throw around. they mostly work, and anyones that don't are because i've used em so long without a case the surface is flaking off:)
 

NikPreviousAcct

No Lifer
Aug 15, 2000
52,763
1
0
So... everyone knows you can put CD's in the dishwasher and run it, right? CD's aren't as fragile as a lot of people seem to believe.

nik