Have we come to a scientific conclusion if sharpies are OK to use to blank disk?

[BillGates]

Originally posted by: OdiN
I have a few CD's which are about 20 years old that are labeled with a sharpie and they're fine too.

You had a CD burner in 1988?

 

[OdiN]

Originally posted by: BillGates

Originally posted by: OdiN
I have a few CD's which are about 20 years old that are labeled with a sharpie and they're fine too.

You had a CD burner in 1988?

I'm always on the cutting edge.

 

[DainBramaged]

Originally posted by: l0cke
I have disks with sharpie from almost 10 years ago now and they work fine.

Same here.

 

[Eeezee]

Originally posted by: angry hampster

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: eflat

Originally posted by: astroidea
You can do a scientific conclusion yourself with a sharpie and a CD in a few seconds..
And yes, it works fine, people have been doing it for years.

I mean over the lifetime of the disk. Hundreds of years not a few seconds

The data itself will not last that long even when the surface is completely clean.

Really? I never realize that the integrity of discs is compromised over time. Is this just with normal use, or if they're in a dark closet in storage?

The media we use is some of the most quickly degrading stuff when you actually compare it to other stuff. Old archival footage survives better than HDDs. HDDs survive better than CDs/DVDs. Stone tablets last the longest, if you want real data integrity

 

[ObiDon]

Originally posted by: OdiN

Originally posted by: BillGates

Originally posted by: OdiN
I have a few CD's which are about 20 years old that are labeled with a sharpie and they're fine too.

You had a CD burner in 1988?

I'm always on the cutting edge.

unless you were originally referring to commercial music cds, you just kicked it up a notch from bleeding edge. BAM!!!

 

[Throckmorton]

The layer with the data isn't protected by plastic, and sharpie can apparently corrode it. DVDs don't have that problem because they have a layer of polycarbonate on top too.