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| Thread ID: 77197 | 2007-03-02 00:17:00 | CD life span | rob_on_guitar (4196) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 529293 | 2007-03-02 00:17:00 | Does anybody know the lifespan of a cd? I bought some last year to use as back up files and music. Mainly all were kept as data files. I sealed some in a air tight container and some in a normal cd case. The ones in the cases have ....I cant explain it, like almost turned see through. Almost as if acid of something has gotten on them or some kind of corrosive fluid. The cd's are buggered. The had been sitting in a cd case in our back room. No moisture or dampness. The actually covers are fine just the cd's themselves. Is this normal?:( |
rob_on_guitar (4196) | ||
| 529294 | 2007-03-02 00:45:00 | Well according to Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org) At present, stated CD-R lifetimes are estimates based on accelerated aging tests as the technology has not been in existence long enough to verify the upper range. With proper care it is thought that CD-Rs should be readable one thousand times or more and have a shelf life of several hundred years. Unfortunately, some common practices can reduce shelf life to only one or two years. Therefore, it is important to handle and store CD-Rs properly if it is necessary to read them more than a year or so later. Real-life (not accelerated aging) tests have revealed that some CD-Rs degrade quickly even if stored optimally.[1][2] Burned CD-Rs suffer from material degradation, just like most writable media. CD-R and CD-RW media have an internal layer of dye used to store data. The dye itself can degrade causing data to become unreadable.[3] As well as degradation of the dye, failure of a CD-R can be due to the reflective surface. While silver is less expensive and more widely used, it is more prone to oxidation resulting in a non-reflecting surface. Gold on the other hand, although more expensive and and no longer widely used, is an inactive material and so, gold-based CD-Rs do not suffer from this problem. Permanent markers are commonly used to mark the label side of CD-Rs and DVDs. This practice has been discouraged because it is believed xylene and toluene, common substances in permanent marker ink, can cause surface deterioration. Additionally, volatile organic compounds may be released which will remain inside the enclosed atmosphere of a CD-R's storage box, causing harm. One last factor that affects the quality of a CD-R and influences its lifespan is the lacquer that is used to seal the CD-R and protect the dye and the reflective material from the influence of external materials (air, water, alcohol, etc). Altho, I've got Audio Cd's and really haven't played most of them for over 10 years. BUT, they still play fine. |
Speedy Gonzales (78) | ||
| 529295 | 2007-03-02 01:14:00 | I have 20 year old audio cds. That just reminds me I, wonder if they still play. Trevor :) |
Trev (427) | ||
| 529296 | 2007-03-02 04:40:00 | All the CDs that are affected are from the same packet, even the airtight container ones are showing signs, I best recue them just incase. It seems as if the non-reflective side has been fading from the outside in. |
rob_on_guitar (4196) | ||
| 529297 | 2007-03-02 05:06:00 | I think qualifying the lifespan of a cd cannot include produced cd's from a place that stamps out commercial albums and such . These are pressed with the data into the disc, not written to it like we do at home on our burners . If your laser is strong enough and the disk isn't a cheapee . . then I think the high end of the scale is reachable . But any disc you burn is not going top be as tough as a stamped one . We have to upset or align molecules with a light source . . they use high pressure and force the plastic into bumps and valleys for the digital sequences . I now wonder if the adhesive labels for home made cd's are gonna hurt or help the lifespan? Seems that anything that protects them is good . . . if it doesn't conflict with the silver or gold matrix . |
SurferJoe46 (51) | ||
| 529298 | 2007-03-03 10:46:00 | Well Im putting it down to a bad batch. They were TDK ones so i dont know if that was a bad choice or not but none of the others are doing it.:illogical | rob_on_guitar (4196) | ||
| 529299 | 2007-03-03 19:37:00 | Bad batch or not, they all die after a while. It amazes me the number of people that keep photos and stuff on them, expecting to be able to view them years later. Apart from the deterioration, what do they imagine they'll play them on in say 15 years time? |
pctek (84) | ||
| 529300 | 2007-03-03 20:12:00 | Well I still got the original Command and Conquer Dos game. Works fine. I copied it onto a couple of CD-R's and stored the originals away in 2000. These copies are still fine. No problem with those. | bob_doe_nz (92) | ||
| 529301 | 2007-03-03 22:00:00 | Yea, I have other CD's from 1994 which are in still perfect condition. | rob_on_guitar (4196) | ||
| 529302 | 2007-03-03 23:28:00 | A few years ago there was this article on the net, this person had stored an audio CD collection in cartons for a period of time, can't remember how many, I think over 1000, anyway apoun opening the cartons they found at least half of them the aluminium foil had started to peel off or flaked off. They thought this was caused by the humidity and the uneven temp. on them while in the cartons. They recomended that when you store cds, store them so that the air can flow around them keeping them at an even temperature. Trevor :) |
Trev (427) | ||
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