CD-R discs unreadable in less than two years?

Oh well, I have CDRs that I burnt two months ago that don't work, but I suppose brands matter, and obviously how you store them; since CDRs don't have the protective coating of normal CDs, they obviously stand higher risk of being destroyed.

It'd be awful if the general average was 2 years though, would result in backups upon backups of harddrives.

My printing of the Beatles' Revolver from '86 looks completely fine. The ink hasn't corroded it, the plastic hasn't melted.

On the other hand, I have some CD-Rs from favorite local artists that are really fragile - I just barely bumped one on the case taking it out and scratched the thin foil that holds all the data ... gah.

I think the answer, heh heh, is to get a DVD-R drive and burn everything to that. You can fit at least ten full CDs on there, I think.

I can't stand to lose anything. Now that I think about it, I still have all of the Tom Baker Dr. Who tapes somewhere at my mom's place. Maybe someday I'll want to watch them!

I think one advantage is that tapes degrade in sound quality, while CDs always sound good - they just start skipping and failing. Also, they're more of a pain in the ass to copy to my computer (and then onto DVD-R, and then Martian holographic memory cube, and then whatever).

I can't decide if it would be more or less poignant if it had been the Eagles' Greatest Hits.

Just checked the oldest CD-R I have - a Maxell from the summer of '97. Covered in fingerprints and minor scratches, it plays fine.

I don't think I've ever had a CD-R or CD-RW that actually 'went' on me, though I've had CD-RWs written in fixed-packet mode go unreadable, but that's a separate issue (in fact, I've given up on DirectCD, InCD and that lot).

I have one (pressed) CD which is dodgy - the 1990 issue of Pink Moon - which has suffered a bronzing effect associated with poor manufacturing QC by MPO around that time (they used to replace them free if you wrote them a nice letter). Pink Moon still plays perfectly on everything except my old portable.

None of this is a guarantee of longevity, of course. CD-R (and DVD-R) is a very fragile medium - just take a close look at one, especially if you have one in which the microscopically thin foil/dye layer is peeling off. That's when you realize how unbelievably cheap and shoddy this medium truly is!

For what it's worth, I stick exclusively with the following brands: TDK, Fuji, Philips and Sony (depending on which one I find on sale). These have seldom let me down. (Kodak made very tough and physically superior CD-Rs, but, alas, they got out of the CD-R biz a couple years ago.)

And since I already plugged this on the "computer" thread, I'll repeat. I think MiniDisc is more rugged than CD-R. I have MDs that are 9 years old and none has failed yet. Perhaps Magneto-Optical media are superior to unstable dye-based discs.

Removing it from jewel case by nearly bending it in half, getting grubby fingerprints on it, jamming it in the CD drawer, dropping it in the cat litter, leaving it out on a window sill in the later afternoon sun = probably accelerating its decline.

Doing the former while avoiding the latter = urgent and key.

There is some suggestion that CD-R's dye layers only have a shelf life of 5-10 years *if unused*.

- Unused = unplayed or unburned?
- Not using -> longer or shorter life?

I guess this means the dye layer is somehow more stable when you've written to it and changed its phase-state. Dunno what this means for the alloy layer in CD-RWs.

How new's yr Discman? My portable CD player (1993 vintage) doesn't play CD-Rs at all. Low reflectivity of CD-R/low laser power of battery-operated device = whirr-whirr-cckk-shhkk-whirr. Newer Discmen are smarter than that now of course.

Actually, my CD portable doesn't play anything since I can't find the AC adaptor. Do anyone know where it might be? I may start a thread.

FWIW, last week I went through a lot of my CDRs and the oldest, at three years, still read and played fine.

Ned, please record my Mashed Potatoes set at 2x speed... :)