Corrupt DVD

[prowler]

Twice monthly I burn my MS Office documents to two CDs. One copy is kept in my basement and one copy is kept near my PC upstairs. My documents contain investment and budget info - and these CDs act as physical back-ups. After a couple of months, the CDs reach full capacity and new CDs are required.

Due to capacity benefits, I now burn my documents to two DVD-Rs instead of the CDs. I keep them just as I kept the initial CDs. I notice that although the storage capacity is greater on the DVDs they seem to "corrupt" easier and long before they reach full capacity. I need to discard them more frequently than the older CDs.

Any logic to this?

 

[tremmor]

I don't have the logic to this. BUTT....... i burn a lot of duel layer dvd backups.
My wife mostly. templates which are very small. maybe 12k and thousands of them. the answer was a slower speed.

 

[prowler]

tremmor - thanks for your reply.

 

[sg1]

You could always use Archive Grade disks!!

A "bit" pricey but:-

• Shelf life of over 100 years
• 24 Carat Gold reflective layer
• Ideal for any type of data or video content
• Maximum resistance to chemical breakdown
• Ideal for long-terms storage photography.

I'm sure if you shop around, you'll find some cheaper. Just wanted to make you aware of their existence

 

[prowler]

sg1 - Interesting stuff ... and no, I have never heard of archive grade disks. Thanks for the info on that. Probably a bit pricy for my humble needs, though.

However, your point does make me question the quality of the DVD-Rs I am using. Other than some wild magnetic field, what could be a reason my DVDs are being compromised? I don't recall having this ever happen when using basic CDs.

Thanks.

 

[sg1]

It could be down to the DYE of the disks, some use synthetic, and some don't , even disks from the same batch(container) can have different dyes used!

 

[tremmor]

SQ1
i agree about the dye's but mostly the burner. there is a difference in price for burners. Mostly the mechanism and laser detector. some are more sensitive than others. some will read all. sometime you cant read in one burner and works fine in another.

here's some more interesting reading about how long they last if your interested.

http://forums.cnet.com/5208-10149_102-0.html?forumID=7&threadID=152618&messageID=1698511

 

[sg1]

Not sure if linking to another type of forum is allowed but thanks for the info bud, it kept me busy for a few minutes (as if I need to be with three kids under 5 YO running around my feet lol)

 

[tremmor]

I think ive stayed within the guidelines. cnet is news.

 

[prowler]

Excellent information. Thanks for the link. Everybody knows something. <G>