Disk Degradation

tech explorer

tech explorer

New Member
It's been written that even computer disks don't last forever. Has anyone ever noticed this
with your own disks?

Edit: in this thread, I'm asking about blank disks you burn files into.
 
Last edited:
I've never had one of my personal disks fail before. The only time I've experienced it personally was when I built a computer for my aunt. The Seagate drive I got failed after a year and a half.
 
If you're referring to hard drives, of course they don't last forever. They're mechanical and will eventually stop working.

I've had loads of the damn things fail in my time, usually taking hundreds of gigabytes of data with them. :(
 
Not the drives. I'm just asking whether anyone has wear and tear on the blank disks you can buy at a Shoprite where you burn a video (e.g.) I don't know offhand what the wear and tear would be - I imagine it would involve some type of visual and/or sound distortion.

I'll do a search on the internet for an article that relates to what I read some years ago.
 
Ive read an article years ago. Said a rewritable disc has a 100 yr life span.
Don't trust either and always backed up multiple or a sec drive which i always did.
Said something about cleaning the disc if can't read. never in a circular motion.
Always across the disc. thats all i remember about them. was a time and place.
still is since i still make slide shows for people.
 
Do you mean, you write to the disk, unplug it and keep it in a safe for 100 years? If so, then naturally it won't last forever. Even flash memory will degrade over time and needs to be refreshed.
 
I have two hard disks who have been running constantly for 7 years and today they are still working normally. I have also few music CDs from early 90's and their foil is still ok without defects. There is a different story with CDs that i have burnt few years ago. their foil is already peeling off.

Why do burned CDs have such a short lifespan compared to the original CDs? Do they use different materials or what?
 
I read this somewhere. Why dont you try it and wait to come back then and tell us how it went.

Write a few CDs or DVDs, then wait about 25-50 years and check if they still hold the correct data.
 
Mass-produced CDs are printed (physical dents are made on the surface of the disc), so in principle they should last forever, whereas CD-R discs IIRC have some kind of dye that changes when burned such that it reflects the beam differently. However, some dyes eventually decays/break down such that the markings are lost. I forgot the exact details but that's roughly the gist of it. Anyway, most CD-R discs use stable dyes that will last way longer than that.
 
I read this somewhere. Why dont you try it and wait to come back then and tell us how it went.

Write a few CDs or DVDs, then wait about 25-50 years and check if they still hold the correct data.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top