Quote:
Originally Posted by Halcyon
CD's don't last forever. Always a good idea to back them up to a hard drive.
|
Just found this:
Code:
Optical disc formats Average longevity
CD-R (phthalocyanine dye, gold metal layer) >100 years
CD-R (phthalocyanine dye, silver alloy metal layer) 50 to 100 years
DVD-R (gold metal layer) 50 to 100 years
CD (read-only, such as an audio CD) 50 to 100 years
CD-RW (erasable CD) 20 to 50 years
BD-RE (erasable Blu-ray) 20 to 50 years
DVD+R (silver alloy metal layer) 20 to 50 years
CD-R (cyanine or azo dye, silver alloy metal layer) 20 to 50 years
DVD+RW (erasable DVD) 20 to 50 years
BD-R (non-dye, gold metal layer) 10 to 20 years
DVD-R (silver alloy metal layer) 10 to 20 years
DVD and BD (read-only, such as a DVD or Blu-ray movie) 10 to 20 years
BD-R (dye or non-dye, single layer or dual layer) 5 to 10 years
DVD-RW (erasable DVD) 5 to 10 years
DVD+R DL (dual layer) 5 to 10 years
That's a lot longer than your typical hard drive.
I bought my first CDs in 1986, and I haven't noticed any failing yet.