Storing CDR and DVD-R's

[Rob100]

Hi,

I'm wondering if anyone has any good tips on storing CDR's and DVD-R's? Basically I've become very concerned over this last week as I've found that loads of my old (only 2-3 years) (S)VCD's have gone bad and the only thing I can put it down to is heat from a radiator near to a rack they *were* stored in.

Thanks,

Rob.

[Dr Mordrid]

Duplicates of my disks are kept in crystal cases in a series of plastic wall mounted racks. The racks are far enough off the floor to be out of rug-rat range. I also have spare duplicates in a fire/waterproof safe in the basement.

I keep my original disks (software, media content etc.) offsite in safe storage. They are basically unused as I copy them immediately and put 'em away.

Yeah....I know....overkill

Dr. Mordrid

[KRSESQ]

Even relatively brief exposure to direct sunlight will kill a cdr-rw.
Store at normal room temperature (68-75 F), away from extremes of heat, light, humidity, and all should be good.

My biggest problem with cdrws has been bad packet-writing!

Kevin

[Dr Mordrid]

Hopefully the packet writing issues will change with the new Mount Ranier "EASYWRITE" burners and the impending OS support for them.

Dr. Mordrid

[Brian Ellis]

Vertically or horizontally? I'd guess vertically is better, supported by the centre, but that's just gut-feeling.

[keithm]

VCD's gone bad after 2-3 years! Maybe vhs isn't so bad after all, at least they still play. Seriously: I had a nice long thread about cdr quality and it would appear that there are better quality disks out there: kodak ultima and Verbatim Crystal all claim to have better UV protection than cheap cdr media. One worry is if cdr media is unrelaible, what about budget DVD-r media?

[Dr Mordrid]

I store my CD's horizontally, but then in my racks they are supported across their whole surface.

Dr. Mordrid

[Sciascia]

I am going to get laughed at for this one. Media storage is not my strong suit. I used to be really good about it, but I have found over the years that I don't keep anything really long. I have most of my important or expensive apps backed up, but for the most part, after I burn it, I throw it right back on the reem that it came on. I don't have a lot of free space and tracking down CD holders, jewel cases and what not did not appeal to me after years of hassle. As for video, I look at teh stuff I did a while back and it would suit me just fine if it was destroyed .

I guess I am the weakest link here....got any CD's I can borrow?

[KRSESQ]

I store then vertically on my bookshelf and in racks, horizontally on my bookshelf or desktop, pretty much however they happen to land when I'm done with them.

I don't know how this will affect them long term, but I DO take great care to avoid dust and scratches, though you might find that hard to believe if you could see my work area at this moment .

Kevin

[Dr Mordrid]

You should see mine. I'd post a picture, but I'm afraid that the digital cams lens would break just framing it :-P

Dr. Mordrid

[KuroNeko]

Store vertically, either in jewel cases or DVD cases, or in PVC-free maps. Keep at room temperature, in dark place, at normal humidity. If you live in tropical climate (high temp high humidity) get climate control in your storage area.

And most importantly: get a decent CDR/DVD-R. Storagewise these discs can take quite a bit, but if they are bad to begin with...

Good brands report their test results of climate box tests (high temp high humidity high UV - rapid aging simulation).

Brands/nonames that don't even report any info on shelflife, well, you know what to expect.

My Platinums from 2-3 years ago are scrap. Made by Ritek/Moser Baer. My Kodak Ultima Golds (Kodak Japan) are still perfect. Pity Kodak no longer makes much CDR. Mitsui also very good, Mercedes of CDR, but priced accordingly.

Neko

[Dr Mordrid]

And I've had major problems recently with the reflective layer peeling off on Memorex CD-R's, so take that FWIW.

Dr. Mordrid

[Fred H]

I keep my very important backups (original CDs backed up) in crystal cases in a dark & dry drawer.
The most of my backup CDs are sorted in an A4 file, in A4 plastic sheets, containing 4 bags each and a list over each CD printed with the “Print Folder” program (http://no-nonsense-software.com/ )
The files are on a wall-mounted set of shelves.
I don’t know if this is the best way to keep CDs, but it takes a minimum of space.

[William]

Memorex -badge other manufacturers products, so you might get anything, but since they change the manufacturer, you can be fairly sure that it was cheap for Memorex to buy.

As for the best way of storing; there are only accelerated life tests to show how different methods affect media life. Direct sunlight is a big no no, prolonged exposure to heat is not good, but neither is prolonged freezing. Labels, or hand written labels (any kind of ink) will reduce the life of the media, (removes/eats through the top laquer layer above the reflective layer), ad this seems to be made worse by excessive heat/humidity.

But as I said, all these relate to accelerated ageing tests, which are dubious at best

[az]

How about special CDR pens?

Asymmetric labels can kill your CD drive, so you shouldn't use them anyway

AZ