What's the latest thinking on when archived DVDs need to be copied to
fresh disks? After how many years?

Thanks
Mike

Mike


On Mon, 11 Feb 2008 10:00:43 GMT, "HEMI-Powered" wrote:

MikeM added these comments in the current discussion du jour ...

I have used DVDs to back up digital photos on my computer. I
started using HDDs because I kept getting errors on the disks.
Since then I have read a number of posts about burning speed
making a difference. I am thinking of having another go at
disks, but burning at the slowest speeds. The speed difference
might explain my experience that DVD-RWs didn't have errors,
it seems it might have been because they are 4X. I was burning
the DVD-Rs at whatever speed my burner chose.

I just let Roxio Easy Media Creator run on full automatic wrt
burn speed. As best I can tell, it has always detected the
correct speed of the disc I use whether CD or DVD and whether -R
or +R. Of course, true burn speed is seldom up to the full speed
rating of the disc the same as HDD seldom even approach their
rated data transfer rates.

As to using HDD for backups, I do that also. I have a Maxtor 280
gig USB external that I use for daily incremental backups if I am
doing a lot of image processing or whatever. And, I have a couple
of 200 gig externals that I use to back up both my PCs to about
every 30-60 days. One of these 2 sits in my bank's safety deposit
box and the other in a fire-proof box off the floor in my
basement. In the days of early IT, this system used be called
"grandfathering" backup tapes, although they used to use 3 sets
of tapes.

Like you, I find external HDDs to be far faster and easier to use
than optical. But, a few times a year, I do create a full set of
backup DVDs (used to be a whole lot more CDs!) to add some
redundancy to my paranoia about catastrophic loss of data due to
a B & E theft, natural disaster, or home fire.

As I commented in another post, I don't use RW and haven't had
what would look like a speed-related failure in so long I can't
recall when.

Good luck in whatever you've chosen for your backups et al and
have a great week!

On Mon, 11 Feb 2008 04:40:38 GMT, MikeM
wrote:

I was told by a salesman that the 50 packs of TDK DVD+Rs are
$20 dearer than 50 packs of DVD-Rs because the DVD+Rs are
intended for archival use whereas the DVD-Rs are for recording
things like TV shows. This is not what I've been told about
the difference in the past. The packs seem to be almost
identical, no mention of quality on either pack.