CD-R's losing quality with age????

[dfw123]

I have burned many cd's over the past few years and have started noticing a problem with cd's not reading, pausing, skipping or sounding scratchy after awhile. The one that seam to be qoing bad the quickest is the "GQ Great Quality" brand (which is the cheapest and consequently what I use most). They record okay and playback perfect, but start to have trouble after a few months. I have also used "Memorex" cd's and they appear to last a lot longer before having trouble. I have several store bought, pre-recorded cd's which have played fine for years so it must be the media I'm using or my burner. I have had three burners over the years and am having this problem with disks burned by all three.
Is it common for disks to go bad like this? I haven't heard anyone mention this before so I'm trying to find a solution.
Thx all

[EMPiRE]

It is a VERY common problem, which we will see more and more as most CD-R dye's were never intended to last this "long"

There is NO solution for CD-R's getting bad than to salve as much data from them before they get really bad...

So you will have to "refresh" your important data every few years to make sure not to lose it

Have a look here: http://www.cdmediaworld.com/hardware..._quality.shtml

[reikirex]

with all due respect to the administrator comments about value brand cdrs, Decent Cd-rs in general last 10-25 years. This is what all scientific testing done by the National Media Labs shows to a certainty. Only very cheap Cd-rs with a green tint are meant to be quick use disposable discs(Ritek,Dysan,Ricoh econo,Samsung,Targa,Tdk econo,etc). They can last only a few months to 5 years or maybe 10. They almost always get errors and data loss over time.Blue tint cd-rs last 10-25 years(Sony econo,FujiFilm deluxe, Maxell, TDK). while high end , usually gold tinted disc can last 50 plus years(Mitsui,Sony deluxe, Philips, Taiyo, Pioneer deluxe). Go for the gold, but if you are poor just make sure to research the brand name and exact variation before you buy. And use common sense, store in a cool , dark, dust free container.

the rex man

[EMPiRE]

You are correct about the gold CD-R's BUT they are not available anymore so this is not really an option

You forgot about Verbatim, with their Metal Azo/advanced Azo dye they have upt the time to 50-100 years!

[DABhand]

Yeah but who is going to be about and still using those backed up cds when they do go..

lol


Still its a crazy claim about the discs since they couldnt have tested them.


To reikirex, not a silly claim at all. Please read up on it, before jumping in with both feet next time

[kalyhwong]

I also heard a lot about this problem. As for me, I copied a CD 2 years ago, but last month, I could open it and everything keeps no change.
Since I am in China, and they were some factories producing CD-R before, but now they changed to manufacture DVD-R. As I learnt from them, with different production technique, they could make different kinds of CD-R, grade A, grade B, or even grade C. But none of them could last forever...So take care of your important data.

[ancient]

Gets worse for me
A few year ago I bought a number of laser disks and cd videos - kept them mint - like an investment to sell on ebay and eil and the like
Comes to sell them now do a test play and approx half dont work without faults and picture / sound loss
as far as cds are concerned i reckon we have been conned : then the manufacturers complain when a few tightasses make illegal copies of what in a lot of cases is sub standard gear - still i digress
Just bought a samsung TS-H552U dual layer writer - starting to mke coasters again - anyone got a successful media and any one know of a software that specifically writes dual layer format
regards

[jult]

Originally Posted by EMPiRE

There is NO solution for CD-R's getting bad than to salve as much data from them before they get really bad...

So you will have to "refresh" your important data every few years to make sure not to lose it

Have a look here: http://www.cdmediaworld.com/hardware..._quality.shtml

I have to raise the RED flag for boeder CD-R 74 recordable/GOLD disks.
They fail after only 4 years, even when they haven't been used, ever, and stored properly.

Do you have any special hints how to read from such 'expired' CD's, how to save as much data from them as possible when you notice you are too late.

[jult]

I read this on http://www.mscience.com/longev.html#RESULT :

CONCLUSIONS

CD-R discs are capable of excellent longevity, but achieving that potential requires diligence by both manufacturers and users. Manufacturers claims may be valid, or may be based upon flawed or non-existent data. Proper end-of-life indicators must be used to estimate longevity. This study has shown that BLER is not a universal indicator of media life, although most published longevity estimates have utilized BLER as the sole end-of-life indicator.

E22, E32, and BURST errors are valid end-of-life indicators. When present, they indicate a need for immediate duplication if a disc containing archival information is still readable. Such errors are not useful for estimating media life by extrapolating test results of discs that have been subjected to accelerated ageing. All quality indicators must be considered when selecting end-of-life indicators. This study suggests that total and peak E12 error rates as well as jitter may be useful indicators, provided that all other quality requirements are met.

High initial quality for each disc can only be achieved by managing variations in media and recording drive quality. Individual CD-R lot qualification should be employed where possible to confirm that manufacturing quality was high and was not degraded by subsequent packing, shipping, and storage events. Media handling and storage is very important. Both unrecorded and recorded disks should be archived in clean jewel cases in a stable storage environment of 10 C-15 C and 20%-50% RH, and protected from sunlight and other radiation sources.

CD-R media and drive manufacturers are responsible for product quality levels that support interchange and longevity. Not all manufacturers achieve this goal. Increasing demand may require new facilities or production lines that inevitably undergo growth pains. Technical advances can lead to new manufacturing processes that must be debugged. Price pressures may force compromises in quality that adversely affect baseline quality or increase fluctuations about that baseline. Identification of CD-R media and drives that support consistent, acceptable levels of interchange and longevity is the responsibility of the archivist. Proper vendor qualification and monitoring enables the user to confidently utilize the rich capabilities of CD-R, and rewards the manufacture with recognition of their diligent efforts to attain and maintain product quality.

Reliance upon brand names or upon readability of discs in one or a few drives cannot verify longevity. Confidence in longevity can only be achieved by initial testing of drives and media, through proper handling and storage, and by periodic resampling to confirm longevity or to identify a need for duplication while the original disc is still readable. Short cuts do not exist. The level of confidence will always be proportional to the amount of effort and expense incurred by the archivist in establishing and maintaining a high level of CD-R quality. Such methods are appropriate for all media types, and their proper application to CD-R information storage will satisfy the most critical requirements for interchange and longevity.

[kendrick]

how would one go about testing the media after burn to verify all those error types>?

[BarryB]

Nothing like resurrecting old posts

There are a few tools to test your media!

Nero CD-DVD Speed:

http://www.cdspeed2000.com/download.html

K-Probe 2 (For Liteon burners):

http://www.k-probe.com/download-kprobe-k-probe.php

DVDInfoPro:

http://www.dvdinfopro.com/

These will give you a good idea if your media is still reliable after burning and storing!

[acal3000]

Man i remember when this thread was still going

I'm not really expert in this thing

But CDRs with gold tint I haven't seen them for sale since the end of 90's. CDr s with blue tint either either like since 2003 and az0 from verbatim I haven't seen either like since 2004/2005 (those ones used gave me better read on my home stereo)

All brands I have CDRs I bought now (Maxell, Verbatim, Sony,Imation etc) are the supposed bad green tint now i haven't any other tint now on these days