How long does CD-R's last

Den

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Sep 1, 2003, 6:50:50 PM9/1/03

to

Just seen this on the register;
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/32593.html

Is their any guidelines on the lifetime of CD-R's branded and unbranded.

Den

Nikos Chantziaras

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Sep 1, 2003, 6:56:12 PM9/1/03

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Den wrote:
>
> Just seen this on the register;
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/32593.html

Yeah, sure. I have over 30 CD-Rs that are more than 5 years old (pirated
game-collections), different brands, I never moved them for about 3 years
(who wants to play "Pinbal Dreams" these days?), lots of dust on them, and I
can still read them without problems.

-- Niko

James Perrett

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Sep 2, 2003, 8:58:05 AM9/2/03

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I believe that the Media Science website may have something but CD-R's
haven't been around long enough for really good data to exist.

I recently checked the error rates on some of my old discs (around 8
years old) and, while they aren't as low as newer discs, they aren't too
bad. The older drives tended to record with higher error rates (a BLER
of less than 10 was considered good in 1995) than good modern drives
(which give BLER's of less than 1).

Cheers.

James.

default

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Sep 2, 2003, 10:15:15 AM9/2/03

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Do tell, how does one check the block error rate of a CD? Software to
do this?

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Den

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Sep 2, 2003, 5:17:34 PM9/2/03

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"default" <R75/5...@defaulter.net> wrote in message news:kd99lvsbhj6lhmin1...@4ax.com...

>
> Do tell, how does one check the block error rate of a CD? Software to
> do this?
>

There is an awful lot of info on the net, like this one;
http://www.cdpage.com/dstuff/BobDana296.html#1

This is mentioned in article though I have not tried it.
http://www.prolor.dk/download.php

Den

default

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Sep 2, 2003, 8:07:23 PM9/2/03

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Many thanks. I did search, but not well enough apparently.

James Perrett

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Sep 3, 2003, 8:30:32 AM9/3/03

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While the software mentioned in these links will check for high level
errors, I was talking about lower level errors which can only be checked
using hardware that can report them. Fortunately this hardware has
decreased in cost rapidly over the last year. I used a Plextor Premium
(http://www.plextor.be/English/products/premium.html) drive with the
supplied Plextools software to check my error rates.

Cheers.

James.

default

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Sep 3, 2003, 10:00:19 AM9/3/03

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>While the software mentioned in these links will check for high level
>errors, I was talking about lower level errors which can only be checked
>using hardware that can report them. Fortunately this hardware has
>decreased in cost rapidly over the last year. I used a Plextor Premium
>(http://www.plextor.be/English/products/premium.html) drive with the
>supplied Plextools software to check my error rates.
>
>Cheers.
>
>James.

Thanks. Plextor was a little out of what I was willing to spend, last
time I checked. But you did give me more ideas for search terms - I
have a couple of Lite On drives.

Regards

James Perrett

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Sep 5, 2003, 9:20:39 AM9/5/03

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default wrote:
>
> >While the software mentioned in these links will check for high level
> >errors, I was talking about lower level errors which can only be checked
> >using hardware that can report them. Fortunately this hardware has
> >decreased in cost rapidly over the last year. I used a Plextor Premium
> >(http://www.plextor.be/English/products/premium.html) drive with the
> >supplied Plextools software to check my error rates.
> >
> >Cheers.
> >
> >James.
> Thanks. Plextor was a little out of what I was willing to spend, last
> time I checked. But you did give me more ideas for search terms - I
> have a couple of Lite On drives.

There are low level error checking utilities for many of the LiteOn
drives - check the various CD-R websites.

Cheers.

James.

wha...@aol.com

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Oct 17, 2003, 5:02:16 AM10/17/03

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I notice I can no longer read data off of some of my CDR's. Mitsui's,
Memorex's and some other brands. They're about 5 years old now.

I was wondering. DVDR's are made with the data layer sandwiched
between 2 layers of polycarbonate while CDR's are stored on top of 1
layer of polycarbonate. Would sandwiching between layers of plastic
make it last longer? Why don't they make CD's like this?

James Perrett

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Oct 17, 2003, 9:23:14 AM10/17/03

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wha...@aol.com wrote:
>
> I notice I can no longer read data off of some of my CDR's. Mitsui's,
> Memorex's and some other brands. They're about 5 years old now.
>

Properly stored CD-R's should last longer than 5 years. I have some 8
year old Taiyo Yudens that still show low error rates.

However, from personal experience I've found that Mitsui discs are heat
sensitive and can be destroyed after only a few months in a warm CD
drive.

Cheers.

James.

Rick Pali

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Oct 17, 2003, 10:45:17 AM10/17/03

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<wha...@aol.com> wrote

> Would sandwiching between layers of plastic
> make it last longer?

Perhaps if physical damamge were a large factor the polycoarbonate sandwich
would help. If the discs were mishandled and subjected to a lot of flexing,
I can see the DVDs suffering more. Like most other things, it depends.

Rick.
-+---
rp...@alienshore.com
http://www.alienshore.com/seeking/

Anonymous Joe

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Oct 17, 2003, 8:40:59 PM10/17/03

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You might find this interesting:
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/8194

<wha...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:lrbvovcn4kr5fgmmu...@4ax.com...