DVD to store files?

[Mach1Marauder]

Can you burn a DVD to store files such as a manual backup or just cleaning up and archiving stuff ya wanna keep?

[MoonDog]

absolutely

[Mach1Marauder]

Originally posted by MoonDog
absolutely

WHat format?

[MoonDog]

What program are you using to burn?

[Mach1Marauder]

Originally posted by MoonDog
What program are you using to burn?

I have the latest Roxio stuff..................I just need a DVD burner for my laptop. I hate burning a bunch of CD's.

[MoonDog]

I am not sure I should help you after that wisecrack about being a doorman. :p

When you open up Creator Classic, as long as you have a DVD burner, it should tell you at the bottom that you have 4.7 gig availiable to burn (at least mine does). Select Data and it's just like a cd, drag and drop your files and click burn.

Is there something in particular that you are having a problem with?

[Mach1Marauder]

Originally posted by MoonDog
I am not sure I should help you after that wisecrack about being a doorman. :p

When you open up Creator Classic, as long as you have a DVD burner, it should tell you at the bottom that you have 4.7 gig availiable to burn (at least mine does). Select Data and it's just like a cd, drag and drop your files and click burn.

Is there something in particular that you are having a problem with?

No problem other that choosing the DVD burner!. I wanted to make sure that I could use the burner fo that purpose before I went out and bought one. All I have on this laptop it a CD/DVD player and CDRW burner.

[MoonDog]

I see, I guess I just assumed that you had a burner since you were asking if you could do it. I guess that is what I get for assuming.

Yeah, you can do it. Are you looking at an external? I dont know much about upgrading laptops but I would assume (there I go again) that may be easier to go that route instead of trying to find one that will replace the the drive you currently have. I would also suggest going with a dual +/- burner since no one is sure what format will come out on top in the end.

[I Stang U]

how long do you plan on storing dvdr media for archiving purposes???

[Mach1Marauder]

Originally posted by I Stang U
how long do you plan on storing dvdr media for archiving purposes???

I dunno.......don't they last as long as CDR OR CDRW?

[I Stang U]

they are much shorter from what I have heard like 3-5 years...


in most cases for backup purposes dollar for dollar you would almost be better off buying a external harddrive...back up your data and put the drive on the shelf....

[Mach1Marauder]

Originally posted by I Stang U
they are much shorter from what I have heard like 3-5 years...


in most cases for backup purposes dollar for dollar you would almost be better off buying a external harddrive...back up your data and put the drive on the shelf....

I was thinking of thet too.
But I do have a project that I want to keep for a long time. It's all my family pics that I scanned and put info about each one. Took me a couple of months to finish!

[MoonDog]

Originally posted by I Stang U
they are much shorter from what I have heard like 3-5 years...


in most cases for backup purposes dollar for dollar you would almost be better off buying a external harddrive...back up your data and put the drive on the shelf....
Where did you hear this at? I think it depends on how well the disc is taken care of. If all you do is write to it and put it away, it should last for as long if not longer than a cd. I think it may also depend on the media you get, if you buy cheap media then your gonna get cheap results. Bottom line, I believe that a dvdr will last long enough for the general user.

[I Stang U]

the did a show on it not too long ago on "thescreensavers"

and I just did a quick search and found this article that said that they could last up to 100years in basicly a clean room environment....


There is some ongoing controversy on the longevity of DVDR and DVDRW media. Some report DVD media will last for over a 100 years, while others report of media that are not readable even after a few months. To understand why both parties could be right, it is necessary to understand the technology behind optical media. CD-R and DVD-Recordable (whether plus or minusmedia) use a technology called Dye polymer. A layer containing a light-activated dye formulated from cyanine, phtalocyanine or azo is sandwiched between the reflective layer (aluminium or gold) and the protective outer layer of polycarbonate. When a high-powered laser is beamed on the disk, the dye becomes darker where the laser has hit the disk. The alternating bright and dark spots are read as the bit pattern that has been recorded.

Magneto-optical disks make use of the Curie point. When heated to the Curie point, magnetic material immediately realigns its polarity to that of an adjacent magnet. In optical drives, the write heads heat the area being written with an intense laser beam while simultaneously exposing that same area to a magnetic field. This causes the exposed area to become a bit darker than the non-exposed areas, again making for a difference in reflectivity. When reading, the laser power is reduced so that the Curie point is not reached. This enables a MO-disk to be written about one million times.

First of all, MO disks are certified to be far more reliable than CDR or DVDR. The reason is that the technology has been tested thoroughly--high humidity paired to fluctuating temperatures ranging from minus 10 centigrade to 40 centigrade makes for pretty dependable ageing tests--and has been found to last for 30 years. That is: with data, recorded and all. Condition is that you store the media right. MO must be stored out of sunlight, and in a normal humidity environment. Shelf life for MO is well over 100 years. Storing them upright is a good idea so the disk cannot sag under its own weight, inside its plastic protective cover. If the disk sags, the head cant align with the areas on the disks surface properly anymore, and cant be read as a consequence.

MOs, however, are pretty exotic archival media. They are often used by the healthcare industry, banks, insurance companies, and the government. But out of these industries MOs are not often used as media. The drives are considerably expensive and the MO itself seems deemed to disappear because most of the major vendors have stopped manufacturing drives for the media. Sony is about the only one who still makes drives, but even Sony has quietly stopped R&D on the next-generation MO technology.

Nevertheless, MO is a superior archival format because it is insensitive to magnetic fields and has a long archival life. Because MO is rather expensive, it doesnt matter much which brand you buy. Sony is a good brand, and so is Verbatim or Imation.

CDR and DVDR are an entirely different matter. Many cheap CDR and DVDR disks (and this goes for RW media as well) are made in plants in the Far East where price is more important than quality. This results in disks that are faulty or are not properly coated or protected. If the disks dye surface is not properly protected by the polycarbonate layer, aluminium disks (the version thats commonly used in cheaper versions) tend to oxydate. There go your data...

More expensive disks are subjected to more thorough testing and better quality control. For example, Kodak uses the gold coating on its disks, while Verbatim DataLifePlus products use a Super AZO based dye with a silver reflection layer especially designed for longevity. Cheap CDR and DVDR dont last long and are certainly not the best media to trust your data to. But both Kodak and Verbatim have a very good track record for the quality and longevity of their media.

However, even with good quality, CDR and DVDR should be handled with care. Scratches and sweat from your hands may influence longevity in a negative way. Verbatim tests its media applying the Arhenius method to project life at office environments. Their testing reveals an archival life for their media of 100 years under the following conditions:

No corrosive gas in the air
No scratches or finger prints on the media surface
Temperature control within 2 degrees centigrade of 25 degrees
Humidity within 55% and a marging of 5RH%
Media stored in jewel case
Media not exposed to sunlight or UV light
This article has been based on data provided by Gartner Group and

If you are hell bent on dvdr backups for important things like family photos and shit... I personally would reburn after a few years... or if you ever lightly scratch it... or hell even use it....

[MoonDog]

Originally posted by I Stang U
the did a show on it not too long ago on "thescreensavers"

and I just did a quick search and found this article that said that they could last up to 100years in basicly a clean room environment....

If you are hell bent on dvdr backups for important things like family photos and shit... I personally would reburn after a few years... or if you ever lightly scratch it... or hell even use it....
Really? I rarely miss an episode of The Sceensavers, I guess I missed that one. :confused:

I would think that they would last at least as long as a CDR?

[I Stang U]

I am just saying be carefull...

pulled from some of the show notes.... http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/shownotes/story/0,24330,3561189,00.html



There are two issues at hand that concern DVDs as a permanent storage media.


No one really knows how long a DVD can last. DVD manufacturers have made projections that DVDs can last decades, but that doesn't involve real-time testing. Some independent studies have shown that dye-based optical media shows serious reliability issues after just a year of life.

A more pressing concern is the life span of DVD players. If DVD players are replaced by the latest technology, you may have trouble finding a device to read your discs. Bernoulli disks are a great example. Bernoulli was a popular technology, but was replaced by the CD-ROM. There aren't any Bernoulli drives around any more.

What can you do?


Make backup copies of your archives. Keep the backup in a separate place from your original archive, preferably at a different location altogether.

Track the developments in technology. When DVDs are phased out (they will, eventually, but it could take decades, or it could be next year), move your data to the latest, widely-accepted media format.