WARNING: Long-Term Use of Recordable DVDs is Dangerous

No one is going to lose a finger or toe but you could lose something arguably much worse by using recordable DVDs for more than just a transitory medium.

If you believe the information found on DVD packaging, you shouldn’t have any concerns about placing your wedding video, important business documents, family archive photos, etc. on DVDs that use gold as their reflective layer or are a little more expensive and sold under the label, “archive DVD” (a bit of an oxymoron really… keep reading). You wouldn’t have any concerns about using such DVDs for long-term storage since their packages are emblazoned with claims of ten, twenty, fifty and even one-hundred -year life expectancy. You’d sleep well knowing your fondest, most important memories and information are securely preserved.

So why are people who make a living from storing crucial, one-of-a-kind digital data not following your lead? What’s keeping librarians, archivists, photographers and genealogists from running down the same path for their long-term storage needs? The best answer may be found in a presentation prepared by the Memory of the World Programme’s Sub-Committee on Technology. This provides detailed guidance on assessing the risks associated with storing archival data on recordable CDs and DVDs.

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Empty promises are putting your most important files at risk

CD/DVD experiential life expectancy is 2 to 5 years even though published life expectancies are often cited as 10 years, 25 years, or longer. However, a variety of factors discussed in the sources cited in FAQ 15, below, may result in a much shorter life span for CDs/DVDs. Life expectancies are statistically based; any specific medium may experience a critical failure before its life expectancy is reached. Additionally, the quality of your storage environment may increase or decrease the life expectancy of the media. We recommend testing your media at least every two years to assure your records are still readable.

From The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration Web site (Item 6 in the FAQs)

Who knew? Certainly I didn’t. For some time now, DVDR manufacturers have been leading us to believe that by replacing the silver reflective layer with gold, they have somehow increased the life-span of your data on their DVDR discs. Most of us really don’t have the time to dig into the technology behind optical storage media to know if that premise makes sense. The discs cost more, come with a claim of preserving your files for 80 to 100 years so what’s there to doubt?

Unfortunately, there are many things about DVDRs that can be considered weak points in the design. Any one of these weak points can easily and silently put your important files in jeopardy. Most notably:

1. when silver was used as the reflective layer, it was prone to oxidizing which defeated its ability to reflect. This problem was solved for conventional disc design by replacing silver with gold.
2. your data is stored on a layer of organic dye as it reacts to the laser beam when the disc is burned. This dye, being of an organic nature, breaks down even in the best of conditions. It is very susceptable to exposure to light and temperature.
3. the beam used to burn the data onto the dye layer is also used to read the data back, causing additional degradation of the data layer every time the disc is read.

Recently, people have begun going to their DVDR archives to access their important files and are discovering this unexpected data loss. A writer for the New York Times told of his experience and people commented in droves about their experiences as well.

Feel free to share your experiences in the comments here.

A Generation of Memories at Risk

You’ve been using your digital camera for years now. And not too long ago you figured out how to copy the pictures to your computer to share with others via email and online. Then you really got smart and started copying them to DVDs for safekeeping. Now you don’t have to worry about your computer crashing and taking all your family memories with it, right? Ah… wrong. And  you’re definitely not alone.

We’ve been led to believe our CDs and DVDs will last decades but now people are discovering the organic dye used to store the data on is prone to breaking down over time, so fast in fact that you will be lucky if your memories are still readable if you burned them more than a few years ago.

So, quickly now, go grab your saved memories and see how healthy they are. Let us know here in the comments what you discover.

U.S. National Archives’ advice on preserving your digital memories

The National Archives has spent numerous hours evaluating their options for preserving recent history that is mostly comprised of digital documents, recordings and photography. While the consumer market has been swayed by manufacturers’ claims to believe their own family archives are safely stored when recorded on DVDs, the National Archives has a different stance:

“CD/DVD experiential life expectancy is 2 to 5 years even though published life expectancies are often cited as 10 years, 25 years, or longer. However, a variety of factors discussed in the sources cited in FAQ 15, below, may result in a much shorter life span for CDs/DVDs. Life expectancies are statistically based; any specific medium may experience a critical failure before its life expectancy is reached. Additionally, the quality of your storage environment may increase or decrease the life expectancy of the media. We recommend testing your media at least every two years to assure your records are still readable.”
National Archives Website

Sadly, most people don’t know this. Tell your friends before they lose their important memories. Let them know there’s a better, less risky way to preserve their family history.

Sympathy for T-Mobile Sidekick Users

Sheesh

I cannot imagine the angst that I would feel if I were to discover my address book, photos and other personal files on my phone were lost and irretrievable. This would be especially painful if I was led to believe a third-party service had been backing up my information using online storage yet were now telling me my data is gone.

Such is the reality for T-Mobile Sidekick cell phone users. They have recently been advised to not allow their batteries to run down or their phones to shut off because if they do, all is lost and irretrievable. Holy cow!

The Sidekick cell phone has been widely used for years and one of the substantial benefits has been the automatic back up service. Sidekick users were ensured that even if they tossed their phone into the river or under a car tire, as soon as they fired up the replacement Sidekick, all contacts, photos and other personal files would magically appear.

In today’s digital world we need to proactively protect what is important to us. This includes digital files like family photos, family videos, business documents, etc. It’s incidents like the Sidekick debacle that should give us reason to pause and reconsider how exposed to losing very important memories and information we are allowing ourselves. Read more »