Sir Creep <sircreep@hotmail.com> wrote in news:bd215be2-73b5-4318-adab-b52d1a07f050@c30g2000hsa.googlegroups.com: > On Nov 16, 5:32 am, "Lesley Robertson" <l.a.robert...@tnw.tudelft.nl> > wrote: >> Just a quick reminder since there seems to be a few beginners reading >> this thread. Don't rely on long term storage on CD-Rs. I found a >> batch of 4 yesterday, all of which are unreadable. Fortunately I have >> all my CDs backed up to an external harddrive, so it's easy to burn >> more. DVDs are more stable. If you have to use CDs, make duplicates >> from different manufacturers. The reason all 4 of mine failed at the >> same time is because they all came out of the same box, and thus >> presumably the same batch. At least different batches should fail at >> different times! Lesley Robertson > > Thus the beauty of the 1G (or now 4G?) thumb drive. Virus free too! Actually, it's possible to get a virus from ANY media! (Just gotta be careful of the source). And, I think any media also has a "shelf life" and/or conditions that would corrupt the data. I saved a 2gb thumb drive for someone who's pictures & info were "lost" because the electrical contacts got broken off. Anyhow... I think everything should be backed up and/or duplicated periodically if it's important to you. Duplicate DVD's that get checked & re-burned every 5 or 10 years (whatever you're comfy with) is the way to go, imo.