An archivist told me that you have to get the " GOLD " standard CDs and DVDs. You also have to store them away from extremes of heat and cold. Try and not touch the surface where the date is stored too. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Josephine Jeremiah" <jojeremiah@dsl.pipex.com> To: <bristol_and_somerset@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, January 09, 2011 7:56 AM Subject: Re: [B&S] Saving family photographs > On Sat, 08 Jan 2011 15:50:09 -0000, Chris Jefferies > <chris.jefferies@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote: > >> It's not a good idea to rely on a CD/DVD for long term backup because >> they have a limited life. From experience I have seen some become >> unreadable >> within a few years. At work we received some software on CD but after a >> couple of years we started getting errors and had to try the CD in >> different drives to read it but it got worse and the disk became >> unreadable within about 3 years. >