Don't buy cheap CD-Rs
 

I've been buying cheap CompUSA-branded CD-Rs for quite a while, and I am finding that the old ones that I've burned are becoming corrupt. However, there seems to be a retroactive solution to this problem: CloneCD. It's mostly used to copy protected CD-ROMs through RAW mode, but this mode can also be used to read corrupted CDs. This process takes a while (about 10 hours for a CD that I just ripped), but it's worth it. After the rip, you can use Iso Buster to extract the files embedded in the image, and use them as you need.

There is going to be some debate over this I'd imagine. The last box of 100 CD's I bought was ~$19 and so far everyone has worked just fine. I don't think the expensive ones are worth the money in most cases.

All CD-Rs corrode over time. But yeah, the cheap ones dont last long. I learned that lesson the hard way.

Havent thought about that way of recovery though... Unfortunately the ones I had were completely hosed, and I dont think anything was getting back at them.

oh yeah... thats not the bad part

some PINE cds I had, the labels flaked off on about half of them... which could really fuck up the inside of some players and such, would be a major bitch to clean, other ones have done it too... its shit

I'm sure not all cheap CD-Rs are bad, but it's definitely something to consider. By the way, my cheapies worked fine when I burned them, too. The corruption came over time.

How much time are we talking about here? I've got a LOT of work related files backed up on CD's.

Also, what's the lifespan of a DVD-R? My new G5 has the SuperDrive (CDRW/DVDR) and I was thinking about moving all the backups to DVD and start to reclaim some of my cabinet space.

I burned the CD in question in March of 2003. I wonder if it has to do with the humid climate.

That certainly will affect it.

Generally, I wouldnt leave it there more than two years for critical data. Unless you buy some really high quality, archival disks, but those dont come cheap.

the cheapies scratch easier (on the top where the data is). Thats the only real problem i've had with them and why i'll never buy them again. I don't consider ANY CD-Rs expensive, you just have to wait for COMPUSA or BESTBUY to have a sale...50 cd-rs for 10 bucks. THe fun thing about DVD+/-Rs is that the prices will go down on the slower DVDs (i have a 4x buner which is fine by me) because new technology is comming out and they are being "outphased."

on the humidity issue. i had a cd sit in my black car (it's pracitcally an oven during the summer. When i came back to find it after a 5 day vacation, it was all ty-dyed and corupt...it was one of my favorite cds but it was cool.

I learned that the hard way. I bought 500 blanks of what I thought be to a wonderful deal. Now I only use those CDs when I just want to take something from home to work. They don't stand the test of time. If I leave them in a paper sleeve for too long when I try to take the CD out the top sticks to the clear plastic part. When I finally get the CD out (which I try to do very carefully) the top layer is kind of bubbled and the data is no longer accessible there.

This is going to sound like a bullshit story but here it is nonetheless, and true.

My cousin, who I always thought of as sort of a good old boy up North runs a CD manufacturing plant.

He told me that no one is investing in the low end of the market anymore because no one sees a future for CDs. DVDs or the new HD DVDs or whatever they are called, are the way to go. He said his equipment was getting old but who was going to upgrade? when they bought the gear blank CDs in general were selling for much more.

For what it's worth.

I bought CompUSA brand DVDs, and they all corrupted before I was even able to view the burned DVD. I got one of the cheap DVDs (about 1/2 the price) and those worked fine. I don't know if it's just me, but after that, I refuse to buy CompUSA brand CDs or DVDs.

Man, I was going to restore an image I made a few months ago on Memorex CD-RWs and I get an error message that the files are corrupted. I know that CDs decay over time, but this is ridiculous. First off, I kept the CDs in optimal atmospheric conditions, secondly while they probably aren't archival quality, they aren't cheap no name CDs. I think they should have lasted longer than 6 months.

I have CDs I burned over 7 years ago that are still perfectly fine.. even with the scratches they've accumulated over the years.

It might just be because of the crappy material that they use. Perhaps it's so cheap just for the fact that it's material that corrodes after a year or more.

I generally buy 100 of a well known brand (Philips, Sony, etc..) for around $15-20.

My concern right now would be with DVDs since that's what I primarily burn anymore ;)

I did a lot of research about this when my music CD-Rs started to fade.
Turns out your experience varies based on the type/quality of dye used on the disc, and the factory where it was made.
Here's some more info: http://www.cdmediaworld.com/hardware/cdrom/cd_dye.shtml
You have to be very picky when you buy your media.
Those super sales where the discs are almost free are usually because they're trying to clear out stock from a bad run!

CD manufacturing? He must manufacture pressed CDs, not CD-Rs, as those are pretty much always made in Taiwan. And I have to disagree. CDs will be around for a long time, and with the current prices for burners (40 bucks) and CD-Rs (10 bucks for 50), they will be an universal storage method for quite a while. DVDs may be popular for movies and increasingly so for software, but VAST majority of people almost exclusively use CDs for audio applications.

I've had a CD-R loaded with apps fade to the point that my burner recognized it as blank, and burned over it, creating a new, fully-functional CD. Of course, I noticed this after I had burned it, and lost all of my Adobe apps.

The worst problem I have had with cheap CDR's was a set of 50 that I bought about 6 months ago. The top of the disc is a blank, bright reflective surface. The friction on the top of the disc is terrible. Forget about putting them in slot loading readers, it's impossible.

I always buy my blanks in bulk, have some pictures / appz CDs from about 8-10 years ago, still good.

I didn't even know they had CD-Rs 8-10 years ago. Did you also have to walk 10 miles in the snow with no shoes to get them in exchange for glass beads?

I've never had any problems with my 100 spindles. I like em cuz they're unbranded, plus they're really cheap.

I remember the first CD-Rs I bought were Cursor, they absolutely sucked and didn't last at all. I think the main difference you find in higher quality CD-Rs may be the read time. I found that the Kodak Gold that I've used read really fast, compared to other CD-Rs. But then again, they cost a lot more.

Glava: Wow, in a year and a half? Even my Cursor CD-Rs I bought a long time ago didn't get corrupt. It just takes a few minutes to read, lol.

DVD burners and media prices are coming down very fast. I'm sure they're replace CD-Rs in not too long a time. Seems like a lot of people copy games, and since most new games come on multiple CDs it's much more convenient to burn everything on one DVD, for roughly the same price too.

ffffffffffgggggggggg hhhhhhhhhh

I bought a spindle of 50 Princo (sp?) DC's and one of them shattered in a generic 52 Max drive. I thought that it was a 1 in a million fluke but I just had to RMA a DVD drive a week ago.

Maxell and Memorex are the only ones that I use now! Hell the only difference between the cost of them and the cheaper ones per 50 is a burger and a pop. And frankley I don't need those calories.

I've gotten unbranded ones from Office Max and they seem to work fine. A few years from now... But I keep them in jewel cases all the time. Just look for the ads in the Sunday paper. Every few weeks, OMax or Staples will have 100 CDs for $8 or less after instant/mail-in rebates. $8 will only get you five or so Verbatim or Memorex.

That happened to some of my Verbatim discs as well.

To me, TDK is the best brand. Never had any problems, I have discs more than 4 years old from TDK that are still going strong.