CD Rot

[petedz]

Part of being an adult, I suppose, is learning that nothing is sacred.

I had heard of CD rot before--the deterioration of CD and DVD media over time--but I believed it was a rarity. I had even seen a couple of victims of the phenomenon, where the silver media was riddled with pinprick sized holes.

Recently, I noticed that one of my older CDs wouldn't play properly. Sure enough, it had a scattering of these pinpricks. Then I started checking other early cds from '85 and '86. About two out of three show some sign of damage.

Well, I've calculated out that I can do a lossless transfer of my CD collection to one of them new fangled 750GB drives with a bit of room to spare. I'll even spring for a second one for backup, but HOLY SHIT. This just isn't right!

Anybody else experiencing this? Thinking about how they'll cope?

[Freyr]

Wow, that's horrible! I may have to do the same thing as you... I have a -shitload- of CD's, all in mint condition... that's brutal that they'd deteriorate.

[thetroy]

I have all of my CD's transferred to my PC not lossless though I don't have that kind of space

[emperor_black]

I thought I read somewhere that CD's have a guaranteed life of 100 years. Of course they recommend different storage options than our regular cd holders but rotting? that's quite a shock. I do have most of my fav's on my ipod...

[jackson1]

Keep your cd-roms clean and AWAY from the daylight at all times. Rays delete your media - even through window glass. Crappy medias go fast, quality ones survive longer in direct sunlight.
Oh, and use quality media with dye that match your high quality burner.

Start reading about this (or test it like I did) and you will change your views on the "100 years" postulate.

[petedz]

Just to clarify, I'm talking about silvers. Originals. Not CD-R.

I can't believe there hasn't been a bigger stink over this. There are a few scattered articles if you Google, but generally with a bit of corporate spin: "We're not sure that this is real, it may be due to consumer mishandling, etc." Anyone who knows me....well, there's nobody who is more careful with things. Nobody. When I invested in CDs, I took the 100 year claimed lifespan as fact. FWIW, so far I've found CDs from as recent as 1990 with little telltale pinpoint holes in the media.

Isn't this a tailor made platform for a class action suit? Why hasn't anybody picked up the banner yet? (Maybe having a collection of 2000+ CDs is an abberation. )

[Chad]

I've got around 600 to 700 CDs (haven't counted in awhile) and I've never once ran into this problem.

[buzzsaww]

I don't know when the silvers were changed (or if they were even changed and not PR BS) but CD Rot (along with the acrylic becoming opaque and unreadable) was known years ago when CD's hit the market in the early 80's. 10 years +- a couple was the rule of thumb if it was going to happen. I remember a lot of very upset people on evening news consumer segments pissed about their disks. I've got some disks going back to 1985 when I got my first CD player and have not seen this yet.

[wakeUPdead]

I've yet to have a problem. With some cds if it did occur, ya know you can always go out and buy again.

But some of these cd's are just a little more sentimental. With ipods and download streams on the internet its like a more physical approach is going away.

[roodyrocker]

If something hasn't been around 100 years, how do they know it will last 100 years?

Rudy

https://www.wickedrocks.com

[texasfury]

.

[lerxstcat]

Oh yeah, I'm sure they'll do THAT!

[Chad]

Actually, it might be worthwhile to contact the record label. Back when I bought the Star Wars trilogy on DVD, I had trouble getting EP IV to play properly, so I emailed the company and they mailed out a whole new EP IV DVD with the case and everything....no questions asked. Well, they did email back and ask for my mailing address and DVD player make/model but that was it, then I had the DVD in the mail in less than a week. A record label might do the same.

[zeegler]

I also have over 600 CDs, and I just checked out some of the very first ones I ever bought. They look fine, and play the same as they did when I bought them. They are probably 16 or 17 years old, so I'm not worried yet.

[Spivonious]

I remember reading that this only occurs with a few of the early CDs...after that they changed the process or something so the metal inside can't corrode.