What is the best way to store CDs for extended periods of time?
401807
They actually make wierd plastic things you can put on the bottom of discs to keep them from scratching. Go to Best Buy and ask about those.
968089
make sure they are not stored on a removable drive and aren't in hidden or readonly folders
774613
Yeah.. external drive is the best choice but if it is rather expensive for you, you may just backup your media library to the CDs/DVDs. But you should note that the compression degree of the media files is really poor (approximately 20 percents), no matter which backup software you use, so you should purchase an external drive as big as your media library is. There are no any doubts that the best backup software is Acronis True Image because one can easily create an image of the media library and quickly restore it in case the system fails. \nYou can download the latest and the most fully features version of ATI here: http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/\nOr download a free version of ATI from here:\nhttp://www.acronis.com/mag/vnu-ati7
483013
Yes.  For personal temporary storage, USB thumb drives are the best options, as they're more portable, and the capacities range from 32MB up to 2GB (and growing.)   For troubleshooting PCs, bootable CDROMs, followed by bootable thumb drives, are the best current replacements.
1025873
Yes, you need a drive that can write cd's if you want to put information on them. A regular CD/DVD-rom drive won't do that.
646049
if you dont want all of those floopies and cd's you can always get a USB flash drive, i have one, and they come in many diffrent memory sizes such as 128 mb, 256 mb, 512 mb, and 1 Gb.  there really good, it also holds alot of memory.  its also small, so you can tie them around your neck and take them everywhere with you.  some of them is not that expensive, and its also very easy to use.  since its drive e:/ you just plug it on to the computer, and dave everything to drive e:/.
610783
yes you can! buy 800Mb CDs. they take up to 90 minutes of music. you can buy them here\n\nhttp://search.ebay.com/800-mb-cds_W0QQfnuZ1QQfsooZ1QQfsopZ3QQxpufuZx\n\nfor more info go to google.com and type 800MB CDs and click search, you will get all you need to know about these CDs (how they work, where to buy them and how much do they cost)
947659
You can buy 800mb CD-r ( http://www.amazon.co.uk/TDK-90min-jewel-storage-media/dp/B0000YHFCC ), they cost more than the standard 700mb one's, but still cheaper than DVD+-r's.\n\nAnswers to your questions:\n\nQuestion 1: Standard is 700mb's (but you can get up to 800mb's)\nQuestion 2: No, see above you can get 800mb one's\nQuestion 3: It depends what size you decide to buy (700mb-800mb)\n\nAdditonal info:  Another way to increase the amount of data on a disc is to compress the files via a zip utility (a free one is zipgenuis, or use windows built in one).  This reduces the amount of space the files need.  For example you have 1gb of data, by compressing (zipping) certain files you can "condense" the files into a smaller space, then burn them onto the CD, so you'll have the equivalant of 1gb worth of data zipped to take approx 700mb of disc space.  Please note that certain files can't be compress and other types of files can be compress up to 90% (approx).\n\nHope this helps.
1072296
I don't think so. I have discs of backup data that I have stored for over 5 years, and they still work fine. Most likely, if your disc is 3-5 years old and isn't reading, it may be scratched, have a damaged read sector, or simply not be able to be read by your current drivers ... for example, older discs burned under Adaptec software (later renamed ROXIO) may not read properly if your computer doesn't have the UDFReader software.\n\nTo all intents and purposes, as long as the disc isn't damaged, it should have the same "shelf life" of any commercial disc
371135
The one thing you need to check in is a data CD-R, or DATA DVD-R. DVD-R will give you better buring options and increase the clarity of your pictures once transfered from your computer to a cd. Also another good source of storing media (any type) would be an external drive or flash drive. A flash drive is compact, light weight, and easy to use. Check your local wal-mart to find and of these items.
330298
Why not just toss it or store it and go get some CD-R's. A 50 pack on sale cost $9, that's .18 a piece vs. spending time erasing and recording on slower CDRW's. Even at min. wage your time needed to erase and burn at slower CDRW speeds sould be a couple of bucks so give your time value and you can see it's not worth it to use them.
137611
1 CD = (approx) 650-700 MB\n\nDepending on your budget, a cheap (512 MB) drive would store a little less data than 1 CD.  A standard-size (1 GB) drive would store about 2 CD's worth... and so on.
1113927
Burn all music to cd, make it an audio cd not a data one, but obviously don't bother with music you already have on commercial CD's elsewhere.  Burn all photos to cd but organise them into folders and name each file appropriately (e.g. seaside_sandcastle.jpg - I always use an underscore in cd filenames, force of habit!).  \n\nMy reason for using CD's rather than anything else is that it's a format that every computer can read, and having the photos as individual files means that you're not relying on some piece of software which probably won't exist in five to ten years.   You may also be able to view them in a consumer DVD player.  DVD's may hold more data (and for extra backup sake it may be an idea to fill a DVD or two with your pictures as well) but not all computers have a DVD drive.  Audio CD's will be readable in any computer too, and also your home Hi-Fi; you could keep masses of mp3's backed up to a separate CD or DVD.
1184977
If you want copy a protected CD for "backup purposes" you should check out programs such as Alcohol 120%, Clone CD and Clone DVD, Virtual Drive and so on. They are not free unfortunately.
295181
Recent report put it at something like 10 years instead of vendors longer reported life spans.\n\nI have disk over 5 years old with no issues. It woul dbe my guess if disk are protected from heat and light they should last an easy 20 years but in truth in 20 years do you think we will be using CDs? As new tech comes online you should migrate to it for your backups. This goes for home and business so if you think back we use to have hundreds of floppies, now we have a single CD, 5 years from now we will have a single 100Gb memory stick or some such.\n\nAs always I would suggest having multiple backups be they online or offline. Using a server, USB drive, tapes and CD drive you should have more than enough ways of making sure you never lose those images.
372677
Burn them to a CD using the highest level of fidelity.  Then rip the songs from the CD to MP3 format. \n\nVoila.  No more file protection, minimal data loss.
287528
Cd Cleaner? usually it invloves more then a program? you may be able to get one with a small shipping fee though I would check out ebay