What is the life expectancy of a CD-ROM?
599720
According to the Optical Storage Technology Association (OSTA), CD-R discs have a long lifespan:\n\n"Lifetime estimation of any storage medium is a very complex and statistics-based process. Improper testing or measurement procedures can seriously impact and compromise lifetime estimates. ANSI Committee IT-9 is currently developing comprehensive guidelines for CD-ROM and CD-R life estimation. The CD-R media manufacturers have performed extensive media longevity studies using these industry-defined tests and mathematical modeling techniques, with results claiming longevity from 70 years to over 200 years. The primary caveat is how you handle and store the media. With proper handling and storage, your CD-Rs will outlive you."
367066
CD-r burns on the bottom of the disk, where a CD+R burns on the top.  There is really no difference in terms of use.
1045474
Well, the experts say forever if the disc is taken care of.
533394
There is no specific life time fixed for a modem.\nIt depends on usage. Average of 5 hours per day can last the modem for minimum of 7-8 years.
26344
It died from lack of consumer interest, the same way most older portable hard disk technologies have died, e.g. Syquest (Syjet, etc.), Iomega Jazz, the Shark drive, and others.  Though all provided faster disk access much easier read/write access than CDR/RW, they didn't provide the one thing CDR/CDRW easily did - compatibility with CDROM drives.
62696
http://www.wonderquest.com/LifeSpan-MaxMin.htm
577575
I can say yes and no.\n\nHarddisk when used, will slowly damage itself, this is because harddisk have moving parts, etc. Harddisk expected life span is about 5 years.\n\nDVD drive is also damaging itself for the same reason, moving parts. The DVD itself however, would only broke if you handle the DVD incorrectly or the DVD player has flaws.\n\nIt is not something to worry, as you might know, every single thing in this world has a life span, nothing goes forever. And the damage of Harddisk and DVD is more of that sort of damage. Unlike records, where the damage is because the record is being physically touched and scratched evrytime it's played, the damage of DVD is much less than that since the only thing that touch it is laser\n\nThe damage done to DVD, DVD drive, and harddisk is natural. Nothing in this world last forever, and that includes them, but the degrading of DVD and harddisk take an very acceptable amount of time that you can safely ignore it most of the time.
1014630
All hard drives have the potential to die any day.  Reliability on a hard drive isn't really reliable.  The average hard drive, if treated with care, would last you 4-5 years, but now, most die within the first year because of larger programs and the many many viruses, worms, trojans, etc. out there.  I suggest that you also do another back up onto CD if the information is really important.  Most external hard drives have a 1 year warrenty if not 3, so if it were to die on you, you can call the manufacturer and get it replaced.\n\nI give you props for backing up your information on a second hard drive, most people don't do that and lose everything.  So to answer your question in brief, hard drives usually live for 4-5 years if taken care of.  If all you're doing is storing files on that hard drive, it'll last you pretty long.  But if you start installing drives and extracting potential virus prone documents onto there, then you'll experience some problems.  Hope this helped.
957833
This is what is now know as a "coaster" since it's best just to use it as that now anyways. Either it got messed up in the burning process (you should ALWAYS manually check to see if files are accessible on it instead of relying on software saying it burned successfuly BEFORE deleting your files off your hard drive), bad media or any number of different things.\n\nSometimes, rarely, you just need to restart your computer because another application won't let go of using information from it. The media can be fixed by what brand and model you get. You should check online for reviews of certain brands and model of CD-R's. They are not all equally built the same. My Imation model did much better than Memorex (a better know company). \n\nThen again, CD-R's are only guaranteed to last around 10 years. Since not all makes and models are the same, you can't always get as much lifetime as you'd think. CD's already burned (music cd that you buy at a store) versus CD-R and you'll know the pre-burned one will have a shelf life of 100 years. This is because of the process to burn it. You're burning it on the outside for the most part and music cd's, cd-roms, etc are burned THEN pressed together. I've lost data to faulty brands in the past.\n\nAlso, your cd-rom drive could need to be updated. Check for firmware updates.\n\nIf you REALLY have critical data on that disc that you MUST need, there are specialists that can get it off for you. However, it's expensive.\n\nTry a different cd-rom. Sometimes only CD-RW drives will read certain formatted cd-r's.\n\nA trick that I've done before but rarely works is insert it into another cd-rom and use another disc to burn it again from the failed copy. It's not guaranteed but it's worth a shot.\n\nLike I said, there could be any number of reasons and I just listed a few, not all. More than likely though, 99.99% of the time, it's a coaster and you can't use it. Should always check to see if it's on there BEFORE deleting your files. To reduce bad burns, go to a slower setting on burning it. Instead of 52X, try 48X and go lower if it need be. A certain brand of DVD-R that I've had before was rated for 16X, yet to get successful burns, I had to use the 4X setting. Slower but at least it's not failed.
175986
a life span of a few months to 20 years or more
1120502
Here's something interesting I found on a website from Roxio:\n\nAbout 90+ minute CDs \n\nAccording to the official Red Book standard, the maximum playing time for an audio CD is 74 minutes. This specification has been stretched by everyone in the industry to support 80-minute audio CDs. However, anything over 80 minutes clearly violates the specification. Most CD players and CD recorders will therefore have problems reading or writing 90-minute discs. The following problems can occur: \n\n- CD player doesn't recognize the disc \n- CD head bounces out of the groove \n- CD player can't find tracks after 80 minutes \n- CD can't be copied \n- CD can't be read (90+ minute CDs use a very tight groove) \n- CD created may contain same sector number twice \n- CD created may contain a sector with a negative number \n\nMost of these problems will result in an unreadable CD. Worse, it is even possible that trying to record or play a 90+ minute CD could physically damage the CD player or recorder. WE THEREFORE STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU DO NOT USE 90+ MINUTE CDs!
513526
Gerbils usually live 3-4 years. Have a nice week. :)
250612
Actually this is turning into a real mess. It turns out two or three years minimum and six to eight max is the life expectency of DVD's. Now they are saying if you want a stable long lasting backup you should use tape. Go figure, there are going to be a lot of people losing their pictures & data in a few years. Pressed DVD's last longer it is the "burned" ones that fail early. (Like the ones you make in your computer).\n\nI think all this publicity may encourage development of more stable CD's and DVD's.\n\nI have not read anything on life of the blu-ray. That might be better.
180981
whats your life expectancy ?
126508
Not my area of expertise but I have heard that the human body can last a maximum of 120 years.\n\nJust like the Terminators batterys.\n\nI plan on living to 100...or more
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.
718092
It is unfortunate that you can't rely on your computer to take care of itself.  Things will eventually go wrong. \n\nThe average life might be 7 years.  So if you are running Windows 98, your computer might be comparable to a 65 year old.  If you are using Windows XP, SP1, your computer is probably already 50 years old in more human terms.  If you are still running a computer that came with Windows 95, it's 90!  \n\nWhat can go wrong? \n\nHard drive failure\nMotherboard burn-out\nVirus, SpyWare or Malware attack\nDropped Laptop\nMaybe it is time to upgrade\n\nHow can I prevent it? \n\nIn general, you probably can't.  But you can be prepared.\n\nPerform basic computer maintenance \n\nUpdate your Anti-virus, Anti-SpyWare, Firewall software\nPerform selective Updates to Windows, selecting Security Updates\nUse Disk Cleanup\nUse Scandisk or Check Disk\nUse Defrag\nRun full scans with your Anti-virus and Anti-SpyWare programs\nTest your UPS battery\nVacuum dust away from your computer\nBack up your important data\nWrite Down your Passwords and Registration numbers\nLocate and organize the Program disks and Restore disks, so you can reinstall your programs\nUse a carrying case with your Laptop\nDon't let kids use your computer in an un-monitored fashion\n\nGood luck with all of this.