CD/DVD Quest for longevity

[Xenobeast]

This post is to all who enjoy the use of CD/s and DVD/s

The shiny rainbow you see on a cd when you look at is is called the DATA LAYER.

This thin strip of metalic film is litteraly glued to the back of the plastic disc to form the CD.

The label or Data side is damaged forever if it is compromised even in the slightest. A pressure of about .32LBs will destroy the delicate medium.

I want to find/discover/produce ANYTHING a plastic film or liquid that can perfectly coat a cd and protect it FOREVER.

I buy a new copy, use it once to COPY it to a CD-R and put it back inside of my safe, it shoud last forever? WRONG.

I have had CD'r media, and a PLAYSTATION game, PEEL away from the cd like tape, this cd was destroyed forever and it only used it once.

Thank you! If it's out there, we can find it, and then cd's will last forever.

You can't remove the scratches or disc doctor a cd that has suffered label damage! ITs ruined forever!

 

[Buckle-meister]

You can't remove the scratches or disc doctor a cd that has suffered label damage! ITs ruined forever!

I remember reading years ago that (unbeknown to most folk) it is easier to damage a CD by scratching etc the label side than the side that is read. I believe it was due to the data layer lying physically closer to the label side than the read side.

Regards

 

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

Then if you build a CD out of unobtanium, the glue holding it together will still fail after 5 - 5000 years. This is called "disk rot". Enjoy.

 

[Francious70]

If I'm not mistaken there is a thin plastic film you can apply to a CD to prevent scratches.

Worse come to worse, you can apply clear nail polish to the label to keep it from chipping.

 

[j_garcia]

If I'm not mistaken there is a thin plastic film you can apply to a CD to prevent scratches.

Worse come to worse, you can apply clear nail polish to the label to keep it from chipping.

The LABEL side protects the data, as the poster notes. If you scratch that, you're all done. I've tried the "d-skins". Pretty cool actually, but they are not compatible with all players, so beware. They are intended to sit on the "read" side, not the label side though.

 

[Hi Ho]

There are widely varying qualities of CD-R's. I have used some cheap CD-R's (Khypermedia) that peeled off within months. Others (TDK, Verbatim, Imation) have lasted years and have been very durable. The data layer/label doesn't chip off very easily on the quality discs. I have discs in my cars that have been exposed to 100+ degrees to less than 20 degress farenhight and still play fine after several years. I have CD's lying around without cases, falling on the floor, getting walked on, spilled on, you name it. I have found CD's to be very durable. PC games on CD, no matter how careful I am, always end up looking abused. I still have one of the first games on CD-ROM (Lemmings) and it still works. It looks like it's been attacked by a lion but my Plextor CD burner still reads it.

I take very good care of all my music CD's. I rip all CD's to my PC as soon as I get them. The CD stays in the case in perfect condition.

 

[Rob Babcock]

I'm not positive whether this refers just to CD-Rs or pressed CDs. Certainly both will be ruined by deep scratches thru the label side, although I've never heard of the top peeling off of a CD pressed from a glass master (ie a boughten one).

A previous poster mentioned "D-Skins," and they might work for you if your player doesn't balk. A search of Google will probably also turn up similar products. A more permanent solution would be a disc laminator. These work by spin depositing a thin layer of plastic over the top to seal it. Supposedly these machines work very well, but they're pretty expensive (around $3k give or take) and I have no data concerning the life of the protected disc.

The best practical idea is probably to stick to the best quality CD-R media you can find. I've had very good luck with Mitsui, and they probably have the best rep of any manufacturer. But I have to admit I only started using them two or three years ago, so any age related failures probably wouldn't be apparent yet. I can say I've had very poor luck with Memorex. Dozens upon dozens (if not hundreds) of my earlier Memorex CD-Rs have failed by now, some peeling apart and others simply fading 'til the data was unreadable. Are current Memorex discs better than the old ones? Perhaps, but since scores of my old ones are bad I will never use a Memorex disc for anything important.

 

[j_garcia]

I've used hundreds of the black Memorex discs and I've never had a problem with a single one. I tried el-cheapo no name ones and had lots of problems.