9 Mar
2006
9 Mar
'06
9:12 a.m.
On 3/9/2006 at 9:52 AM Richard wrote:
What would you use, then? Some people recommend
9-track or other
magnetic media (like hard drives) because the magnetic domains are
supposedly more stable than CD-R pits. I just haven't seen anything
more than "a friend told me" variety stories, though.
Doc's right--use whatever is a reliable medium for 3-5 years, then copy.
Keep a few generations around. When I look back over the archives that
I've kept of my own work, the only thing that's survived more than 20 years
has been 8" floppies. I've got other archives on DC-600, DC-1000, DC-6150,
DC-6250, DDS-2, 8mm (exabyte), DLT, Bernoulli, Sparq, various types of
5.25" and 3.5" disks and maybe even the odd DC-2000 or two. I haven't
tried the DC tapes in awhile--they may be okay, but the 8" floppies come
through at close to 100%. I've lost CD-Rs simply by dropping them and
having them roll under a desk (dirt on the floor will do a number on a CD-R
(or CD) if the thing gets dragged across the floor.
Recently, I archived my old GCR-encoded 5.25" 980K diskettes. While I
still have some 100 tpi drives kicking around, they've gone to the realm of
"deteriorating"and "very hard to find". Burned files and images
onto
CD-R. I intend to re-burn 5-10 years from now on whatever the popular
medium is.
I've sometimes wondered if the DC-1000 media would still read. I've still
got the drive and probably could find the software and a machine (probably
an old XT would do--certainly nothing much faster than that); but there's
no point to it--I've carried the important stuff along with me for some
time now.
Copy, then recopy. The only real solution.
Cheers,
Chuck