6 Oct
2007
6 Oct
'07
12:16 p.m.
Ethan Dicks wrote:
When writing DVDs, I always do a read-verify right
after burning, and
for archival data, I tend to create recovery data with programs like
par2, and burn two to three copies. If it's worth my time to archive,
it's worth spending $1 for more than one copy.
This is exactly my procedure as well, but I use QuickPar instead of
par2. I also burn two copies, since high-quality DVD-Rs can be had for
less than $0.50 in bulk.
My typical process is to use Winrar with a recovery record (parity) of
1%, then take the resulting files and use Quickpar to generate as much
parity as necessary to fill up the DVD-R. I then burn, ***and I make
sure that the DVD-R also has a copy of winrar and quickpar on the
disc*** (just in case 20 years from now someone is trying to extract my
stuff and doesn't know what a *.par file is).
As I said, I lost a file once. That was with CD-Rs,
and that was the
first one out of many hundreds of discs burned (presuming they
verified at write-time in the first place). I _have_ had a number of
discs that didn't verify, and that could be due to a number of causes,
from defective media to "cosmic rays". I have not, however, with that
one previously mentioned exception, lost data (yet?) from disks that
did verify.
Yes, that's been my experience as well. If they're going to be bad,
they're usually bad right out of the gate (ie. didn't pass Verify).
Every year, I take my very first burnt CDR from 1995 out and try to read
it. It has always read. I keep my CDRs and DVDRs in a cool dry dark
place, though; not everyone can store them in optimal conditions.
--
Jim Leonard (trixter at oldskool.org) http://www.oldskool.org/
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Or check out some trippy MindCandy at http://www.mindcandydvd.com/
A child borne of the home computer wars: http://trixter.wordpress.com/