Norton seems to have taken care of it, but a pop up shows up ever couple of days saying there's a virus. A scan gets rid of it.
So under such circumstances is it okay to burn photos to cds?
Stretch, I wouldn't burn photos onto a CD with or without a virus. I learned my lesson the hard way.
It seems to be a little known fact, that the shelf life of CD's is questionable. I lost a heap of photos burnt onto CD's last year....around the same time I read an article in the paper, saying that CD's may last for as little as 6 months or up to 5 years. I had to send them to a techie who managed to recover a mere pittance of what was on them.....and it was expensive.
The article went on to say, that the most reliable way to preserve photos is the good old fashion way......on paper.
Thanks, but I think it depends on the brand:
[A href="http://www.cdmediaworld.com/hardware/cdrom/cd_quality.shtml"]http://www.cdmediaworld.com/hardware/cdrom/cd_quality.shtml[/A]
Go half way down the page to [A name="CD-R Quality Results"][FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=3][B KlzDk="1" rOrfs="0"]CD-R Quality Results[/A][/B][/FONT]
Well, the only 3 brands I have ever had in this house are TDK, Sony and Kodak.....all three of which are on the 'Good' list. I'm just not comfortable with the risk anymore. I still wince over the stuff I lost, never to be retrieved again. (http://discoverseattle.net/forums/richedit/smileys/Sad/11.gif)
Funny thing is, some of the very first CD's I ever burned, are fine. I don't know if you recall the 'CD Stomper'. This was the little gadget that 'stomped' a gum-backed label on your CD's. I also read an article, that stated that this was NOT good for the longevity of your CD's. The strange thing about that is......the only CD's of the first ones I burned, that remained unscathed.....were the ones with the gummed labels. [img style="CURSOR: pointer" onclick=url(this.src); src="http://www.cheesebuerger.de/images/smilie/konfus/n020.gif[/img]
CDs burn on the top, not the bottom, right, even though the reading is through the bottom. So that might explain why affixing paper to the top protects, no?
Well.....that was my logic as well. Turns out there may be merit to it.
Anyways....all I can say about it is, if I had even heard an insinuation, that there was even a remote possibility that the stuff I was entrusting to be saved, COULD BE lost, I would have never done it. (and I won't do it again)
[A href="http://www.cdstomper.com/"]http://www.cdstomper.com/[/A]
January 10, 2006 [A href="http://www.computerworld.com/" target=_blank](Computerworld)[/A] -- Although opinions vary on how to preserve data on digital storage media, such as optical CDs and DVDs, Kurt Gerecke, a physicist and storage expert at IBM Deutschland GmbH, takes this view: If you want to avoid having to burn new CDs every few years, use magnetic tapes to store all your pictures, videos and songs for a lifetime.
"Unlike pressed original CDs, burned CDs have a relatively short life span of between two to five years, depending on the quality of the CD," Gerecke said in an interview this week. "There are a few things you can do to extend the life of a burned CD, like keeping the disc in a cool, dark space, but not a whole lot more."
[A href="http://www.computerworld.com/hardwaretopics/storage/story/0,10801,107607,00.html"]http://www.computerworld.com/hardwaretopics/storage/story/0,10801,107607,00.html[/A]
[P class=ArticleBody page="1" _extended="true"]The problem is material degradation. Optical discs commonly used for burning, such as CD-R and CD-RW, have a recording surface consisting of a layer of dye that can be modified by heat to store data. The degradation process can result in the data "shifting" on the surface and thus becoming unreadable to the laser beam.
[P class=ArticleBody page="1" _extended="true"]"Many of the cheap burnable CDs available at discount stores have a life span of around two years," Gerecke said. "Some of the better-quality discs offer a longer life span, of a [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffbf"]maximum[/FONT] of five years."
[P class=ArticleBody page="1" _extended="true"]Distinguishing high-quality burnable CDs from low-quality discs is difficult, he said, because few vendors use life span as a selling point.
[P class=ArticleBody page="1" _extended="true"]
[P class=ArticleBody page="1" _extended="true"]All I can say is, I hope you have better luck than I did.
I'm thinking of the millions of people who are going to be very disappointed in the years to come, when they suffer what you have.
Does it make a diff if one burns DVDs? Anyone got some examples of the magnetic tape recording systems? Is that what you use now PC?
Hard drives crash, if that's what you are asking. It seems magnetic tape is the answer - just watch out for speakers!
If you're still ok with trusting your photos to CD, I'm wondering if it would be an idea to talk to a data recovery company, to hear the realities on this.
Here's an option that I'm doing with my photos now. Picaboo and Booksmart are two great (free)programs for putting together beautiful hard bound books. You make up the album (journal, cookbook, catalogue etc)....on-line, and hit the purchase book button....and voila....they send you a beautiful proffessional quality book. (I'm waiting for one to arrive probably Wednesday or Thursday)
Worth every penny to know I'll have it forever. (great gifts too)
What's the cost and how many pics max per book?
I think that article from IBM goes into that too Michel....saying they are not 100% trustworthy either.
[A href="http://www.computerworld.com/hardwaretopics/storage/story/0,10801,107607,00.html"][FONT color=#565656]http://www.computerworld.com/hardwaretopics/storage/story/0,10801,107607,00.html[/FONT][/A]
And isn't that why we back up data? Hard drives crash.
Booksmarts prices seem to be cheaper.....prices listed for 40 page books, are close to Picaboos price for a 20 page book. You can make it as many pages as you'd like....and of course the selection of page layouts hold from one to 20 photos.
The book I just ordered was a 40 page book, which came to 69 bucks.....but they always have 'specials'....as they did when I ordered this one (which was 50% off) which brough the total to $44 including shipping and handling. I can check later how many photos actually went into it, but it's safe to say you could easily get anywhere up to a couple hundred photos in a book....depending on how you want to set it up.
Picaboo has a broader selection of page layouts and backgrounds than Booksmart.
One feature of Booksmart (which made me think of you Michel), is that once you have put together a book, you can put it out there in their 'Book Store' section, for sale.
I'm working toward having ALL my photos in books.
Michel wrote: Hum, far from there in my intentions.
I know. [img style="CURSOR: pointer" onclick=url(this.src); src="http://www.cheesebuerger.de/images/smilie/froehlich/c020.gif" border=0] I'm just so envious of your beautiful collection of wildlife photos.
[img onclick="selecte('honorhim.gif');" alt=emoticon src="http://www.pushupstairs.com/images/emoticon/blehnet/honorhim.gif" border=0] .
I think the best thing to do is to archive them onto thumbdrives. You can get 8Gb drives for ~$20 and 16Gb for ~$40. Or, get an external HD...500Gb for $100 to $150 or so.
TehBorken wrote:
I think the best thing to do is to archive them onto thumbdrives. You can get 8Gb drives for ~$20 and 16Gb for ~$40. Or, get an external HD...500Gb for $100 to $150 or so.
Agree. This is what I do. I got a 250 gb from Costco. 500 is cheap now.
Oh dear. Now I'M becoming Skeptic Cat. I want mine on good ol fashioned paper. I'm afeared, I'm afeared.
P.C. wrote:
[SPAN style="FONT-STYLE: italic"]Oh dear. Now I'M becoming Skeptic Cat. I want mine on good ol fashioned paper.[/SPAN]
What is this "paper" you speak of?
lol....Well, I've done a little research...and I understand, that this is the first form of digital photo storage in all mankind's history. (http://discoverseattle.net/forums/richedit/smileys/Happy/4.gif)
*young whippersnipper wizeguy [img onclick="selecte('stern.gif');" alt=emoticon src="http://www.pushupstairs.com/images/emoticon/blehnet/stern.gif[/img]
Having a re-read of this thread....I have to take back my touting of 'Booksmart'. I would not use this company....I have read too many negatives to bother with the risk....even if it was half the price...it wouldn't be worth it.
Also, I have received 2 books from Picaboo...both were amazing quality. I have 4 more almost ready...and a cookbook in the works.