Posted by Brody on 09/26/07 06:30

billyhouston4@hotmail.com wrote:

> It's just been discovered that DVDs are failing. For some unknown
> reason the media on them is vanishing very quickly. Scientists and
> technicians examing the problem said that it does not matter where
> these people live, thus it's not related to a specific country,
> weather conditions, magnetic poles, electromagnetic pulses, or the
> equipment that manufactured them. The problem is universal and world
> wide. The plastics used to create the disk has come from numerous
> sources and manufacturers and all of them are failing. It appears the
> decay process begins about three years after they are made. Some
> decay faster than others, but almost all of them over three years of
> age are rapidly losing data. Once the data begins to decay it's only
> a matter of time before the DVD is useless. It does appear that the
> ones that are played regularly have a tendency to decay faster. It's
> just a matter of time before entire DVD collections will no longer
> contain any useful data. When questioned about this matter, most of
> the manufacturers refused to speak with reporters. One manufacturer
> did state "the technology is still new and experimental, we have no
> control of what the buyers do with them".
>
> If you have valuable data stored on DVD, consider making a backup copy
> on another media.
>
> Billy

been known for years that the dye can fade...

regardless .. multiple backups/archives on different media types is a
must if your data is important

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