For those of you that still think CDs or DVDs are viable backup strategy.....

[biglouis]

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I had a bit of a scare recently when I went on holiday. I've been blithely backing up my pictures to an internal 1TB hard disk in my PC. Then it occured to me when I was away that if someone broke into my house, probably they pinch the PC!

 

Since that time I've bought a ruggedised 1TB drive which I use as a backup but I remove and store in a hidden area of the house. When I go back to work in the Autumn I'll take it with me to school and store it as proper off-site storage.

 

I agree about online storage but I currently have 500GB of data to be stored. I can't see uploading that to an internet store any time soon but I would pay for a service that allowed me to send my drive to them, have the data uploaded and then incrementally back up over time.

 

Anyone heard of such a thing?????

 

LouisB

[pop]

Optical media come in different qualities. Some CDs are claimed to be storable for 50+ years, others do not make any claims and hence are good for transportation but not storage.

 

Hard disks (external hard disks) appear to be the best choice for this decade. However, I am a bit alarmed to see the singular form used so often in this thread.

 

If it's worth storing, it's worth storing at least twice and keeping in different locations.

 

This is part of my reason to still use film for some of my pictures, even if I'm only a quite mediocre amateur. I am very happy to say that I still own practically all photos by my maternal grandfather (some 200 glass plates from up to 100 years ago) and by my father. It may not be great art but it shows many details of daily live which are charming at least and may become valuable.

 

These negatives have been neglected for quite some time and "detected" again after decades. Had they been stored on some piece of hardware or on a less durable medium requiring complex machinery, I would not have been able to make them usable any more.

[NZDavid]

I am amazed at the hype of some advertisers who say "store your precious old slides and negatives now before they are lost forever" or words to similar effect.

 

I have slides going back to the '80s; fine. My parents' slides go back to the '50s and '60s; a friend tells me his date from the '40s and are in perfect condition.

 

In recent years I have scanned most of my slides on to CD. I have now condensed these onto DVDs. Unfortunately, not all of the CDs - some just a few years old - would work. Data unreadable. No idea why. That's digital technology for you. Totally unreliable. But at least I have the original slides.

 

I have read of people relying on online storage only for that business to go under. I also think keeping all your precious family pictures on a hard drive with no backup is just inviting trouble.

[leica dream]

I agree. I have many transparencies going back to the 50s and 60s, all in perfect condition. I have started to digitise them to pick out the best and print so as my age advances the images are more accessible for casual viewing in an album. In doing this I shall retain the transparencies and not bother about keeping the digital images when I have hard copies of my most valuable pictures.

Richard

[meatboy]

I agree. I have many transparencies going back to the 50s and 60s, all in perfect condition. I have started to digitise them to pick out the best and print so as my age advances the images are more accessible for casual viewing in an album. In doing this I shall retain the transparencies and not bother about keeping the digital images when I have hard copies of my most valuable pictures.

Richard

 

hhmmmm, I am curious, how can you be sure they are in perfect condition? could they have faded some? - I doubt you would remember exactly how they looked 50 years ago to be able to compare.

 

At what point is some fading acceptable?

 

I say scan now, while you can.

[meatboy]

Unfortunately, not all of the CDs - some just a few years old - would work. Data unreadable. No idea why. That's digital technology for you. Totally unreliable. But at least I have the original slides..

 

David,

 

I do "IT" for a living - I have recovered data from many hard drives and CDs. Most of the CDs I have had to recover have clearly been written on in black texta all over the disc - not a proper CD pen but ordinary marker. One disc was covered in texta and I could not get hardly a byte from it. Maybe this type of pen damages the paint layer destroying the data, not sure exactly what goes on? If I write on my CD/DVDs I always use a real fine tip CD pen. That way there is minimal pen onto the disc.

 

My data, I keep on a couple of hard drives, total copies on each. Some are locked away.