On Wed, Nov 26, 2008 at 12:26 PM, Florian Philipp <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> As for my photos, I can back all the collection to a single DVD (and >> to a second one, since I keep hearing that DVD-Rs are unreliable), and >> since I don't take new photos every week, this solution is fine. >> > > A second DVD-R won't solve the problem because optical disks degrade over > time and the second one will degrade just as fast as the first. What you > need to do is to check the disks periodically (once a year is a good time > frame). I know DVD-Rs degrade, but it is unlikely they would fail at the same time, so copying twice does significantly alleviate the problem (AFAIK) Once a year isn't overkill? Isn't once every two years fine?
> I myself would add a textfile with md5sums for all files to the DVD so you > don't have to check them visually. Sure. I am doing that since some time now. Unfortunately I didn't do so for some old backups. But data DVD-Rs have a considerable amount of correction code, and if the copy from DVD to hard disk proceeds without a single error message, there is a quite good chance that the files are good, right? (If they were burnt correctly in the fist place, that is. The manual of my DVD-RW drive warns that the burned disk should be checked before being trusted as a backup, and even then it - as usual - disclaims all warranties).
