Secur Disc

[Davros]

Noticed while doing some backups (i have every file ive downloaded from the internet ever)
that my dvd drive has a secur disc logo so i did a bit of googleing and found out

Protect data against disc deterioration. Receive alerts of possible loss of data due to disc deterioration.
Rescue data from damaged discs. Data Reliability gives you an extra chance to recover data.
Secure and enhanced disc protection for important content and confidential data.

On the face of it it seems good, but i'm getting conflicting reports about it
eg:

Nero has announced the global availability of more SecurDisc-enabled drives from LG Electronics, Inc.

http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2007/09/10/lg_adds_securdisc_to_more_drives

SecurDisc 3.0 is here!
No special hardware needed!

http://www.nero.com/eng/company/about-nero/securdisc.php?ecid=etr.em.......R11274
That info could just be specific to secur disc 3.0 ???

Thing is I may want to read the dvd's in 10, 15 or even 20 years time I cant be certain that I will have a secur disc enabled drive (if needed) or there will be secur disc software available for what ever o/s I may be using in the future
anyone have any experience of it ???

 

[snarfbot]

how long does an optical drive last in your experience? in mine they seem to get windows installed then stop working sometime between that point and when i next require their service.

off to look for a new optical drive...

 

[Davros]

Ive had some failures on cd-r's written in 95/6 era
they were used very rarely and stored in a jewel case out of sunlight

 

[Blazkowicz]

Seems to be just software, described here too

http://www.steves-digicams.com/knowledge-center/how-tos/video-software/4-benefits-of-securdisc.html

If you're strandled many years from now with an unreadable disc and no software well there's probably other such software, Exact Audio Copy is well known for audio CDs, for data you might try dd_rescue on linux, made for damaged hard disks I think but maybe good for CD/DVD (tell it your block size is 2048 bytes).

But really if stuff is important you should prolly look into M-disc, which burns data on inorganic single layer DVD with a more powerful laser (then it's readable in all drives). The blanks are expensive. But it's the only real solution unless you go into WORM disc stuff or tape. Or the easier non CD-R/DVD-R solution : just put your stuff onto hard drives.

HDD can be unable to spin back up if left alone for 10+ years I read, with the bearing fluid solidifying, so you would have to spin them say every 3 years (you can check them too).
I don't do backups beside music and a little text data (I wish I hadn't lost anything, it was cool having some game files with a 1992 date showing in file manager) but for keeping lots of data for decades I guess I'd do HDDs in a bank safe.

how long does an optical drive last in your experience? in mine they seem to get windows installed then stop working sometime between that point and when i next require their service.

off to look for a new optical drive...

Same happened to floppy drives, I remember reading that after 1995 the reliability totally plumetted and effectively, you really had chances your drive would only work once or twice ; when needed three years later it was unusable.
Cheapest way is maybe to have the ability to use decade old or older IDE optical drives (USB, PCI controller ; most recent mobos are AM3 or AM3+ with 770, 760G or geforce 7025 chipset). This shit used to just keep on working, optical drives outlived my computers by a long shot.
I used an 8x CD drive for ten years (later it was rarely used for DRM checks or reading old CD-R) then yanked it out when I had to upgrade to the current mobo with only one IDE port.

 

[orangpelupa]

flashdisk/memory card are a nice storage too but its still expensive.

about DVD, i never found my branded (even cheap one) DVD become unreadable. But some generic DVD with no brand are dead.
But DVDs with slow read speed are many. So i think it is getting more error over time but still readable

im pretty sure my DVDs are about the same age as an PS2. It was burned for playing avi videos on PS2 when visiting villege.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Hard disk storage isn't expensive at all. I bought a 2TB disk for 70 euros just a month ago. You need about 400 4.7 gb dvd's to get the same amount of storage. The cheapest 100 disk spindle I could find was 21 euro's, all others 28 ~38 euro's. A hdd wouldn't only be cheaper but also way more practical.