Answer Line: Will My CD-R and DVD+R Discs Still Run in 10 Years?

An IBM information storage expert has said that CD-Rs and DVD±Rs typically last only two to five years. Is that true?

Walter Sekula, Greensburg, Pennsylvania

Kurt Gerecke of IBM Deutschland GmbH caused quite a stir in January when he stated that "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." Since then, I've seen his estimate quoted as established fact.

What I haven't seen is real-world evidence. I have yet to receive a single Answer Line letter about an aged disc. I checked with Ontrack and DriveSavers, the two leading data recovery services, and neither reports that age is causing CD-R failures. When I tested some of the oldest CD-Rs I own, I found no errors on them (and most of those discs were the cheapest I could buy at the time). CD-Rs have been common for much longer than five years; if their shelf life was that short, we'd have known it long ago.

But that doesn't mean these discs will last forever, or even as long as the pressed CDs and DVDs on which we buy music, movies, and software. The jury is still out on whether the discs will last for years or decades. However, you can increase the longevity of your optical media.

First, use high-quality discs, preferably ones made with stable dyes and gold backings (see ). KMP Media markets such discs under the Kodak name; Delkin Devices sells a similar line. Make multiple copies of important data, and store them in separate locations (preferably in different cities).

To write on the label side of the disc, use a nonsoluble, felt-tip marker designed specifically for writing on CDs and DVDs. Store discs upright, and in good cases intended for that purpose. Keep them away from heat, light, and moisture.

Check the discs every few years by copying files off of them to make sure they're still readable. In addition to storing your archival data on CDs or DVDs, keep it on your hard drive and back it up regularly.

A Better PC Nag

How do I make my PC nag me at designated times?

Glen Dresser, North Hollywood, California

You can do that with Windows' Task Scheduler, but I know an easier and more versatile way. True, it involves putting yet another autoloading program on your PC, but in this case I think it's worth it.

Kirby Software's free Kirby Alarm utility is extremely easy to use and very thorough. You can use the program to set up alarms that recur every x number of minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, or years. The alarm can be a pop-up, a sound, a pop-up with sound, a program launch, or an e-mail. If your system is off when an alarm should have sounded, it will appear (and/or sound) the next time Windows loads.

Though the program is free, it requires registration, and author Ian Cook welcomes donations. You can download Kirby Alarm. The more powerful Kirby Alarm Pro version costs $25.

A Better Way to Send Large E-Mail 'Attachments'

Want to share photos with friends and family? Or send a great video of your daughter's ice-skating performance to a dozen or so of your nearest and dearest? Fight the temptation! E-mail messages with large attachments can really gum up some people's systems. If a recipient has dial-up Internet access, the download can take hours, and block other e-mail for all of that time. In some cases the download will fail, and fail again, effectively breaking the recipient's ability to receive mail at all. Also, Internet e-mail clients add considerably to the size of the file being sent. For example, saving an Outlook Express message with an attachment adds up to 40 percent to the file's size. If you want to share files larger than 1MB, use a service like the free Dropload that allows your recipients to download the files from a Web server at their leisure.