How long does a burned CD last?

I heard a rumor that when you burn a CD-R that it will only last about 5 years and then the recording goes away.

Is this true?
:geek:

Until the technology to read it is obsolete would be my guess.

But you never know. Do a search on snopes: www.snopes.com

Apparently they don't last forever. However, in this article (http://www.melbpc.org.au/pcupdate/2106/2106article14.htm) you seem to get a range of dates from 200 years to 10 years. Probably longer than you are gonna want to listen to all that Milli Vanilli that you've been downloading, Cricket.

Originally posted by EandCDad
Apparently they don't last forever. However, in this article (http://www.melbpc.org.au/pcupdate/2106/2106article14.htm) you seem to get a range of dates from 200 years to 10 years. Probably longer than you are gonna want to listen to all that Milli Vanilli that you've been downloading, Cricket.

So if they don't last longer than the article says, can you blame it on the rain? :fez:

Originally posted by EandCDad
Probably longer than you are gonna want to listen to all that Milli Vanilli that you've been downloading, Cricket.
Actually, it's Ace of Base and Debbie Gibson, than you very much. :D

Originally posted by Gemini Cricket
Actually, it's Ace of Base and Debbie Gibson, than you very much. :D

GC, we need to do some trading. Anything you want? (Email me!)

Theoretically, if kept in a airless tempture controlled enviroment, it should last forever.

But thats not what you are looking for, is it? :geek:


By the time it will die, you will already have lost or forgotten about it. Trust me. I do it all the time :fez:

There are a lot of variables and a lot of educated guesses:

First off, there are different media CD-R and CD-RW. The first is more stable than the later.

While some manufacturers have claimed a 100 year life span with CD-R, most professionals in my field of records management think 30 years is a better expectation. That comes with the caveat that you store the disks in a stable envioronment (i.e. not your car). CD-RW is more like 5 to 10 years (also in ideal environemnt).

My personal experience has varied. I usually burn a copy of a CD I purchase for use in my car. Some manufactures make some pretty crappy disks - I've had some disks fails after a week or two - other's have survived for years (even in my car!).

If your burned CD has something important, you should probably back it up/duplicate it somehow to ensure the data is preserved. A CD is a single point of failure.

My car doesn't like burned discs... they're usually unplayable within a few weeks, though I have noticed they play better when it isn't hot. <shrug>