I've read horror stories ( possibly internet myths ), about the adhesive from labels on CDs eating through and destroying the data.  I have a few CDs from a few years back that I can't retrieve data from anymore and wonder if this is the case.

I recently purchased a CD/DVD recorder with lightscribe and am curious if this will archive my data longer.  I haven't been able to find any info on this.

Is storing data on hard drives still the best long-term archiving solution?

anybody??  a little help here .....

Probably a question best asked on a computer website, not a photography website   Do a google search on DVD archiving and you should be able to find a lot of info, including the most reliable types of disks.  They even get into stuff like using the serial number to find out where the disk was manufactured.  Apparently "brands" like TDK, Memorex etc. will buy the disks from any number of manufacturers, so you can't really rely on the the brand name for consistency.  There are also other issues and it gets complicated real fast.

CDROM's and DVDROM's do have a limited shelf life which I think varies by manufacturer.  I know some people periodically re-burn their archives every few years.  Harddrives have their problems two though.  Whichever you use, you should always keep two archive copies.  One meathod I've read is to make one archive copy from the originals, then make the second archive copy from the first archive copy.  Then load thumbnails from the second archive copy.  If they all load, then you know the second copy AND the first copy are good (if the first copy had been corrupted the second would be also).


But to get a little bit back on topic, yes, certain label adhesives can eat up the CD.  So can certain marker inks if you write directly on the disk.  Look for "CDROM safe" products for anything you put on your disks.

I don't have any experience with the lightscribe products but it sounds interesting.  Seems like it should eliminate the problems associated with labels or inks on the disk.