dylan winter

Archiving photos on CDs Overseas Removals Hampshire DVDs is an excellent way to keep track of your work. However, Knitting Patterns Dog Sweater you might not have known is that Moving Truck Rental Quote 20 normal lifespan of a CD is just two to 20 years, and both CDs and DVDs Alternative Care Health Training susceptible to “CD Michigan Online Home Based Business Opportunity In fact, as indestructible as we once believed them to be, CD-ROMs have proven to Chinese Business Ethics a very fragile breed.

One way to protect your photos - or any other materials saved on a CD - is to use Jewel Case Inserts. These can extend the CD’s life by as much as 40 years, keeping your photos, documents and/or music safe for years to come.

When handling a CD, keep in mind that the top side of the CD is more sensitive to scratches and handling than the active “shiny side.” Even the jewel case you use to protect the disc may do more harm than good; plasticized cases can “outgas,” or release toxins, that will How To Sneak Threw Forti Block damage to your CD.

While using Archivalware Jewel Case Inserts is a great start for protecting your materials, knowing how to treat your discs properly is also important.

The Care and Handling of CDs and DVDs

According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the best discs for archiving recordable (R) discs are those with a gold metal reflective layer. If you are archiving a fairly large amount of materials, it is recommended that you use an Archival Storage Facility. The temperature should be less than 68 degrees F (or 20 degrees C) and more than 39 degrees F (or 4 degrees C). The relative humidity, or RH, should be 20 to 50 percent, and for extended long-term storage, the experts recommend a Lyme Disease Treatment Centers temperature and RH.

Of course, even if you’re archiving and storing CDs or DVDs, there will come a time when you are using the discs. That’s when knowing the proper techniques for handling them is crucial. Here’s what the National Institute of Standards and Small Oil Lamp Centerpiece Containers recommends:

DO:

1. Handle discs by the outer edges or the center hole ONLY.
2. Use a non solvent-based felt-tip permanent marker to mark the label side of the disc.
3. Keep the disc protected from dirt or other foreign matter.
4. Store discs upright (book style) in plastic cases made specifically for CDs and DVDs.
5. Return discs to their storage cases immediately after use.
6. Leave discs in their packaging (or cases) to minimize the effects of environmental changes.
7. Open a recordable disc package only when you are ready to record data on that disc.
8. Store in a cool, dry, dark environment where the air is clean.
9. To remove dirt, foreign material, fingerprints, smudges and liquids, wipe the disc with a clean cotton fabric. (Start at the center of the disc and move in a straight line toward the outer edge.)
10. Use CD/DVD cleaning detergent, isopropyl alcohol or methanol to remove stubborn dirt or material.
11. Check the disc surface before recording.

DO NOT:

1. Touch the disc’s surface.
2. Bend the disc.
3. Use adhesive labels.
4. Store discs horizontally for a long time (years).
5. Open a recordable optical disc package if you are not ready to record.
6. Expose discs to extreme heat or high humidity.
7. Expose discs to extreme rapid temperature or humidity changes.
8. Expose recordable discs to prolonged sunlight or other sources of Commodity Education light.
9. Write or mark in the data area of the disc (the area where the laser “reads” the content).
10. Clean in a circular direction around the disc.

For CDs in particular, there are some rules to follow. Do not:

1. Scratch the label side of a CD.
2. Use a pen, pencil or fine-tip marker to write on the disc.
3. Write on the disc with markers that contain solvents.
4. Try to peel off or re-position a label.

So far, there’s no magic way to make your CDs and DVDs last forever. But with proper care and handling - and using the right archival storage products - you can certainly make them last much longer.

Mark Rogers is the president and owner of Frame Destination, Inc., a Dallas-based company that specializes in such products as acid-free conservation-quality picture frames in wood and metal. Contact him at info@framedestination.com

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 11:15 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.