If you read the newsletter about the Hitachi Drive adventure, then you know that I had some trouble with a couple of hard drives. During this fiasco, I learned about a nice tool that makes use of the SMART technology in the newer hard drives.

You may already be familiar with SMART technology, but if you arent Here is a link to more than you will ever want to know about it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-Monitoring,_Analysis,_and_Reporting_Technology

If you are already familiar with SMART you may know that some computers will warn you during boot if you have a pending failure what I didnt realize is that warning usually comes too ladte. I found a good tool called HDDLife that runs in windows and constantly monitors your hard drive stats such as reliability and temperature and will let you know in plenty of time if yoou are developing a problem. They have a Free version and a Pro version and you can read about it here: http://www.hddlife.com/

By Fred Langa

Reader George Butler asks a question that's increasingly important, since all forms of removable media (floppies, tapes, zip disks...) fade away as they age. What's the lifespan of the blank CDs and DVDs you use to burn data, music, and whatnot?

If you haven't thought about this before, you may be surprised and dismayed by the answer!

§ "Have you ever done an article on the expected longevity of burned CDs and DVDs? It would be helpful to cover such things as how disks from various manufacturers stand up to time, heat, humidity, light, etc. What about various colors, such as green, gold, etc. What effect does burning speed have on longevity? What is involved in burning disks for long-term archiving? Do the disks of any one manufacturer stand out against the competition?"

First, just to make sure we're on the same page: This question isn't about commercially-produced, prerecorded CDs and DVDs, such as those you buy at music or movie stores. Those have very long lifespans. They're mainly vulnerable to physical damage to the readable surfaces of the discs.

This question is about CDs and DVDs that you burn yourself (CD-Rs, CD-RWs, DVD-Rs, DVD-RWs). The answer is grim. Some CDs only last for a couple years, especially if they're exposed to direct sunlight or covered with do-it-yourself glue-on labels. (The ultraviolet in sunlight and the adhesive in glue-on labels can react with and destroy the layer of dye that carries your data!)

The honest answer is that no one really knows how many years these discs will last, because burnable CD-Rs and DVD-Rs haven't been around long enough. All the studies you see on the life expectancy of CDs and CD-Rs are based on accelerated-aging tests, which are really just a form of educated guess.

If there's a single, definitive independent source for longevity data on CDs and DVDs, it's "Andy McFadden's
CD-Recordable FAQ." It's huge, free, and is frequently updated with new information. In the nine years it's been online (an eon in Internet time), it's racked up over 7 million visits.

If that's too much data to wade through, then "Is Your Data Disappearing?" may be more to your liking. It's an article I wrote for InformationWeek that boils down McFadden's FAQ and numerous other info sources to focus solely on the question of the lifespan of recordable media, including the various types and brands of CDs.

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