Rick Richardson's Views On Technology
  • Home
  • Blog

Your CD and DVD Backup Discs Won’t Last Forever

6/12/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
This is your annual WAKE-UP CALL! All those CDs and DVDs you’ve burned over the last decade to back up all those precious pictures, music and movies may experience bit rot. That’s right. They may be damaged by scratches or temperature and humidity variations. Most commercial CDs and DVDs will survive better than your own custom discs, but they all are prone to have problems after sitting for a long period.

Before you finish this article, please go over to YouTube, and watch EposVox’s video on how to recover data from your optical discs. It’s a 12-minute investment that will provide you with an incredible amount of information on how to keep from losing all those precious pictures, movies and even music you’ve stored on optical media.

I would recommend getting two USB optical drives from different manufacturers. That way, if one drive doesn’t read a given disc, you can try the other and see if there is any difference. If you have a tower and can install an optical drive in a bay, that would be even faster for most operations. 

Next, invest in a good piece of bulk file copy software. Here are two products that work with both Mac and Windows.

TeraCopy. It’s one of the best-known bulk copy software products on the market today. It works to copy files between computer systems and multiple media sources, regardless of the operating system. If the software encounters an error while copying files, it will try again to recover the file. If the recovery doesn’t work, it will skip the file and go to the next file and then provide a log of files with problems at the end of the job. It’s available for Windows and Macintosh.

UltraCopier. This open source software works across platforms, including Windows, Mac and Linux. This software can handle any file copy process, regardless of the size and destination. Ultracopier is faster than your default system tools for copying files. Plus, it provides advanced features, which include start/resume copy processes, searches through the copy list, and speed limits.
​
Finally, after you’ve copied all your super valuables to your computer and extra external disk drive, you should include all of it in your overall backup program. That means you have an extra copy on a separate device locally and a copy on a safe cloud storage solution.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Rick Richardson, CPA, CITP, CGMA

    Rick is the editor of the weekly newsletter, Technology This Week. You can subscribe to it by visiting the website.

    Rick is also the Managing Partner of Richardson Media & Technologies, LLC. Prior to forming his current company, he had a 28-year career in technology with Ernst & Young, the last twelve years of which he served as National Director of Technology.

    Mr. Richardson has been named to the "Technology 100"- the annual honors list of the 100 key achievers in technology in America. He has also been honored by the American Institute of CPAs with two Lifetime Achievement awards and a Special Career Recognition Award for his contributions to the profession in the field of technology.

    In 2012, Rick was inducted into the Accounting Hall of Fame by CPA Practice Advisor Magazine. He has also been named to the 100 most influential individuals in the accounting profession in America by Accounting Today magazine.

    In 2017, Rick was inducted as a Marquis Who’s Who Lifetime Achiever, a registry of professionals who have excelled in their fields for many years and achieved greatness in their industry.

    He is a sought after speaker around the world, providing his annual forecast of future technology trends to thousands of business executives, professionals, community leaders, educators and students.

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015

    Categories

    All
    Artificial Intelligence
    Audit
    Back Up
    Back-Up
    Blockchain
    Climate
    Cloud
    Collaboration
    Communication
    Coronavirus
    COVID 19
    COVID-19
    Digital Assistant
    Display
    Drone
    Edge Computing
    Education
    Enterprise
    Hardware
    Home Automation
    Internet Of Things
    Law
    Medicine
    Metaverse
    Mobile
    Mobile Payments
    Open Source
    Personalization
    Power
    Privacy
    Quantum Computing
    Remote Work
    Retail
    Robotics
    Security
    Software
    Taxes
    Transportation
    Wearables
    Wi Fi
    Wi-Fi

    RSS Feed

    View my profile on LinkedIn
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.