here are two suggestions for rescuing your old data.
by rick richardson
technology this week
attention, readers, this is your annual wake-up call!
all those cds and dvds you have burned over the last decade to back up your precious pictures, music and movies may have bit rot.
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that’s right. they may be harmed by scratches or temperature and humidity variations. most commercial cds and dvds will survive better than custom discs, but they all are prone to damage after sitting for an extended period.
before diving into rescue tips, watch eposvox’s video on recovering data from your optical discs. it is a 12-minute investment that will provide you with incredible information on how to keep from losing all those beloved movies, pictures or even music you’ve stored on optical media.
i 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: this is one of the best-known bulk copy software products on the market today. it copies 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 to recover the file again. if the recovery doesn’t work, it will skip the file and go to the next file. it will then provide a log of files with problems at the end of the job. you can find it here: https://www.codesector.com/teracopy.
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, copy list searches and speed limits. find it here: https://ultracopier.first-world.info.
finally, after you’ve copied all your super valuables to your computer and extra external disk drive, you should include them 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.