What is the average life of a CD?

Answer 1

Avg life of CD could be about many years, if they are stored. But if they are constantly being used...it will slowly start wearing out (mostly because of the scratches cuased by dust particles, esp in the CD Drive).. but even then it will easly last few years.

Answer 2

The average life of a CD ranges from 6 months to 9 years depending on the way it is handled

Answer 3

2 years

Answer 4

This applies to CD-RW.

The manufacturers claim :
Are expected to last about 25 years under ideal conditions (i.e. you write it once and then leave it alone). Repeated rewrites will accelerate this. In general, CD-RW media isn't recommended for long-term backups or archives of valuable data.

This applies to CD-R.

The manufacturers claim :
75 years (cyanine dye, used in "green" discs)
100 years (phthalocyanine dye, used in "gold" discs)
200 years ("advanced" phthalocyanine dye, used in "platinum" discs)
once the disc has been written.

The shelf life of an unrecorded disc has been estimated at between 5 and 10 years.

There is no standard agreed-upon way to test discs for lifetime viability. Accelerated aging tests have been done, but they may not provide a meaningful analogue to real-world aging.

Exposing the disc to excessive heat, humidity, or to direct sunlight will greatly reduce the lifetime. In general, CD-Rs are far less tolerant of environmental conditions than pressed CDs, and should be treated with greater care. leaving a CD-R in a hot car isn't good for the disc, and will probably shorten its useful life. The easiest way to make a CD-R unusable is to scratch the top surface. Find a CD-R you don't want anymore, and try to scratch the top (label side) with your fingernail, a ballpoint pen, a paper clip, and anything else you have handy. The results may surprise you.

Keep them in a cool, dark, dry place, and they will probably live longer than you do (emphasis on "probably"). Some newsgroup reports have complained of discs becoming unreadable in as little as three years, but without knowing how the discs were handled and stored such anecdotes are useless. Try to keep a little perspective on the situation: a disc that degrades very little over 100 years is useless if it can't be read in your CD-ROM drive today.

Hope this helps you, It helps Me!

Answer 5

Depends on the quality of cd.
I have some orginal cd's which last nearly 10 years and still good.
But there are some cheap cd's which doesn't start working even without being touched.
A fungus or something comes on their surface.
Buy the best quality. Not the most expensive.
Cheers!

Answer 6

Original CDs, maybe 20-40 years, depends how many times it is used. Burned CDs, maybe 1-3 years, depends on use. I have burned CDs in great playing quality from 1998.

Answer 7

Depends on how you care for it. If you take care of it, you can make them last a long time. I have a CD that is over 10 years old, and I am sure there are older.

Answer 8

in a proper and ideal storage enviroment a cd should last for ever exposed to the elements and enviroment avg cd is lasting 15-20 yrs if properly stored again if you leave it on the top of your box itll last a whole lot less than properly being put away after each use and handleing with care

Answer 9

Depends on if you are talking about bank accounts or music storage. bank accounts tend to be anywhere from 6 months to 2 years, whereas music Cd's can last decades if properly cared for without degradation of their format. Moisture and magnetic exposure are two of the biggest issues for their safe keeping, as powerful magnets can corrupt the data and water can cause the plastic aluminum sandwich to delaminate, resulting ina ruined CD.

Answer 10

the average of cd life is 30 Yr, and it could last up to 60Yr
depen on how u keep them.