hey COMPUTER BRAINS ?

Question

i have a ton of moives in VHS form, i would like to convert to DVD, but a friend of mine tells me every 2-3 i'm going to have to back up those DVD's again to another DVD, (same w/cd-r of digital pictures) because he claims the DVD will break down and movie will be gone, is that true ? i suck at computers, what's best way not to lose my movies but get rid of tapes, and is there a brand of blank media i should get,or are they all the same ? remember i am very computer handicap.

Answer 1

Your friend is feeding you a line of B.S. DVDs do not break down unless they are left in the sun for a long time. The advantages of using the DVD format instead of tape is the DVD is recorded using a laser instead of a magnet. This burns the information onto the disk. A VHS tape uses a magnetic field to record the information. A disk can handle light scratches and still play, and many can be fixed if they have deeper scratches in them. With a tape, if it is damaged, you have to use specialized equipment to get out as much data as you can. After you transfer a VCR tape to a disk try setting a magnet on your disk and play it afterward. It will work fine. Try the same thing with a video tape and find out what happens. No signal. A magnet erases tapes.

Answer 2

Well, I never heard that DVDs break down or go blank. It's digital code so how can it go blank unless you keep it in the water? If you want your movies on DVD, then convert them. If you are nervous about loosing the movie, keep the VHS for a little while and when you see your DVDs are still in fine working order, then throw out the VHS. They don't go blank. If you get a faulty DVD, then it just won't record in the first place. Maybe that's what happened to your friend and he mistook that for going blank. As far as longevity, that can only be determined in time since DVDs have not been around that long. But with proper care, I am sure you will be okay.

Answer 3

Thanks Snoogans,

DVD-R and CD-R's can wear down over time, but they will not "go blank". This really depends on how often you watch these movies. If you were to watch "Clerks" an average of 10 times a day for two weeks, the disc would begin to wear out very quickly.

I would recommend, as an alternative to this medium, purchasing a good quality external USB hard drive for your computer system. This would allow you to use your PC to run automated backups of each movie, sparing you the costly process of having to re-burn each and every DVD-R in your movie collection.

You can also take an external hard drive everywhere you go, allowing you to take more movies on those long flights (or car trips, however you travel).

The possibilities are endless of what you can do with your DVD's in a digital format, as opposed to a hard copy format, as you would have with DVD-R and CD-R.

I hope this answers your question, Snoogans.

Thanks Again,
David Ward

Answer 4

Unfortunately, yes, he is right. A CD-R or DVD-R will typically only last around 5 years - some last longer, some will go out sooner. A different technology is used apart from commerical CDs/DVDs and they degrade much faster.

If it is anything important you should always have more than 1 copy any way (preferably stored in a different physical location). You can either re-burn every 4-5 years, or use a different storage medium (look at http://mediamax.streamload.com for online storage).

Answer 5

It won't break down every 2-3 years. More like 10-20. Go with memorex.

Answer 6

it really is frustrating to assert without easily being there. at the same time as u formatted the hardchronic, you created "walls" and also you would possibly want to have carried out a partial partition.. i'm on vista, yet i will attempt to furnish you guidelines from reminiscence.. precise click on my computer, and open the disk administration. click on your hardchronic, and there might want to prepare a partition. with any success there is often "Empty area" precise-click in there, and choose "Create a clean Partition" format it utilising an same record equipment you probably did previously, and it is going to assign the hot partition a letter. the basically down-side is now you would possibly want to have 2 "perplexing drives" once you bypass to my computer, yet its more desirable helpful than re-setting up XP!

Answer 7

i dunno!!