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IFW · 14 November 2014, 01:04

No, they won't last for even a few years...
They lasted long because of higher quality equipment and disks used for duplication than what is available today.
You can have high quality duplication now at home with e.g. KryoFlux, but the disk quality degrading will be an issue.
So you will likely rewrite the disks you use for playing once in a while.

You could use Cyclone etc. but they work best with good quality "factory new" disks. 20-30 years old disks don't really qualify as good quality anymore

Imagine copying 30 years old VHS tape to another 20 years old VHS tape. Now add in the effect of digital data, where data loss is not a loss in colour or sharpness, but even a single bad bit can render your backup useless.
Copying VHS is what you get with hardware copiers - they work fine as long as the media is in good condition, which is no longer true.

14 November 2014, 01:04	#4
IFW Moderator Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: ... Age: 52 Posts: 1,838	No, they won't last for even a few years... They lasted long because of higher quality equipment and disks used for duplication than what is available today. You can have high quality duplication now at home with e.g. KryoFlux, but the disk quality degrading will be an issue. So you will likely rewrite the disks you use for playing once in a while. You could use Cyclone etc. but they work best with good quality "factory new" disks. 20-30 years old disks don't really qualify as good quality anymore Imagine copying 30 years old VHS tape to another 20 years old VHS tape. Now add in the effect of digital data, where data loss is not a loss in colour or sharpness, but even a single bad bit can render your backup useless. Copying VHS is what you get with hardware copiers - they work fine as long as the media is in good condition, which is no longer true.