Writing On Discs

[David Brent]

After recording DVD's at home I tend to write the titles onto the disc itself with a fine felt pen.

I have done this for a number of years and not thought very much about it.



Then recently I was told by a guy who works in the trade that I should not write on discs with any kind of pen or marker. He believed that the chemicals from the pens could damage the disc over time.



So far, I have not experienced any such damage to my discs but he has me a little worried now.



Has anyone on the forum ever experienced damage to their discs as a direct result of using a marker pen on it?



Dave.

[wadsy]

I use markers which are described as being specifically for use on DVD,s & CD's.



They appear to be just ordinary nylon/felt tipped markers. So far I havent seen



any adverse reactions.

[johng]

I remember reading about that a long time ago. I use marker pens and have had no adverse reactions.



I doubt if there is a problem. The chemical which could cause the problem would be the solvent and since this evaporates practically as the words are written it is doubtful if it would have had time to penetrate the disc.



I cannot see that the residue remaining would cause any problems.



Just my views however, not based on any technical fact.

[jamesharris]

i've done this with cd markers for a while and seen no damage. I don't think electronic data storage is that long-lasting anyway and you should do a back up every 7 years at least...

[EHV_Emmetts]

I use a special marker pen when writing on CD's etc. The marker pen has the imaginative title of 'CD Marker'. They are in three colours; Black, Blue and Red.

[David Brent]

Re: [AMIA-L] AW: [AMIA-L] DVD marking pens



A very interesting link on the subject kindly forwarded onto me by fellow member Alain (Hitchcock Scholar) . Many thanks.



I agree with JamesHarris that the general deterioration of the discs themselves is probably more of a worry than any damage done by marker pens.



Dave.

[Colonel Blimp]

name='jamesharris']i've done this with cd markers for a while and seen no damage. I don't think electronic data storage is that long-lasting anyway and you should do a back up every 7 years at least...

Surely you don't mean that one should transfer all one's films to new discs every 7 years? I've got about 3000 films on DVD-R and at least as many live music shows on CD-R, so I guess I'd better start saving ... !

[Nick Dando]

I use a Faber-Castell OHP-CD Plus 1513 permanent marker.



Nick

[Brigger]

name='Colonel Blimp']Surely you don't mean that one should transfer all one's films to new discs every 7 years? I've got about 3000 films on DVD-R and at least as many live music shows on CD-R, so I guess I'd better start saving ... !

Crikey Colonel never mind saving; you`d better start re-recording now, it will be rather like painting the Forth Bridge; no sooner finished when you have to start again

[Dame Starry]

I burn my own CDs and have a REALLY cheap label maker - I always think that it looks neater anyway.



DS x.

[Colonel Blimp]

name='Brigger']Crikey Colonel never mind saving; you`d better start re-recording now, it will be rather like painting the Forth Bridge; no sooner finished when you have to start again

Well believe it or not, I put on an audio CD-R this morning that I recorded about ten or more years ago ... and halfway through it became unlistenable! Sometimes you can rescue these simply by copying on a decent burner, but ultimately ... if they're going to go, they're going to go.



So much for the future being digital ... maybe I should have stuck to videos ... even though they can get twisted, or rot, or ...



In fact, I'm just going to sit in a box and hum to myself.

[Dame Starry]

My brother once, reliably, informed me that sticking them in the freezer for a while can cure discs of whatever 'ails' them; I can't say that I've ever tried it though!



I had a CD that started 'skipping' in the middle of my favourite track. It was part of the Clapton "Crossroads" boxed set - so it would have meant replacing the whole set for one track!

I discovered that cleaning it several times with one of those rotary-type CD cleaners rectified the problem.



Sometimes, CDs just need cleaning.



DS x.

[Amethyst_Isle]

name='johng']I remember reading about that a long time ago. I use marker pens and have had no adverse reactions.



I doubt if there is a problem. The chemical which could cause the problem would be the solvent and since this evaporates practically as the words are written it is doubtful if it would have had time to penetrate the disc.



I cannot see that the residue remaining would cause any problems.



Just my views however, not based on any technical fact.

If there was a problem with marker pens specifically saying "can be used on dvd's and cd's" then could we sue those companies for making our dvd's and cd's unplayable ?

Not entirely on the same subject but I know MGM were legally responsible for the "so called DVD rot" on the Terminator and The Silence of the Lambs dvd's.



Does anyone know where would we stand legally on this ?

[steve9049]

If you have a damged DVD disc, and nothing else will make it play, before binning it try this rather extreme but often successful method.



Clean the disc, by radially rubbing outwards in one direction with a cloth and Brasso. After the entire disc has been cleaned, wash disc in washing up liquid, rinse and dry thoroughly, you can optionally use furniture polish to buff disc up afterwards, but I've found this not necessary.



This method seems to be more reliable than those cleaning machines, which I've had little success with.

[autolycus]

Steve - i think this method should only be used on the bottom/reverse side of the disk. If the top of the disk is damaged, vigourous cleaning as you describe might actually cause damage.



With a dvdr the data are burned to the top surface of the disk through the bottom - if you see what i mean. But i'm no expert so please correct me if i'm wrong.

[Edward G]

I back up my home-made movies (no salacious jokes please - and that means you, Bats!) on "master copy" DVDs and more recently a stand-alone back up drive. A small number of DVD movies I burned ony 2 years ago were suddenly unreadable in any DVD player (after having played OK earlier on) and a I tried a number of copy programs to duplicate them on my PC without luck. I put it down to the legendary "DVD rot" as each program would identify "unreadable sectors" on the said discs and we are talking decent brand discs and ultra careful storage here. As a last resort I washed the darned things in that hand cream you find in dispensers, dried them thoroughly and bingo - 3 of my lost masterpieces could be read perfectly by my PC ! I was able to rip the content, store it and burn perfect copies at will. I think DVD's are subject to rot and I would encourage anybody with important personal material like weddings or birthdays etc. to back-up their finished DVD's onto a stand alone hard drive (cheap to buy these days) so you will not lose them. At least your PC willl not rot!

[David Brent]

All that BS we were told when these discs were first introduced about them lasting forever.

I remember a show over here at the time did all sorts of things to the discs like writing on them, smearing them with sauce ect.. and came out with the statement that they were indestructible and that they would last forever.



Modern technology? We've all been fooled again.



Dave.

[Amethyst_Isle]

The upside is with every pack of DVD-/+Rs you get a lifetime guarantee which is a great thing to have,however the downside is if you record something like a rare one off programme that is very unlikely to be repeated or available to buy (ie contracual rights etc ) and does not play at all you are up the creek as the disc has the guarantee and not the actual programme you recorded on it and it can be lost forever.



Although there is another upside and that is some kind folk who has it on here.

[Steve Crook]

name='Amethyst_Isle']The upside is with every pack of DVD-/+Rs you get a lifetime guarantee which is a great thing to have,however the downside is if you record something like a rare one off programme that is very unlikely to be repeated or available to buy (ie contracual rights etc ) and does not play at all you are up the creek as the disc has the guarantee and not the actual programme you recorded on it and it can be lost forever.



Although there is another upside and that is some kind folk who has it on here.

What does it mean when something has a "lifetime guarantee"?

Who's life? The life of an old person? The life of a new born baby?

Or is it the life of the product? In which case all they're saying is

"It'll keep working until it stops working"



Steve

[theuofc]

name='Edward G']I back up my home-made movies (no salacious jokes please - and that means you, Bats!) on "master copy" DVDs and more recently a stand-alone back up drive. A small number of DVD movies I burned ony 2 years ago were suddenly unreadable in any DVD player (after having played OK earlier on) and a I tried a number of copy programs to duplicate them on my PC without luck. I put it down to the legendary "DVD rot" as each program would identify "unreadable sectors" on the said discs and we are talking decent brand discs and ultra careful storage here. As a last resort I washed the darned things in that hand cream you find in dispensers, dried them thoroughly and bingo - 3 of my lost masterpieces could be read perfectly by my PC ! I was able to rip the content, store it and burn perfect copies at will. I think DVD's are subject to rot and I would encourage anybody with important personal material like weddings or birthdays etc. to back-up their finished DVD's onto a stand alone hard drive (cheap to buy these days) so you will not lose them. At least your PC willl not rot!

Depressing to contemplate especially if one has converted vhs to dvd-r for lack of storage. Has anyone experienced deterioration with commercial dvds?



Thanks,



Barbara