Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!peregrine!ccicpg!cci632!rit!tropix!moscom!ur-valhalla!uhura.cc.rochester.edu!rochester!rutgers!apple!oliveb!ames!hc!lll-winken!lll-lcc!rzh From: rzh@lll-lcc.UUCP (Roger Hanscom) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: 5.25" Diskettes for Storage Message-ID: <2515@lll-lcc.UUCP> Date: 22 Jul 89 20:54:00 GMT Organization: Lawrence Livermore Labs, LCC, Livermore Ca Lines: 28 Just recently, I discovered that about twenty 5.25" floppies written some 6-7 years ago are completely munged. The content of the diskettes was no *major* loss, but it is particularly distressing to me to find that the life span of magnetic media is so short. What are folks doing to preserve electronically readable data? Is there a more permanent solution? Do WORM compact disks offer more permanence?? I've got quite a collection of software and data on 5.25", 360k diskettes. Much of the software is in .arc or .zoo format. It doesn't take much to make a .arc file unusable. Is it better to unpack them, even though they'll occupy more space?? It seems to me that back-up copies are of little use to prevent the sort of thing I'm talking about here, unless one copies his/her entire disk library (mine is ~200-300 diskettes) every three or four years and puts the fresh copy away. We're talking *major* time and expense here! Is there a preferred method of storage that will extend the life of a diskette -- that is practical?? (I'm not about to install an air-conditioned vault in the house!) Will packing diskettes side-by-side, ~15 per box (similar to the way they are packaged new) affect them adversely, or should they have something in between (besides the sleeve)?? Any comments will be greatly appreciated. roger rzh%freedom.llnl.gov@lll-lcc.llnl.gov {uunet,ames,ucbvax,..}!lll-lcc!freedom!rzh Upstairs, Over a Vacant Lot, Inc.