Reading old (1x or 2x) CD-RW

CD, DVD and (Ultra HD) Blu-ray Writers
#1

Today I tried to read an old CD-RW (1x or 2x) that was created on 06/02/99 with a Yamaha 426S. However, none of my current readers (IOmega SuperDVD, PX-716) would even recognize it. :a

As far as I can remember, I always had ‘verify’ turned ON, so it couldn’t be a bad burn. That leaves media degradation or incompatibility with my current drives as possible culprits. Would I have a better luck with a regular CDRW drive instead of a DVD writer?

TIA,
aur

#2

Hi and Welcome!

Well, if verification did not fail, then the disc was readabla immediately after the burn.:wink:

That leaves media degradation or incompatibility with my current drives as possible culprits.
I suspect the disc has gone bad.
Would I have a better luck with a regular CDRW drive instead of a DVD writer?
Maybe there exists a drive that can retrieve the data from that disc. It does not matter, what type of drive that is. Try the disc in any drive you can put your hand on, and ask your friends if you can try reading the disc in their computers. I would not consider buying another drive for that purpose.

Michael

#3

CD-RW discs do degrade faster than CD-R discs. -RW media isn’t optimal for long-term storage.

Of course, you can reburn these discs easily with no waste (other than your time).

Try other readers… you might be able to coax the data off the disc.

If you have any other really old CD-RW burns I’d recommend you reburn them (or transfer them to a good CD-R disc) as soon as possible.

#4

I just got another drive (Samsung) and it had no problem reading and backing up the aforementioned CD-RW.

Thanks for all the replies

#5

Thanks for reporting back. Do you remember what drive this exactly was? It is always a good thing to know, what drive can handle bad discs.

Michael

#6

It was an SH-S182M, but I have a gut feeling that the other two burners I tried were less than perfect. Somewhere I should have a couple of old burners, including the one I used to burn that CD-RW, and if (or when) I can find them, I may be able to get more insight into why I was unable to read that CD-RW in my original DVD burners.