People often think about what type of media will help them store digital files safely and for generations to come.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that one should stop using CDs and DVDs as some people claim that they last only 2 to 5 years when that number is more close to about twenty years or so.
Another question that comes up is whether or not software that is popular now will exist or even optical drives that can be used to read these files.
It’s hard to answer these questions but a few educated guesses should really help you retrieve old files a number of years later.
When it comes to software, save information in file formats that isn’t controlled by any single company. The reason for this is if a number of applications support a particular format, there’s more chances of it remaining in existence, 5 or 6 decades from now.
Better still, it’s always a good idea to save it in a number of formats – not just one!
For documents, you can use .docx, .doc, .pdf and .html. For photos, .jpg and .png work just as well. For music, .wav and .mp3 are the best possible alternatives. Yet it’s a little complicated with videos…
Since devices have this issue of not being able to play one format or the other, it’s best to save your video files to Blu-Ray or video DVDs. Better still, you can save them in discs designed for archiving purposes such as M-Disks.
Of course, you’ll need a special drive to burn them but you can read them on any DVD drive once they’re burnt.
The reason for this recommendation is that M-Discs have been found, according to government reports, to be far more stable than any other type of media available today.