The reason for this column is a "call to arms" based on a recent experience. Writable CD discs are failing. Unfortunately, I sense that this will be the most common problem for users of computer technology until some more permanent method of storage is made available. So, I suggest that you read this column carefully.

I was going through some boxes in the closet that, apparently, had not been breached since 1999. Inside were two old 5.25-inch floppy disks, containing backups of old columns from 1985, as well as 10 writable CD-ROMs from 1988 and 1998, which contained hundreds of music files.

I've been in the process of consolidating these old backup CDs, as well as any old floppies I could find, onto various hard disks where files can be more easily searched and catalogued.

In the past, I've written about the fact that some of the earliest CDs burned using old 1X burners are failing. The technology to burn discs was introduced in 1988 and products hit the market in 1991. They quickly grew in popularity.

I had one of the early 1X burners from Olympus. I used it to create numerous backup discs. Over the years, most of these discs have failed because of apparent mediocre CD-R media. I was stunned to find that my "modern" 1999 discs were having similar problems. Half of the discs had problematic CRC errors that could not be resolved no matter what drive they were mounted on.

No matter, what's done is done. I have to assume, however, that the same rot problem will eventually turn up with my DVD collection around 2020. Curiously, all of the old 5.25-inch big floppies moved the data just fine. Luckily, I maintain a 5.25-inch floppy drive on one of my machines for just this purpose.

The problem, as I see it (and I've complained about this before) is that both magnetic and optical media are not reliable. Yes, the hard disk in the machine is spinning at 7,200 rpm and doing just fine right now. I have one old 250-GB drive from around 2004 that I've been using as a network drive online 24/7 ever since. One of these days, this drive will have to go, but I've been amazed by its reliability. But in the grand scheme of things, is 7 years really that big of a deal? I can assure you that this drive will not last 100 years.

So, we will have to struggle to maintain our archives of writings, diaries, musings, notes, photos, and what-not for as long as we can. When the next generation takes over, they will probably just let stuff go. The 50- to 100-year-old CD-R will be useless.

Now I can take all my columns and archive them in printed volumes. But the same cannot be said for my 600GB+ of photographs. Even if I did print them out, we know the reliability of today's prints is not great. It was only within recent memory that they figured out that UV wasn't ruining and fading the prints. It was the ozone in the air.

And, of course, if media failure doesn't kill your data, the actual equipment will. I have old 8mm backup tapes from defunct devices that simply do not work on today's gear. Will the starboard DVD-R be readable in 100 years? Will there be a device to read it? I doubt it. I tell people that when they think of technology to always remember the 8-track tape drive. This, for a few years in the late 1970s, was the premier way to play recorded music in your car. You'd shove an 8-track cartridge in the slot and you were in business. It went the way of the 4-track car player, AM stereo, the VCD, OS/2, bubble memory, etc.

It all ends up being stuff you have to throw away.

I'm not sure what to do to ensure the long-term viability of the data I want to keep, but I do know that now is the time for everyone to move the data from all those decade-old CD-R discs before they're completely ruined by father time.

I was hoping we could do better than a decade before the rot sets in. Apparently not.