On Mar 30, 15:25, healyzh_at_aracnet.com wrote:
> > I think the 2 year is for reasonable useage.
>
> Actually the 2 year number is from a government study that I don't
believe
> is still online :^( It was refering to writing the data to tape and then
> sticking the tape in a vault. In other words an archive tape. They
found
> 8mm was good for 2 years, while DLT and 9-Track tapes were good for 10
> years.
>
> > New tapes should last for 30 to 40 years at least
> > with good storage. Tapes with data may not fare as well.
That seems logical to me. I wonder how much of the apparent data loss is
due to print-through? I was told that tapes ought to be rewound every year
or two to minimise the print-through effect. The idea is that by doing so,
you change the overlap between layers on the spool, and the effects cancel
out to some extent.
Having said that, I've just been reading some old cassette tapes on my
Exidy Sorcerer. I sold my original Sorcerer (and associated tapes) 20
years ago, but got a replacement (with no tapes at all) for my collection
recently. Last weekend, a friend brought me some tapes he'd found from
his, unused since 1980. I've managed to read every program I've tried so
far -- about a dozen -- on the four tapes I've tried. In a couple of
cases, I got errors on the first read, but no problem on the second. I
think that's probably due to the tape being more evenly wound/tensioned
after playing through and rewinding once, a common effect in compact
cassettes as I recall.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Dept. of Computer Science
University of York
Received on Fri Mar 31 2000 - 01:40:21 BST