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Question

Photos backed up to CDs not all there

Jun 29, 2012 11:09PM PDT

I have been backing up my precious photos to CDs and the other day when I tried to retrieve them from a cd dated 2002 only 7 photos of of 76 were available. With the rest, which were listed in the file, I got a message that Windows Gallery couldn't open because they were damaged or corrupted. This happened on several discs. Can anyone tell me how to retrieve my photos. I have a brand new HP computer and am running Win7. Some of them open but some don't. I have tried in 3 different computers and get the same message.

Discussion is locked

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Answer
My first question.
Jun 30, 2012 12:00AM PDT

Since this is a backup copy, where's the other copy? If this is the last copy, this is not a backup.

Sorry to ask that question but you did call it a backup. What we discover is one copy is the last copy. Two copies in different places is usually fine but for stuff we can't lose, we have to move to 3 copies in 3 places. Since losing one copy means we no longer have a backup copy.

--> BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING. Go get IRFANVIEW to see if it can read those images. WHY? Because it can handle more image types.
Bob

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Re: backup to CD
Jun 30, 2012 1:41AM PDT

1. Did you verify the CD (option of the burning program) when burning it?
2. Did you try to view/read all those pics on that CD immediate after burning / anytime between 2002 and 2012?
3. CD-R or CD-RW?
4. How stored?
5. What happens if you try to read them on another PC?

This seems to prove that CD's aren't always a long-term storage medium.

Kees

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Answer
What about cloud storage?
Jul 2, 2012 2:25PM PDT

I'm sorry to hear you are having problems with your CD backup. Although it may be too late now, but in the future you may want to consider using a cloud server to backup your photos. This route can be advantageous because cloud servers are not easily corrupted like many other types of hardware storage methods, such as CDs. There are a lot of cloud service providers out there, but if you go to review sites you'll be able to check out reviews of the best providers out there. One of the better sites is www.Top10CloudStorage.com. I would highly recommend it.