Clients ask me all the time what is the best way to save their digital files. I recently was surfing the internet and came across an amazing website the federal government has sponsored called Preserving My Heritage.

The website is filled with all kinds of information about how you can preserve your family heirlooms, photos, home movies, etc. This is something that is really important to me…I have 1000s of photos and over 100 dvds of home videos I have made of my family since my son was born in 1999. My biggest fear is that some day I will go to watch one of my movies and it won’t work.

There is a ton of information on the website I found so I thought I would highlight some of the topics. Whether you are burning back up cds/dvds of your photos or making dvds of your home videos, this website has some really valuable information.

Here are some of the Frequently Asked Questions they have answered on the topic: Caring for CDs and Their Longevity

Can a CD-R be used as a long-term storage medium?
What are the best CD-Rs to buy?
What are the best recording practices to use?
How should I handle my CDs?
What should I use to label my CDs?
What are the best conditions for storing my CDs?
For longevity, is it best to store audio information on a CD-R as a .wav file or as an .mp3 file?
How do I properly clean a CD?
Why isn’t my CD player or computer reading my CD?
What is the difference between a DVD and a CD?

Source - Preserving My Heritage