What is Disc Rot? Will your discs all eventually become unplayable?

There are a lot of misconceptions about Disc Rot floating around the internet, and the very idea of Discs "rotting" has a lot of people very concerned. What can you do about it? Can it be stopped?
Free tool to create digital copies for your DVD collections to avoid disc rot: bit.ly/373rxto
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#DiscRot #VideoGamePreservation #VideoGameCollecting

[@peerboom]

I learned about disc rot last week. In all my years of collecting DVD and Blu Ray, this was the first I’ve never came across this and immediately became horrified for my collection. Thank you for this video explaining what DR is and how it can be prevented. I take care of all me belongings and do what you suggest with storage of discs. I’m less paranoid now.

[@NerdCrave]

Glad I could help!

[@Attmay]

It started with laserdisc, but when laserdiscs rot, they don’t rot the same way as DVDs, Blu-ray, and UHDs when they start getting old. Up to a point, a rotting laser disk can still play back, but it is just unpleasant to watch the worse it is. I had to replace a laser disc of *Some Like it Hot* for that reason and also had to replace a UHD of *The Shining* that my Play I refuse to play because of a “copyright violation.“ I replaced them with laser discs.

[@GenerationPixel]

Hit the nail on the head, cheaply made discs is the number one reason for "disc rot" followed closely by poor maintenance.

[@Shvabijan]

Man this video needs WAY more attention!

[@NerdCrave]

Tell it to the algorithm!

[@sakura_sauce]

I’ve had my fair share of disc rot, in my experience it’s mostly been on music CDs of mine that have been stored away in humid conditions such as attics, or were burned on extremely low end, cheap CDRs from the late 90s or early 2000’s. CDRs with printed labels on them were especially bad, I recently picked 2 up while thrifting and both had multiple distorted tracks, one disc just refused to play past a certain track. I’ve also found that CDs made by certain manufacturers such as Nimbus or PDO U.K were especially bad when it comes to rot, a few of mine have bronzing and pinholes and one has severe problems reading the last track.

[@NerdCrave]

Yeah, me too. CDRs were always bad

[@Colorcrayons]

Same. When I lived outside of air-conditioning in south Texas, the disc rot was real on my music cds, even way back in the mid 90s.

[@sakura_sauce]

@Free in Jesus I think they were .wav files when they were burnt, although I can’t say for certain.

[@meiinuyasha]

When I was 7 in 2006 I knew I have to save my ps2 games from getting scratches so I burned them to Cheap DVD and keepd the originals in plastic covers I have played the heck out of those games and to my surprise the cheep dvds are still working 💪 and some of my sealed ps2 originals have rot and couldn't even be read on my pc 😢 wtf

[@justbadgaming4196]

Never really thought about disc rot, but definitely good to know!

[@Kyle-pj2vc]

I'm more afraid of physical damage to the disc over disc rot.

[@luigibrown263]

Isn't disc rot physical damage?

[@Kyle-pj2vc]

@@luigibrown263 yes but your disc is far more likely to get scratched up via human error over disc rot and you can only resurface so many times

[@gregmoisan5629]

@@Kyle-pj2vc sorry but you are wrong on this one. 15 of my hddvds have disc rot and don't have scratches on them. It is physical. It is like air gets in-between the layers. It's pretty bizarre

[@Kyle-pj2vc]

@@gregmoisan5629 usually that's manufacturing error, and HD DVDs probably weren't around long enough to be perfected to be reliable like some of my DVDs and CDs I've had and are still flawless.

[@gregmoisan5629]

@@Kyle-pj2vc it's the only physical media that one has problems with

[@josephcalabrese6337]

I have personally started an animation DVD collection in 2020. Xaiolin Showdown, Invader Zim, Gravity Falls, Steven Universe, Stripperella. A small collection of shows and movies I like. Watching this video made me realize I need to keep a good eye on everything I got.

[@NerdCrave]

Most of it will be fine, I have thousands of discs, actual rot is rare

[@zensai-gaming]

"these disc will out live you." lol very true. people need to educate themselves on this matter because its gotten out of hand already. the hysteria over disc rot needs to seriously stop. great informative video.

[@NerdCrave]

Thanks! Yes disc rot exists, but it's on a case by case basis and not system wide

[@groofoot]

Amen to that!!

[@iancurrie8844]

Simply not true. I had a Bluray of terminator 2 go bad stored completely properly and only played once in its life. Next time I tried to play it, appeared largely delaminated and played partially and with major corruption.

[@zensai-gaming]

@@iancurrie8844 sounds like you bought a defective disc some disc are manufactured with defects. You said it lost lamination that is super rare and not common especially for a blue ray. I have ps3 blue rays from launch that still play like new. Are you sure they are stored away from light and upright at room temperature? If so then it’s safe to say you bought a defective disc. The fact remains your issue and disc rot is rare and many factors contribute to a disc going bad and often it’s manufacturing or user mishandling.

[@iancurrie8844]

@@zensai-gamingYes I'm completely sure.

[@MrRoko91]

Before you get too worried about disc rot read this fun story first: I used to burn dual layer DVDs back in 2010. The discs were cheap brand discs, almost half the price of the best quality ones. They were abandoned in my old place without any temperature and humidity control for at least 5 years and recently I finally decided to move them to my new home. In the process of moving I forgot them in my car's glove box for the whole summer. Most of the summer the temperature was between 32°C to 40°C (90°F to 104°F) with occasional raining (rapid humidity changes). The temperature inside of the car was much higher (probably more than 10 degrees higher) due to heat accumulating. When I finally realized how much I've tortured these poor discs I decided to test them - all 3 discs worked perfectly and all contents copied successfully without even a slowdown. Keep in mind that burned discs are suppose to have significantly shorter lifespan then pressed ones (the originals you collect) so the end result after so much abuse and more than a decade really surprised me. Moral of the story: if you are lucky with good disc samples, even the cheaper ones can last a loooong time. I'm not saying you shouldn't store your discs properly, you absolutely should. But from my experience what matters the most is the individual disc being manufactured well in the first place, and as we can see even cheap blank ones can achieve that... it would be massive screw up if pressed ones perform worse than that 🙂

[@williamwilson480]

Thank you I'm OCD and I'm starting to think all my dvd and cd rotted🤯

[@groofoot]

Thank you for sharing that story! It's very reassuring; ...... like Mr. Wilson, who commented 10 months ago, I am a Big time OCD sufferer too, .... and all the fear mongering had worried me that my CDs were in danger .... lol ....

[@groofoot]

@@williamwilson480 Ditto! I commented, here, too

[@wizardsavage.9436]

blueray lasts way longer.

[@weldonyoung1013]

My problem with burned media discs is, the recorded format has a good chance of not being supported on new or future equipment. Have already encounted this problem on a series of Panasonic recorder and player.

[@JammyGuns]

Really appreciate this vid, thanks for the detailed explanation. Been panicking about my collection - weirdly I hadn't really caught onto this issue before.

[@NerdCrave]

Glad I could help!

[@StefanHomberger]

The only issues I've had with disc-based formats were discs with manufacturing issues or they were mishandled by former owners. The oldest optical disc I own is a Olivia Netwon-John and ABBA televised concert LaserDisc made in late 1979/early 1980, and it still plays perfectly.

[@NerdCrave]

That's awesome to hear!

[@groofoot]

@@NerdCrave The youtube research I've done has led me to believe that CDs which were made (properly) by a major label will, if cared for properly, Play perfectly for Well over a Century ... and possibly close to 2 centuries 8-)

[@oldcat1790]

The problem is, we can't know for sure how long discs will keep being operational. So it's always better to have a digital/other copy than not.

[@RebeccaTurner-ny1xx]

@@groofoot Hmmm... that's what I thought. Today I bought from a charity shop (a pricey 40p) a boxed set of the Karajan/Berliner Philharmoniker Beethoven Symphonies CDs, on the prestige Deutsche Grammophon label from 1985. All of the discs are afflicted with a grainy discolouration on the text side which surely must be rot. The discs still play, though I suspect not for much longer.

[@groofoot]

@@RebeccaTurner-ny1xx Well, if you don't know where those discs have Been for the past 30 years, it's possible they were sitting in a very moldy, airless basement ..... me, I've never had a disc with rot ....

[@SmashJT]

Great job on this one, man - the intro especially! Super professional, all the way. Disc rot is a concern I definitely have and the thought has crept into my head enough to hold off on some retro disc-based purchases.

[@NerdCrave]

Thanks man! High praise coming from you!

[@GavGaming15]

Very informative video! Good to hear I’ve been treating my discs right!

[@NerdCrave]

Thanks!

[@albertwesker2050]

Thanks! Makes me feel better about my collection. Wii game prices are down and just boosted my collection big time, but then I heard about this disc rot panic

[@NerdCrave]

Don’t panic! Treat your stuff well, and it will be ok. You may lose a disc here and there, but it’s not a widespread problem

[@stephaniekinast9632]

Very good informational video. Thanks brother, cheers.

[@Tromeo1988]

I just had a look at my oldest dvds! The DVD of "The Exorzist" which I bought with sixteen is now 22 years old (and back there as i was young i didn't went very well with my movies)! It played fine! I looked at many others very old dvds i bought (20 years +) i couldn't find one! We will see what the future will bring!

[@MrMario995]

Very solid video! Very informative and to the point. Theres too many people spreading misinformation on disc rot, its not just going to magically dissipate on you if you are decent to your discs, the only people that may experience disc rot are people that treat their games badly. Too many discs are treated like coasters/hockey pucks/Frisbees, especially from the PS2 to Xbox 360 era games. Awesome video :)

[@NerdCrave]

Thanks! I’m constantly surprised at how many people think disc rot is a huge problem. It’s a minor problem that mostly affects only certain discs

[@joshuagraham2843]

well there’s a disc surface repair eco pro it will clean disc like a brand new

[@Attmay]

I’ve tried every product you can name that claims to fix disc scratches, and I am not impressed with any of them. I even bought some machine that was supposed to do it automatically with some cream applied to the discs as a round thing rotated against them to remove it, but it was a pain in the butt to operate, so they should’ve put in some cream for that! And it didn’t really work. Meanwhile, I was able to get better results washing records with something that cost a lot less money, but I don’t really recommend using things intended for vinyl on plastic because I have concerns about whether they will react the same way to repeated exposure to the same product.

[@KlingonCaptain]

I have a music disc from 1986 that is still in perfect condition. So I know that it's not a universal problem.

[@NerdCrave]

I have quite a few old discs too, disc rot is actually pretty rare

[@rickershomesteadahobbyfarm3291]

We used to live in a house that didn’t have central heating and air. We only heated or cooled the areas of the house we were currently in. Some of our media did degrade but it was mostly the VHS tapes. We lived there for 8 years. We own alot of retro games and thousands of movies on VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray. I lost alot of burned CDs during that time but they were already degrading due too being stored in a vehicle for years. I’m located around an hour from Myrtle Beach and it does get hot. But as far as DVDs and Blu-rays go, they held up pretty well.

[@NerdCrave]

Good to hear!

[@ceilingsandfloors]

The oldest CD I have is a 1992 pressing of U2's The Joshua Tree which I bought second hand and predates all but a few Console Games to be released on optical disc. Gave it a whirl recently for the first time in years and no problems. I think I'll hold onto it, keep in a cool dry place, and see if it will last another 10...20...30 years...

[@NerdCrave]

Good luck! Great album!

[@reginaldforthright805]

Check on it in 3 million years and report back

[@weldonyoung1013]

By then the glue holding the layers together will be gone.

[@kma4835]

The fact that my games will eventually become unplayable even after I die urks me to no end I want them to last forever as silly as that sounds

[@NerdCrave]

Totally understand

[@Mista_FiOth]

Amazing vid man. Thanks for the info!

[@HalfEatenBatteryy]

Thank you for making this! I joined a dvd collection collection subreddit and every now and then people mention it. I’m young, but I have a size-able collection. It was would SUCK if it all just rotted away and there is nothing I can do about it, but knowing that it’ll last my lifetime if treated properly puts that anxiety to bed.

[@NerdCrave]

Where it can get dicey is buying used discs. If you don’t know the history of how it was treated you can’t predict how it will last. Often though, if the case and manual are minty it shows that it’s been treated well

[@Sl0nk0b0mb]

I literally just heard about this for the first time the other day 😮the algorithm blessed me with this video today 😎 thank ya for more explanation

[@NerdCrave]

It’s funny how this works! This video is evergreen, it just keeps getting views! Glad you liked it!

[@SteffDev]

Lot's of good information , thanks !

[@NerdCrave]

You’re welcome!

[@59thSurvivor-of-VHS]

My CBS Fox VHS hardcore magnetic heavy tapes going to out tank an entire format lol. VHS will never die, not in my lifetime. Keep on Huntin' I heard the Warner Brothers are rough

[@amin2636]

Super informative thank you ❤

[@Cheet0sConundrums]

Awesome video!

[@NerdCrave]

Thanks! Stay tuned for a follow up video shortly’

[@BlueEyedVibeChecker]

I've heard people preach this in their "digital good, physical bad" arguments, yet my SEGA CD games are in their 30's and have outlasted the Xbox 360, PS3, PSP, PS Vita, DSi, 3DS, Wiiware, Wii U digital stores which have lost their ENTIRE libraries of over 10,000 games as a collective. My discs haven't lost a single one, I rip them to my PC every year and they all still read at 100%.

[@NerdCrave]

Disc rot is rare

[@Attmay]

But it exists, and I have experienced it with every plastic-based video disc format. I’m no chemistry expert, but it must be caused by something reacting to the type of plastic they make the discs out of.

[@NerdCrave]

@@Attmay it is generally caused by the adhesives between the layers of the disc breaking down and oxidation occurring

[@ms.pirate]

Also, I try my absolute best too preserve my discs. When I herd about disc rot, they all said bad manufacturing, and bad conditions. Non of them said its because they degrade over time

[@markgreet3543]

Great to hear excellent longevity, its like cds, vinyls, and blurays just keep them away from certain places and they should be fine.

[@KaosNova2]

Yes, it’s really key the environment that you expose media to. I see plenty of people not putting their media in a good casing or not concerned about the temperature or humidity in the house, etc. Thanks for mentioning this. I also seemed to have issues with the laser in my disc player. Would the laser be degraded by similar environmental factors as the discs?

[@NerdCrave]

Lasers usually suffer from wear and tear

[@triledink]

Also sometimes you might see light through a disc thats not disc rot. Sometimes if the print in front of the disc is scratched you might see a small dot through the disc but its not disc rot, its just because the printing on the front side of the disc is scratched, Not scratched deep enough to damage the information layer. You will notice if its disc rot since the dots looks different. I have a disc that with light have a a bunch of dots on it and it works all the way through without any problem. But seriously people take care of your discs, as he said. Store them in the same enviroment that you're comfortable living in.

[@NerdCrave]

Spot on man!

[@marcboulware6242]

Whatever the Reason for the Defect, I have determined that if you can shine the bottom of the Disc up to the Light, and see clean through to the Top of the Disc, then you have "Rot". This can be prevented, in the future, by slapping an Avery CD/DVD Label on the Top of the Disc. However, the Damage [to the Existing Disc] has already been done. There will be Data Loss, Unfortunately.

[@sabbathbloodysabbath3351]

@@marcboulware6242 not exactly true. Many CDs have pinholes from manufacturing that can be seen through strong light. Slapping on a sticker or label will ruin the discs as they can create a negative chemical reaction or other wear to the disc.

[@driverdis3488]

I have found that past owners much like a used car or game system can cause a major impact on lifespan. I have a lot of issues with spending good money on a used disc since I don’t know how it was treated. Another major problem is game stores that are unaware of disc rot or disc damage in general taking in CDs with top layer scratches that you can shine a light through, buffing them up then selling them. I have had games that look pristine from a professional machine not work due to this so I always shine a light through PS1 and other CD media to look for label damage, pinholes, and other problems. I am surprised at what I see stores passing off as good since they buff and pray. I actually rip my discs when I buy used to make sure they are 100% readable during any game store’s skip and they replace guarantee. Used Blu-ray media like Wii U games are bad as well. I have had several sourced from eBay in “good” shape that don’t rip properly on my Wii U or install using homebrew so I know that the disc is bad even if it looks in good shape as minor surface scratches are enough to kill Blu-ray discs due to how close the data is to the bottom of the disc.

[@paranoidgenius9164]

I've had pristine looking discs before, no scratches, disc rot, or label damage, but it still is unreadable, that's a good indication that it's warp damaged, due to it being subjected to heat sources, like, being on a market stall in blazing sunlight without adequate shade, or left on a window sill on a hot sunny day, or stored on top of a radiator while it's on, or leaving a game paused for so long, the player generates heat.

[@driverdis3488]

@@paranoidgenius9164 I have never had a disc damaged from running too long even in a system with poor airflow or generates heat on the disc drive like the Xbox 360. retro game stores do this with disc consoles all the time sometimes near 24/7 without damage. Some older vehicles use a GPS system that has a DVD with maps loaded inside of it without issue for years as well.

[@pentiummmx2294]

and when the owners have kids, kids tend to treat discs badly.

[@JasonBoon02]

Great informative video! I would definitely want to see more content of yours, though make sure to invest into a new mic that doesn't pop and crackle like an old LaserDisc, haha.

[@NerdCrave]

Curious what you're listening on, because the audio is pretty clean on my end, for this video, but I have been struggling with audio overall on the channel, I've got several different microphones, and they all have pros and cons. Thanks for the comment! Please do check out other stuff on the channel, I'm always working to improve my quality, and I take every criticism seriously. EDIT: I just listened to the video again, and I can hear it now too. If I remember correctly, I was using a budget shotgun mic on top of my camera for this video, and I think the audio gain was too high in the camera settings. Thanks for pointing that out!

[@RenderGT]

Great video!

[@NerdCrave]

Thanks!

[@Jumphurd6145]

Makes me feel much better!

[@segaretrojoker1887]

Video of the year 👍

[@Nick23at63]

I bought a DVD in 2011, A Christmas Carol (1938 version), and every year it had been fine until today. The rest of the DVD's on my shelf have no issues at all. Would this be a manufacturing issue, despite it being good for the previous 9 years? Case lists "Made in Canada", have they had issues in the past with disc rot? Thanks.

[@NerdCrave]

Try cleaning the surface of the disc with a soft cloth with warm soapy water. Try not to soak the disc, just enough moisture to clean it, rinse the cloth and wipe it again to remove the dish soap residue and let it air dry, as dry towels can scratch the surface. If that doesn't work, try playing it in a different device. Sometimes discs that won't play on a dvd player will still work in a computer. If that happens, you can copy the disc onto the computer, and then use a blank DVD RW to make a new functional disc for your tv. If you're not sure how to do this, there is software in the description of this video that will make the process a breeze

[@Nick23at63]

@@NerdCrave - Thanks for the quick reply. This DVD is beyond saving, it has what looks like clouds all over the DVD. The DVD player doesn't waste any time concluding disc error. Before I found out this is called disc rot, I thought it was moisture under the surface, since the surface is clean. I'm not sure what happened since last December, all of the other DVD's on the shelf with it are completely fine with no cloudy looking marks. I have all my Christmas DVD's all together, and we usually watch them just during the Holidays. Somehow, this DVD deteriorated really badly. Ever heard of one doing this after so many years?

[@NerdCrave]

@@Nick23at63 yeah, sadly it happens, and it's usually because they used a cheap or poorly manufactured disc. It's common in budget releases like Christmas movies unfortunately

[@mattbaker5757]

Hello, you mentioned in the video that damaging discs by storing discs horizontally is a myth. It is a true fact, not a myth, but it only pertains to vinyl LPS and the old CED video format which was on vinyl LPS within a plastic caddy. Those can get ruined by stacking one on top of another because of the weight it presses down on all the vinyl discs and it smashes the grooves at the needle reads. Depending on how high the stacks are and how much weight is on some of the vinyl records/discs, the damage to the lower vinyl discs can be instant or happen over an amount of time depending on the weight above. However, this problem was never meant to pertain to digital disc media in the first place. So if you're talking about digital media discs, it's just misinformation from ignorant people who heard about it with vinyl records or CED discs and just assumed it meant all discs.

[@NerdCrave]

Absolutely true.

[@Attmay]

I also do not recommend stacking laser discs horizontally more than 12 at a time. The boxes don’t provide much space between them the way DVD boxes do.

[@JRLopez13]

Good video! I have my collection in a very humid room and the only way I can control the temperature is with an Air conditioner. 40% of my DVD collection suffered from rot deterioration and most of those discs are from WB, and it is a coincidence that most of them where released after 2005 meaning that they switched to a bad quality materials. I still have my 1st DVD that I bought back 2002 and it has a two side data recorded and still play like the first day. I started making backups of the entire discs without compression and stored it on a HD. Studios should be ashamed of throwing poor disc materials and charge us 15-20+ with no guarantees.

[@zeny5159]

How do you make backups of discs?

[@JRLopez13]

@@zeny5159 with DVDs I use DVD decrypter (which is free software) to get the untouched uncompressed data or you can use a disc burner software to make an ISO image file, later you can reproduce it wit VLC or media player

[@zeny5159]

@@JRLopez13 Nice. Thx. But you only saves the movies right? I wish there was a way to save the menus and especial features too

[@JRLopez13]

@@zeny5159 The software saves the entire disc with menus and extras, it’s an exact copy. You can also copy it later to a dual layer DVD if you still want to use your DVD player

[@jaxh4x]

I collect mainly ps1/ps2 games. I have yet to buy a disc with rot and I hope it’s never an issue I really have to deal with. However, I’m currently embarking on backing up my entire collection to two SSDs and an HDD just in case.

[@NerdCrave]

Good plan

[@Thatguyy002]

Much appreciated my friend, I can live in peace 👍🏼

[@gourry47]

Man what a relief I already took great care of my stuff so I was worried for nothing

[@NerdCrave]

Do I sense some sarcasm there?

[@gourry47]

@@NerdCrave no not really I've been listening to all that psn shutdown stuff and it's kinda freaking me out

[@devonmacdonald4439]

@@NerdCrave I keep my ps collection in plastic sleeves in my cabinet will my collection be OK? Just asking

[@iiqulo]

Yeah, people get way more panicky than they need to be. I have found cheap-ass burnable cd's are the ones that fail over time. Otherwise, music CDs that I have had for decades are just fine.

[@DominiqueDeMann]

Exactly

[@redbrainsleven8862]

I have about 100 burned PS1 games that my grandpa got from a friend from work in the late 90’s and they were stored in his basement for about 20 years. I’ve recently recovered them and most seem to work just fine still.

[@iiqulo]

@@redbrainsleven8862 being stored might have protected them. Or maybe they weren't cheap-ass. Who knows.

[@progressroom]

Good info

[@NerdCrave]

Thanks!

[@buttscarlton1830]

So today i got a used copy of stadium arcadium by the red hot chili peppers and on both discs on the edges of the center hole there is little white specs. It's the only CD I have ever seen with it. so is it disc rot or just like paint flakes or something?

[@NerdCrave]

Probably not disc rot, the foil layer is very thin on cd’s and it’s pretty common to see imperfections, it’s likely a defect rather than any kind of degradation

[@rigomortisfxstudios]

things to look at below disc rot happens if your in really cold and warm citys !!! or you have cold air coming into your house like cracks in your windows and doors that room gets to cold or hot !!! and another thing is are you packing your discs to tight or stacking them to high an clean your discs alot this helps

[@onthebench3606]

Great video, thanks 😊 And l love your accent 🙂

[@NerdCrave]

Thanks! Where are you from?

[@onthebench3606]

@@NerdCrave The 🇬🇧 UK , how about yourself?

[@NerdCrave]

@@onthebench3606 Canada! Southern Ontario to be more precise

[@HaythamGruxton]

Very well made and informative video! I think owners of video games on discs should be more worried about the hardware definitely. Something like a Xbox 360 or PS3 is at a lot more risk of dying. Between the laser, hard drive, and moving parts in general I think the breakdown of the machines will be the problem.

[@NerdCrave]

Absolutely true!

[@jamesperkins7716]

I would know about that too. It was my XBOX 360 laser disk reader that failed after a few years. People blame the cds, when for the most part, the real problem is the cd player!

[@lucacivitillo179]

Disc rot is appearing in many of PS4 physical games... it appears in like very little tiny spots. I was organizing my collection of physical games and I took a horrible surprise 😞 Great video!! Thanks for explaining!

[@MrBrownstoneSESH]

What state you live

[@GamerBoy870]

I didn't know Blu-Ray discs could get disc rot

[@angolin9352]

That sucks, but at least it happens to a console that will become totally unplayable in a decade or two anyways. Look up the PS4 time bomb/CBOMB issue. PS5 has the same deliberate design flaw. PS3 has it too, but only for digital games.

[@jakehunter3434]

@@angolin9352 the PS5 is only digital, just like the ps3. Ps4 is the unlucky one, all digital and physical disks are worthless after that battery dies and you can't get access to the internet for it to work.

[@lrc173]

@@jakehunter3434 the battery is super easy to be replaced. once you do that console is fine again.

[@joshj88]

I was wondering what you all thought of CD wallets/cases. Like the ones you can get from wal-mart or Amazon. Are they generally long-term safe? I have my whole Xbox 360 collection in a DVD binder with pockets for the manuals. I had to downsize the space or I couldn’t keep them all together and wanted to take them with me.

[@NerdCrave]

I did it for a couple years when I moved across the country, and they were fine, but I think you really want to avoid heat and especially humidity because the disc art can become stuck to the sleeves and damage them

[@joshj88]

@@NerdCrave well that’s fine. At least as of now I’m in an air conditioned apartment. Humidity isn’t an issue. And these wallets are much better made them past ones that were omg horrible.

[@landrybasket]

At some point I should probably take my game collection out of our external storage locker, thanks for the informative video

[@NerdCrave]

Good idea

[@spookymulder945]

I still have an ACDC CD that I bought back in 1991. It's pretty scratched but all songs still play.

[@NerdCrave]

It’s actually pretty amazing how durable they are when you think about it

[@cyberwolfe]

WHAT I LEARNED TODAY: Store your discs in space while not in use.... 💿🌌✨

[@NerdCrave]

While the vacuum would theoretically be excellent, the extreme cold, and radiation...not so much lol

[@mohameddokkan6802]

Hi amazing video learned a lot from it could you make a video about disks that crack in the middle i seen this problem alot with second hand games and what are the consequence of this and how long would a disk last with disk crack in the middle

[@NerdCrave]

I’ll look into it

[@FreelancerFreak]

I haven't used discs in like a decade, my computer doesn't even have a disk drive. But i understand that there is a lot of people who love discs and they have my sympathy

[@Platica.Vasile]

Good point.

[@garylikesgames]

Oh man, I'm so glad to hear that disc rot isn't what I thought. I genuinely thought the days of my games were numbered.

[@NerdCrave]

Oh, they are numbered, everything degrades eventually, but with proper care most disc based media should last many decades. You’ll have a disc here and there die, but I wouldn’t be concerned in a broad way. I’d be more concerned about the electronics used to play them

[@thelastdefenderofcamelot5623]

I think I figured it out. It is the double sided DVDs that are more prone to disc rot. Examples are discs that include both theatrical and a special edition like Alien director's cut and Gladiator extended edition. Both play really choppy every couple minutes (even more noticeable when the camera pans) and both versions freeze at the same scenes and also the discs take an unusually long time to load. You should probably check all the double layered ones. If I'm wrong, I apologize for wasting your time.

[@SaucyBoiYt]

I just so happened to learn about disc rot as soon as I bought a pre-owed Wii U. Even though I have a small amount of Wii U games, it was enough to slightly justify it, and now I'm left with hole-ridden translucent discs and a hdmi Wii with a tablet.

[@NerdCrave]

WiiU discs are not generally known for disc rot, you may have a different problem

[@ORLY911]

This gave me peace of mind. Thank you. I was worried maybe my OG Xbox games would start deteriorating due to the age. I keep them all in their cases and handle them properly like all my other games, I just was in that worry of "for just happens" but that seems to not be the case. On that topic though, do you know if Xbox discs have substandard materials?

[@NerdCrave]

Generally Xbox games are ok, there have been a few individual games that consistently have problems, but mostly I think you’re ok

[@granhairdo]

i've only had two or three discs rot in my years of physical media collecting, and they were all discs that were notrious for having manufacting errors. since i keep all of my discs in optimal condition, my biggest concern is not rot, but rather simple wear and tear of using the disc for 10-20+ years. as i collect rare media at high risk of being lost in the case of a faulty disc, i keep multiple digital backups in case of rot, or something as simple as wear and tear from there being a complete lack of unopened copies available secondhand. while rot is something to be concerned about, its much more important to physically handle your discs correctly than fuss about rot

[@NerdCrave]

Absolutely!

[@dew4915]

great video

[@NerdCrave]

Thanks!

[@T00muchF00Dchannel]

This is why if there’s a game I want available on cartridge or memory card, I get it over the disc. If it is disc only, I get the disc over Digital.

[@NerdCrave]

I'm kind of in the middle. I will choose digital on my switch pretty often, particularly when it's a game I expect to play often. I usually only buy physical switch carts when I think they will be limited or valuable down the road. I'm selling off a lot of the filler in my collection, and focusing on games that mean something to me, because having thousands of physical discs just doesn't seem like a good investment anymore. I'm really focusing my collecting habits on 3 or 4 major libraries and thinning out the rest

[@KrisVic91]

Thanks.

[@blodguizer]

I just watched a video about Warner HD DVDs becoming unwatchable most likely due to manufacturing defects. I have been buying cd's since they were first released as a physical medium, some over 30 years old and no problems at all.

[@NerdCrave]

By and large, discs are extremely durable, but there are exceptions. Most manufacturers accept a 98% QC status, meaning 2 in every 100 discs could be faulty from day one

[@newphilmz3605]

The more time that goes on I'm having more problems with it. The ones that are going are my mixtapes from the early 2000s that are burned CDs by DJs and rap artists. Some are still playable, but others are degrading usually at the edge of the disc which are the later tracks. The ones with sticky labels went first, the glue does something to the data. But even ones with printed titles on the disc are starting to go. I keep them all in a case too, so they've been stored good. Factory pressed discs, I'm still good for the most part, but I think it's only a matter of time before they go.

[@NerdCrave]

Time will tell but it’s wise to have digital backups these days

[@newphilmz3605]

@@NerdCrave I ripped them 5 years ago they were fine, now I'm having trouble with some of them so I know time is a factor

[@usavideogames7599]

Hi thanks im a subscriber. When you hold up a disc to the light and see about 1, 2 or 3 tiny see through pin hole size spots that allow the light to pass through the top paper artwork layer, will the game pretty much still be ok to play just fine ? How many tiny pin hole size see through specs might be ok ? 1, 2, 3, etc. ? Thanks. Anybody knowledgeable please reply soon.

[@NerdCrave]

Pin holes can be a sign of disc rot, but often it’s just a manufacturing defect. If it plays I wouldn’t worry too much

[@TheJoEy9090]

Question, I had an xbox original disc that wasnt working so I resurfaced it twice and it still doesnt work, I shined a light on the data side and saw there were a few holes on the label side, does that mean its damaged beyond repair?

[@NerdCrave]

Probably, especially if it’s been resurfaced twice

[@1805movie]

This was actually very informative and helpful. I love physical media and will do anything to preserve them as much as possible. Thank you.

[@NerdCrave]

I’m with ya man! Preserve that media!

[@ms.pirate]

Same here, I'm more afraid of my accounts getting banned (or becoming like PT) so I want to have things physically

[@redking8585]

I'm glad those aren't my discs. I've got a lot of discs still from the 90s and they all work fine when I use them even though I keep hearing people say that discs will deteriorate, the only storage medium dying on me time and time again are harddrives.

[@NerdCrave]

The discs were props. No actual media was harmed!

[@chrissmith-us3bu]

i keep some of my blu rays in a sleeve organizer. do you think they'll be ok?

[@NerdCrave]

As long as the are dry and room temperature yes

[@SadisticFusion]

I have the entire North American Saturn and Dreamcast collection, and my Saturn collection has a dozen out of over 200 to have disc rot, Dreamcast a handful, not bad but still sucks. They all play from beginning to end surprisingly.

[@HourglassPlay]

I've heard that it's something that plagues the Sega consoles particularly - Sega CD, Saturn, and Dreamcast.

[@retrooutput]

I've had this, a copy of 4x4 Evolution had some rouge mould inside the booker which transferred to the disc eating it away with pinholes yet it still plays absolutely fine, I just used a black sharpie pen to blotch in the holes and keep an eye on it but yeah, no glitches or anything. Perhaps Dreamcast games have the data stored further into the disc under the art.

[@Topbeehler]

I actually came here to do research. A friend of mine has been having this problem with Blu-rays of shows we both like, I have them too as part of my collection. But mine are all pretty much mint and still working and theirs keep failing and not reading after just a couple years. I store mine on a shelf in my room, and theirs are in a box in a shed by his house. Guess this kind of explains why he's having trouble and I am not. I'll have to help him move his stuff safely into his house so he can keep his collection nice lol

[@NerdCrave]

There you go!

[@Topbeehler]

@@NerdCrave Yeah thanks for the help! Also inspired me to look at all of my disk to check them and they are all in perfect condition. To be fair I am more a collector, I watch something once or pirate it then buy the blu-ray of it so as not to damage it at all. Needless to say keeping everything is spectacular condition is important to me so again thanks for this info as I was scared what was happening to my friends collection would happen to mind as well

[@mrbat3990]

Do you think its a concern when placing a order during summer or winter with the extreme conditions

[@NerdCrave]

Not likely in the short peek of time it takes to ship an order

[@pentiummmx2294]

Definitely the issue with collecting for disc based consoles (Sega CD, Jaguar CD, Sega Saturn, 3DO, PS1, Dreamcast, etc.) the dreaded disc rot, and the lasers are burning out, nothing ever lasts forever. eventually all those discs you have will just decay and become unreadable. Good thing we have emulation, optical drive emulators, flash cartridges. and preservation needs to be a thing, but i hate that the copyright holders and lawyers think that it is illegal.

[@NerdCrave]

Emulation is the future

[@seanrodrigues8184]

What about game cartridges? Are they more acceptable to preservation or less so?

[@NerdCrave]

Everything has a lifespan, but most cartridges are much more reliable than discs

[@esau93631]

I found this problem with mostly CD-Rs that had the old light blue coating on the bottom that were manufactured in the late 1990s and early 2000s. I had one that I burned in 2000 and I noticed it was getting rot spots outside of the burned area. So I created an .iso file and reburned it in 2020. I still have the original disc. Just looked at it and the rot is accelerating since the last 3 years of reburn. Now anything I want to archive I am using M-DISC which are suppose to last for up to a 1000 years. You do need a special burner (more powerful) to record (burn) onto them but any reader can read the disc. To my knowledge they come in two DVD sizes 4.7GB and 8.5GB and three BD sizes 25GB, 50GB, and 100GB.

[@NerdCrave]

I’ll have to look into those

[@evamaraj6023]

let me add to this, as you were mentioning collectibles. So items generally made from plastic do not like big temperature changes neither aggressive chemicals (that can even be in some cleaning products. And also sun cream or some types of creams you may use for your skin or hands. ) Sadly unlike car parts, they are not produced in mind to withstand big temperature differences and quick temperature changes. Color pigments do not like sun and light in general, but that means mostly UV light. As over time they can become pale if exposed. so that means all those nice covers can get damaged that way. And even some plastic itself can get faster aging or coloration from such exposure. Paper products (for example paper boxes, manuals) on the other hand like normal environment. As too dry room can cause paper to be brittle. And as opposed to that electronics (that includes game cartridges) that loves dry environment and dislikes humidity a lot. So for these combos (game cartridge in a paper box) I guess in general it is better to come closer to the comfty level of electronics, as paper can withstand lack of humidity as long as you do not manipulate it too much.

[@NerdCrave]

Absolutely true!

[@avahomevideo]

Thank you for this video! I brought a Cranberries CD today and the disc was rotten!! .~.

[@NerdCrave]

Nothing worse than rotten fruit!

[@finkitsallover]

Some consoles especially PS3s and PS4s can get extremely hot and I assume that at least some of that reaches the disc when inside, they'll still last ages but I'm curious if this will have a negative effect on the discs

[@NerdCrave]

It’s a good thought actually, I’m going to try an experiment

[@hurricane7727]

That is why both Ps3 and Ps4 say Limit your Play time on the Consoles

[@retrooutput]

It absolutely does effect the discs. We did an experiment at work with this, the games were suffering from scratches in the artwork layer which means we could see light though the discs when held up, we booted COD MW3, it booted fine but we didn't know if this would effect the game later on. I slowly chipped away the artwork with my thumbnail, to the point where the disc was basically silver on both sides, guess what? It still booted fine, so I guess Blu Ray discs must have the data further below the art layer, but I'd wager the machines slot drives cause the art to begin to peel or chip!

[@zacharybecker8228]

ive never really looked for it but some of my wii u games have those tiny pin holes of light i hope they still last for a while

[@davless152000]

Ok so idk if you can answer this for me buti got my fav movie tmnt 1990 bluray and its in the best condition i store it away everyday but i watch it almost everyday its my childhood movie if i keep watching it everyday and alot will the disc stop working even if it gets no scratches or anything?

[@NerdCrave]

Well, yes. Not necessarily from Disc rot, but from wear and tear. BluRays are quite tough, but handling it, and playing it excessively will reduce its lifespan

[@davless152000]

@@NerdCrave Someone told me just the other day even digital wears and tears by just using tje device your streaming from or hard drive your streaming it from that files even ripping a disc goes bad like a file that commands the file to play modems TVs usb players that play anything from a usb I heard it all goes bad backing it up isnt a gaurentee it really sucks we have nothing durable now days

[@dew4915]

So for a typical and well treated DVD/Blu-Ray collection, it's not much of a concern for me?

[@NerdCrave]

The majority of them will last a very long time unless physically damaged

[@_teem_]

very good to know. does this also go for game cartridges?

[@NerdCrave]

Cartridges have their own problems but they are generally more durable than discs

[@matthewgaudet4064]

my nes and snes, and gameboy cartridges are fine except for dead battery for saves.

[@paulconway384]

I only had one case of disc rot, Severin's Eaten Alive. And they weren't interested either.

[@totallynotkhobsessed]

This is really depressing when you think about it. Especially when you realise builds like the sonic X-treme with functioning metal sonic boss fight has not only been lost to time, if it is ever discovered. The disk is probably damaged

[@NerdCrave]

Quite sad

[@fatmanjstyle5306]

My mind is going rampant just trying to save my discs. But none of them have disc rot. I guess my question is, with careful handling and cleaning are all discs just eventually gonna have scratches. Even if it’s small tiny ones. I keep them all in a CD case, vertically, and away from Heat. Are small scratches out of my control?

[@NerdCrave]

Some discs scratch easier than others, BluRay is much harder to scratch than cd and dvd, and recordable DVD’s are notoriously bad but some scratches are inevitable

[@returnofmerenguespersempre6664]

3:13 How are ps1 discs positioned? I have lot of rare ps1 games in super condition...

[@NerdCrave]

PS1 do very well in general. The worst offenders are Sega CD, Sega Saturn, and GameCube, but even those are only a small fraction

[@superj2644]

Disc rot is extremely rare. If you buy pre-owned you can come across it, but odds there's a disc rot disc in your collection is extremely rare

[@NerdCrave]

Exactly

[@nathanthesubzeromangold4615]

I've been having the same problem too for the last 37 years of my life from playing video games and watching movies on DVD home video. Just wastes all my money down the drain. Which means I have to go back out to the store and buy them all over again and I don't have any backups. Are copies.

[@NerdCrave]

Physical media is not perfect

[@RadioWhiz]

We should try to find something to repair the media or something diy or anything

[@kevindobson9732]

All my cds and dvds are getting all musty and I dunno why I keep them in the dark In a cabinet I take good care of them but they all are looking horrible they have this musty coating all over it and I dunno why ? Do you know how to clean cds and dvds properly without damaging it? 😢

[@NerdCrave]

A damp soft cloth or a Lysol wipe handles most discs, just don't use harsh chemicals. Warm water, maybe a drop of sunlight soap, just don't soak them.

[@kevindobson9732]

I used water and gentle dish soap before and this musty stuff just came right back Do you know what causes this musty residue ? I have them stored in a dry place in a cabinet Also noticed a indent ring right in the middle of the disc a perfect circle and I dunno why Any idea what causes this ?

[@NerdCrave]

Hard to say without seeing the discs and the environment. Maybe your house is too humid?

[@kevindobson9732]

It gets hot in the summers like normal but besides that my place is actually pretty dry

[@marcboulware6242]

@@kevindobson9732 Start storing them in your Basement or if you do not have a Basement store them at a Friend's Home.

[@jamms1987]

I got disc rot on my discs of Twin Snakes. For years after the game came out. I would play one disc and have the other in the case and lay the case on top of my Wii. The heat from the Wii made my disc transfer from room temperature to moderate temperature. After watching this video I’m convinced I subjected my discs to disc rot. They both play fine to this day.

[@NerdCrave]

Sometimes you get lucky!

[@UHFStation1]

Well that certainly makes the 200TB Chinese optic disc that is 100 layers thick a possible thing to be concerned with if not assembled right.

[@NerdCrave]

Eventually yes

[@firegalaxy1370]

Hey man I been wanting to buy a Sega Saturn or an original PlayStation but I don’t want disc rot is it worth buying those systems and biting the bullet or no

[@NerdCrave]

Only you can decide if it is worth it, as both systems are getting pretty expensive, bit I wouldn't worry too much about disc rot. The Saturn has a few problems, but it's not across the board. 90% of the games you buy will be fine, and stay fine if you look after them

[@firegalaxy1370]

@@NerdCrave thanks man been debating on buying a Saturn since it’s my only sega console I don’t have but games are so pricey now that why I thought of buying PlayStation since game aren’t as nearly expensive

[@plasticbudgie]

I'd like to point out if discs are cared for places such as Britain if stored correctly tend to have a higher life span. Humid and hot countries seem to be damage more.

[@NerdCrave]

Totally right. I'm in Canada so generally cooler than places like Florida. However I think most people have climate controlled homes, and if your discs simply live where you live, and not in an attic, basement, or shed, I think they will be fine

[@mariospapadoniou7086]

What about discs where the top layer (label) has some scratch marks and/or tares, exposing the top of the disc? I have a PS2 game like this.

[@NerdCrave]

Scratches on the top are basically the kiss of death. With scratches on the bottom, you can often have the disc professionally buffed and it will be good as new, but the information layer is closer to the top of the disc, and damage on the top can often kill it forever

[@mariospapadoniou7086]

@@NerdCrave, does this kiss of death make it an immediate issue or an issue over time? I've had this game for about 12 years and it still works. No damage to the top later has been done, but it is exposed.

[@NerdCrave]

@@mariospapadoniou7086 I just mean it can't really be repaired. If it works, it works you're lucky

[@mariospapadoniou7086]

@@NerdCrave, well, that's a relief. Thank you for your responses. May I ask one more question of you? This same game disc also has another potential issue. The plastic ring in the center of the disc appears to have the glue in between the layers of it discolored. It is yellow-ish. Looks dry. I'm not sure what this means, as this has been there since I purchased it, but will the center of the disc fall apart or is it just a cosmetic thing?

[@NerdCrave]

@@mariospapadoniou7086 I can't tell the future for sure without knowing more, seeing it myself, but I have had discs like that before. I would recommend wiping it with a damp soapy cloth to try and remove the residue, and in extreme cases you can buy little white donut stickers that can seal it up and stiffen the inside ring to help it last longer. I have a copy of harvest moon on the PS2 I had to do this to several years ago, and so far it's been fine

[@juliobro1]

That "poor manufacturing" bit seems to be the one at the core of the problem. I have DVDs with more than 20 years and most are OK, but it's surprisingly frequent that I go..."Hmm, I wanna show my daughter the origin movie of that character, with a soon to be released sequel."..., pick the disc from the rack in my living room, starts fine, and at some point...screws up. It's sooo frustrating, specially when it can't be found streaming at the same quality. And that's a risk with copies, quality. I want that pristine HD look, with a lossless DTS soundtrack, how is that copy made? And what about blu-ray?

[@NerdCrave]

BluRays in general are more durable, but they are also “younger” so we have less of a concept of how age affects them