Computer questions

[rickenmetal]

I have a burned CD audio that used to work in my stereo, a bunch of players, but now it only works on the most advanced computer. It does not even work properly on a Pentium I. Do burned CDs degrade in time?

Also, is it possible to connect 2 computers together to access the hard drive on the other one?

[blueflamerick]

Cheap burned cds will degrade over time.

Yes, it's possible to hook up 2 computers to access each other's hard drives. Google "home networking" for about 35,000,000 sites on how to do it.

[beatlefreak]

I've found that burning CDs at faster speeds seems to shorten their life considerably. I now burn all my CDs at 16x, even though my computer will handle up to 52x.

[charlyg]

I only use audio cd's for audio. They cost a touch more, but they ALL work.

[gibsonlp]

Every CD should degrade, even original ones,
The reason is that the aluminum foil used for storing the data gets oxidized with time.
The quality of the media is of course a parameter too.

As for special audio CDs - that's a nice way of getting more money from customers, bits are bits are bits, a good data CD will store audio just fine, the only problem is that Audio is more susceptible to Jitter than data (data has jitter handling algorithms while audio CD will simply "click" on the missing/wrong data)

From personal experience I can recommend Verbatim, basically any Azo disc will do the job, Stay away from Phthalocyanine and Cyanine if you wish to keep your CD for a long time. Phthalocyanine has the potential to be very good as well, however - many cheap companies make cheap Phthalocyanine so it is very hard to tell which one is good.

[charlyg]

I have found that the data cd's will not work in all audio cd players. The newer players may not have an issue, but when I was handing out compilations back in the day (pre 2001), the only ones that I never got a complaint on, were the audio ones. I am just speaking empirically, I haven't looked into the actual technology.

[rickenmetal]

I have had problems even with CDs made only for audio in an older portable player. It works, but sometimes you have to wait 10 or 20 seconds for the track to start.

[rickenmetal]

Actually I got all my CD players to work now, even my early '90s portable.

I simply used eyeglass cleaner on a q-tip to clean the lens. Camera lens solution should work also. Previously I had tried only q-tips without any cleaner and it didn't work.

[johnallg]

Any smokers where you keep these cd players? Interesting.