Preserving Photos

Preserving photos, both old and new is a "storage" situation!  Any photos you have can be scanned and converted to digital images (.jpg)  These "jpeg's are often on your hard drive as photos, documents, etc.  The best way to store jpeg's is to put them on some other removable media and keep them safely stored.  Most computers have a CD Writer and/or a DVD Writer. A leading technology magazine recently did a study on storage media and this is what they founf - a CD/DVD is more likely to fail in the first thirty days!  It is also more likely have it's surface fail if it is not a "name brand " (like SONY. TDK, Memorex, Fuji, etc.)  In other words - "you get what you pay for!"  If you buy a hundred CD's for $20 with a $20 rebate, you paid nothing so the reliability is not as good!  The technique I've developed over the years is this - If you're thinking about taking images off your hard drive (because of space, time, etc.) make a backup on a CD (Picasa 2.1 does this for you) and put it away for 60 days!  If the CD works after that period of time, then make ANOTHER!  Store both CD's SEPARATELY IN A CD SLEEVE TO PROTECT THE SURFACE!  Preferably store them far apart (like in CA and West Virginia) and away from your computer!  This way, if a Catastrophe happens, you have a BACKUP!