Have you copied the file from the disc to your local hard drive to see if the file can be read in its entirety?

Word of advice, optical media is not an accepted means of long term backup/archival storage. If you really want to back up any data for long term archival/retrieval, get yourself an external hard drive.

 

Word of advice, optical media is not an accepted means of long term backup/archival storage. If you really want to back up any data for long term archival/retrieval, get yourself an external hard drive.

I agree but I would suggest using Verbatim CD/DVD for archiving ....
and make duplicate copies.
You'll probably have to order them.

You might want to switch to using USB flash or an external HDD for backups.

Do you want to play the DVD in a Blu-Ray player ??

 

I did try to copy that large 9+ gig file, but it never would work. just a perpetual state of the cd drive activity light slowly blinking on and off, but no progress indicated on screen.

 

Sounds like the file wasn't properly burned to the disc, or the disc is damaged and the file cannot be retrieved.

 

Well, I don't believe that's the case, as it only happens with files larger than 1 Gig. I have multiple discs some which have both small and large files on the same disc, and all the small files play fine. Every large file on 6 different discs won't play, I really suspect it's a memory issue and/or the fact that it's only USB 2.0 in this computer, but the drive is 3.0 compatible.

 

I still wouldn't use any optical media for long term data storage. I have a stack of DVD-Rs sitting in my office. The top DVD-R in the stack has significantly changed in color without any direct exposure to sunlight. Optical media requires very specific level of storage and handling to include specific temperature, lighting exposure, moisture, etc. Most people will not go through the lengths to properly store their recordable optical media. Here is a statement from the National Archives about the use of optical media:

https://www.archives.gov/preservation/formats/audio-condition-assessment.html

"Optical media come in two general categories: recordable and pressed. Pressed are generally fairly durable and can last possibly for generations if kept under favorable conditions and handled well. Recordable optical media have widely varying life expectancies. It is not entirely uncommon to have some unreadable discs in less than 1 year. Relying on recordable discs to last for generations is probably not viable. Note however that there are manufacturers creating discs intended for archiving using more inert recording and/or reflective layers. One such new technique uses a "glassy carbon" type recording layer as opposed to organic dyes."

From the above excerpt, there seems to be a newer recordable media type which is meant to be archival grade quality. But you would have to specifically purchase this type of media and I haven't looked into if there are specific drives you have to purchase to use said media or if it'll work on all existing burners out there.

 

Good ... Audio CDs and video DVDs are becoming obsolete and should be authorized
Since the newer TVs are capable of Playing from a USB Flash ...
and new cars can't even read/play Audio CDs anymore.

For the price of the Blank Blu-Rays ... It'll be cheaper in the long run to use a USB external HDD.
Since the price of SSDs are dropping and external power not required ... I think you'll probably be happier using an external SSD.
I'd suggest making your own .. I like my Combination of an Enclosure and a SSD.

The national Archives also found that over the counter CD/DVDs used the lowest cost suppliers .. (not always the same manufacturer thus different test results)

Verbatim specifies the way their made .... check their specs.
I burn several hundred DVDs a year ... Can't remember when I had my last failure.

 

RAM wouldn't effect the ability to copy data from the disc to the HDD.

Test the disc in another computer.

You can also test the disc integrity. I used Nero DiskSpeed ages ago for this, but there are other options ( https://www.raymond.cc/blog/test-cd-or-dvd-readability-by-running-surface-scan-and-file-test/ ).

 

I wouldn't use any flash memory for long term archiving too. There are two issues with flash memory: cell wear and data degradation. Cell wear is inevitable with flash memory whether it is a flash drive or SSD. Depending on the quality and type will dictate how durable the device is. The next issue is data degradation. What this means is if you don't occasionally apply power to said device, the data held in the cells will degrade overtime. Power needs to be applied periodically to maintain the electrons that are held in the cell memory. There has been some recent articles about this because of the wider adoption of flash memory devices.

 

You have THIS Dell OptiPlex 780 Small Form Factor.
It was purchased in February 2010 and came with Windows XP Professional SP3 32-bit.
It has its original Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16 GHz processor and 4 GB of DDR3-1066 RAM.
It appears to no longer have its original NVIDIA GeForce 9300 graphic card.
It appears its original 160 GB hard drive was replaced with a larger capacity model.
It came with a 235W power supply and has USB 2.0 ports.

If you're considering adding more DDR3-1066 RAM to it, another 4 GB will be sufficient.
Maxing it out with 16 GB is a waste of money and won't improve speed or performance.

If you reduce the number of running processes in the startup list and services list, that should improve speed and performance.

Your Dell should be fine for performing basic functions, but it's too old and slow for performing system/graphic-hungry functions.

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They make a special DVD's and Blu-ray disc's called M-Disk that is suppose to last 1000 years, Your burner has to be M-disk capable.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-DISC and Your BW-16D1X-U does M-Disk, https://www.amazon.com/Verbatim-M-D...f=sr_1_3?keywords=Verbatim+M-Disc+BD-R+25GB&qid=1578584937&s=electronics&sr=1-3
What you might want to add a PCIE to USB3 adapter to your computer, I have one in my 9 year old PC's and get much better file transfer to USB flash drives. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FPIMJEW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
P.S. What burn software are you using?

 

yellow1053 hasn't replied back to any of us since December 19th (3 weeks ago), so any further comments and advice from us may be a waste of time.

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