Looking for 2-up CD label software or template

On Mon, 28 May 2007 12:50:52 -0500, Allen wrote:

Oh, well, I guess I should throw away all the CDs I've put labels on for
the past six plus years, even if every one of them still plays without
any problem. However, I have ruined _unlabeled_ CD-Rs by accidentally
scratching the surface that would have been protected by a label. C'est
la vie.

It has been widely reported that labels can ruin burned CDs, and I
can add personal experience making those reports even wider. 3+ years
ago my brother used labels on some burned CD Audio disks. They all
**** the bed recently. Well, some were worse than others, and some
hadn't showed symptoms yet, but the error rates were through the roof,
it was just a matter of time. I know that his burner/media combination
yielded excellent burn quality, and I know that unlabeled disks
exposed to the exact same conditions are still in excellent shape.
There's absolutely *no* doubt in my mind that the labels killed those
disks.
It's said that something in the adhesive eats through the protective
layer and attacks the underlying data structure. But I'd think that
things would stabilize after a year or two. These disks were well
used, I was thinking maybe the forces on the label from the high
rotation speeds might cause purely mechanical degradation. Especially
since my brother kinda thought that maybe the most used disks showed
the most problems. Then again, I've read accounts of little used disks
that were labeled going bad, while disks stored uoder the exact same
conditions were fine. I think the bit about the adhesive rotting
things must be what is really going on; some label adhesives will rot
your disks, others won't. I've never heard about any standard for a
safe adhesive, so I think putting on labels is a total crapshoot.
Labels shouldn't be a problem for DVDs unless the sucker comes off
and causes damage to drive, etc. The data is in the middle of a DVD,
so if a label gets grungy/whatever it should be possible to find a
solvent that will safely remove the label and clean things up.

--
N

On Wed, 30 May 2007 02:40:38 -0400, Noik wrote:

The data is in the middle of a DVD,
so if a label gets grungy/whatever it should be possible to find a
solvent that will safely remove the label and clean things up.

and, your real important data should be duplicated on more than one
DVD. Thanks for this friendly explanation, Noik.
Never mind DVD's, my hard drive is going, I think. I'll format and
see, but maybe I need a new HD.

Dave

On Wed, 30 May 2007 10:21:00 +0200, Dave wrote:

Never mind DVD's, my hard drive is going, I think. I'll format and
see, but maybe I need a new HD.

Dave

Nope, nothing wrong. Only needed a new Windows installation:-)

Dave

On Wed, 30 May 2007 02:40:38 -0400, Noik wrote:

On Mon, 28 May 2007 12:50:52 -0500, Allen wrote:

Oh, well, I guess I should throw away all the CDs I've put labels on for
the past six plus years, even if every one of them still plays without
any problem. However, I have ruined _unlabeled_ CD-Rs by accidentally
scratching the surface that would have been protected by a label. C'est
la vie.

It has been widely reported that labels can ruin burned CDs, and I
can add personal experience making those reports even wider. 3+ years
ago my brother used labels on some burned CD Audio disks. They all
**** the bed recently. Well, some were worse than others, and some
hadn't showed symptoms yet, but the error rates were through the roof,
it was just a matter of time. I know that his burner/media combination
yielded excellent burn quality, and I know that unlabeled disks
exposed to the exact same conditions are still in excellent shape.
There's absolutely *no* doubt in my mind that the labels killed those
disks.
It's said that something in the adhesive eats through the protective
layer and attacks the underlying data structure. But I'd think that
things would stabilize after a year or two. These disks were well
used, I was thinking maybe the forces on the label from the high
rotation speeds might cause purely mechanical degradation. Especially
since my brother kinda thought that maybe the most used disks showed
the most problems. Then again, I've read accounts of little used disks
that were labeled going bad, while disks stored uoder the exact same
conditions were fine. I think the bit about the adhesive rotting
things must be what is really going on; some label adhesives will rot
your disks, others won't. I've never heard about any standard for a
safe adhesive, so I think putting on labels is a total crapshoot.
Labels shouldn't be a problem for DVDs unless the sucker comes off
and causes damage to drive, etc. The data is in the middle of a DVD,
so if a label gets grungy/whatever it should be possible to find a
solvent that will safely remove the label and clean things up.


Same experience here Noik. Years ago when I got my first CD
burner, I used several different brands of labels. I also used (and
still have) the CD Label Stomper, that accurately places the label on
the CD. After running through several packs of labels,(I guess maybe
100), I began having trouble with the labels bubbling up off of the
CDs, making them unplayable.
I thought that the labels might have been defective, so I threw
them out and bought some new ones (a different brand), and used them.
I even tried using a glue stick to apply extra glue to the CD before
applying the self sticking labels, but they still bubbled up after 6
months
I decided to stop using self sticking labels, because I never
knew if they would stay put after 6 months, especially since I would
give CDs to people as gifts.
At that time, DVD burners were being introduced, and in numerous
articles posted around the Net and in magazines, they strongly advised
against using stick on labels on DVDs, because as another poster
mentioned, they made them unreadable do to unbalancing them.
That was some years ago, and I don't know what the consensus is
today, but I would still think that applies. While you may get away
with using them on DVDs today, I'd rather not take a chance and have
those DVDs become coasters somewhere down the road.

Talker