Do bigger files on DVD \ Blueray increase the chance of data loss?

ricardobohner said:

Hi folks,

I was wondering if I burn a big file on a DVD or blueray like a VHD, RAR, ZIP or 7Z would that increase the chance of lossing all the files inside the archive if the DVD \ Blueray gets scratched rather than if I burn the compressed small files directly on the media reslting in only losing a couple of files? Or is that complete nonsense?

If you look at a disk when you burn it you should see how data is written from the inside (at the hole in the middle) out towards the edge. So the more data the more the disk is filled. Thus now your optical surface area is broader and more vulnerable to scratches causing a potential problem. More on that latter. If say you burn only 100MB on a 4.5GB DVD, the data will just be near the center. So you could literally scratch the rest of the disk leaving the inner most part alone and still read from the optical media. I have done this.

As to scratches. That's not too much of an issue, really. The data is burned on the foil. The plastic is just a medium. You could try and buff out optical media so the scratch is minimal then recover data. I knew a guy that sanded one of his CDs with a very fine sand paper to the point the CD was almost paper thin and still played because he sanded down all the scratches. Again, the data is on the foil. The plastic is just a medium to carry the foil... If however you scratch the back of a CD, data is gone. Again, that foil there holds the data.

idgat said:

Totally unnecessary now, including password protected files which can be cracked in a flash (compared with more modern encryption options)

Crack it.

https://mega.nz/file/lVVEhYaa#L941_Z...n8wbZhpN6Xjj-w

You will never right now until daisy chained quantum computers roll out. That's a 7Z encrypted archive using AES256. Other archives may use the same. And yes, archives are still used today. I deal with them on a day by day basis. This website as well as my website allows archive uploads in the form of Zip for reasons... I also deal with the Tar archive and gz archives all the time. So do many others. There's also WIM...

@F22 Simpilot @Haroldan Thanks for more clarification, the idea on using an archive rather than the single files on the optic media is so I can put a password on them for more privacy and security. I have noticed that saving data on optical discs has become more outdateded since with USB Sticks you can carry them arround in your pocket without worring much if they get damaged (unlikely) and the capacity has increased a lot too in the last years.

Also good to know that I shouldn't write on them even on the upper side not where the burning happens, thanks a lot.
Well I still have a blueray burner and spare discs from a tube that I bought a couple of years ago and came with 50 blueray virgin discs. Good to know that this gives protection from an EMP.