DC-600/300XL tape cart observation

[Chuck Guzis]

On 26 Apr 2007 at 12:16, M H Stein wrote:

> Aside from the issue of archiving them, is it better to leave them 
> until needed, or should I run them through a retension occasionally 
> to prevent some of the problems mentioned recently? Any special
> conditions for storage?

Well, obviously, a lot depends on the tape formulation itself.  The 
job immediately before this one was a DC-6250 written in 1992.  Went 
without a hitch.  The problem tapes are "Scotch" and were written in 
1986-87 and are nothing but problems.

To me "archiving" is the key.  Copy the things off to another storage 
medium (say, CD-R) and regenerate copies every few years.  It's just 
plain foolish to leave things to the mercy of Father Time.

Cheers,
Chuck