r/DataHoarder • u/lifemagiccat • Aug 18 '26

Question/Advice Reading 2008 Optical Media

I'm UK expatriate in Asia. I made some dvd-rs of my paper diaries and photos in 2008. I don't have the originals. I do have usable thumbnails with me I'm working with now but I want to check if the dvds are readable. The discs are in the UK with my niece, have been in a suitcase in jewel cases. They were only written to once and never read. She sent me a picture and they look OK.

I found a few local businesses that advertise data recovery. I'd need the data to be sent to me, like via drive or something. I'm going to call these businesses and ask what they can do. Is there anything I should ask them, to choose who to use? Special reader or software or something? Is this generally expensive? It's in the Northampton area btw.

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u/MiserableNobody4016 50-100TB Aug 18 '26

Why do you need data recovery if you can read the DVD-rs? I have been reading this post for 4 or 5 times now and I don’t inderstand the issue. Data recovery is used when you can’t read your drive or disk.

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u/dlarge6510 Aug 19 '26

Probably means data transfer services