PSA: take some time in 2023 to back up your/your family's CD-Rs (and other recordable media) full of memories you threw into storage 10+ years ago; there's a decent chance they've started to rot!
the tenuously thin layer of dyes/adhesives holding the data *will* break down over time, rapidly so if their environment is uncontrolled, the surface was previously nicked/contaminated, or they were cheap ones to begin with
thanks to error correction, and with the help of free, modern file forensics tools (e.g. PhotoRec/TestDisk) even damaged disks may have recoverable contents. use your OS or a disk imaging tool to save a raw ISO/"master" image ASAP, which you can later mount (or carve) for the files within
cloud storage and USB drives are cheap today (especially in comparison to the size of CDs and JPEGs from the 2000s), and what price would you wish you could pay to get the data back once it's truly lost?
if you don't have a disc drive readily available, they're easy to find with both USB-A and USB-C connectivity. i've had good luck with an Asus ZenDrive U9M (~USD $35) and a Pioneer BDR-XS07UHD (~USD $200). for 99% of discs the $35 one is perfectly adequate
so, don't give up hope if you notice deterioration setting in, but definitely don't put this off either!
@0x56 Sound advice. IMHO, if you don't have 3 copies of the data, you don't have it at all.
I also suffered with an unreadable CD-R due to the full surface adhesive paper label stuck on it. It had started to warp the disc. Careful removal of the label with IPA relieved the bending stress and the disc was readable once more.
vince
John Stringer M5JFS 📡🛰️🔭🌌