How do you protect your CD/DVDs? How to you organize them?

[Locut0s]

Over the years I've bought quite a few spindles of cds and dvds and now probably have close to a thousand or more lying around. Most of them are either sitting stacked in a spindle case or in jewel cases. Unfortunately I also have quite a few just sitting loose around my table and in boxes. In any case they are all tucked away in plastic storage bins, not very accessible. I don't have a reason to use much of them, old pirated software back from when I used to download the stuff (I now use mostly freeware apps), but I do also have a large collection of tv, movies and abandonware games that I'd like to protect and archive. Anyone have any good ideas both on how to protect and how to store that many discs?

 

[daniel1113]

For my discs, I use two types of sleeves, depending on the importance.

For my backups and other crucial discs, I use quality sleeves, such as these: http://www.mmdesign.com/data-storage-sets.htm
Otherwise, I stick with the cheap paper sleeves.

Then, I just store them in boxes, such as these: http://www.sleevetown.com/300images/5STRBXHD.jpg

 

[Brainonska511]

Music CDs sit in their original jewel cases and are in a CD rack.
Game CDs - the few that I still play have been ripped to my computer as ISO files and I used Daemon tools with them. The originals sit in their jewel cases somewhere at home, but I have the CD keys written to a file on my computer
CDs I've made - generally are of the temporary nature and not important. No particular way of storing them.
DVDs I've bought for backup purposes - sit in their original spindle above the other, still blank discs.

 

[Locut0s]

Originally posted by: daniel1113
For my discs, I use two types of sleeves, depending on the importance.

For my backups and other crucial discs, I use quality sleeves, such as these: http://www.mmdesign.com/data-storage-sets.htm
Otherwise, I stick with the cheap paper sleeves.

Then, I just store them in boxes, such as these: http://www.sleevetown.com/300images/5STRBXHD.jpg

Hmm I like those idea's thanks.

 

[Jeff7]

Rip them to an image on the hard drive and keep them in a multi-disc storage sleeve that gets stashed away somewhere, or else in their original cases.

I don't really have too many discs though, so it's not much of an issue.

I'm also a little wary of constantly using expensive CDs - after having an original pressed game-CD explode in a 16x/40x DVD-ROM/CD-ROM drive, I try to give my more expensive discs as little wear as possible, and will generally make a CD-RW copy for regular use. (I just can't bring myself to make regular use of one-time-use CD-R's. It's just so wasteful, and I have an unhealthy love of polycarbonate.)

 

[Locut0s]

Originally posted by: Jeff7
Rip them to an image on the hard drive and keep them in a multi-disc storage sleeve that gets stashed away somewhere, or else in their original cases.

I don't really have too many discs though, so it's not much of an issue.

I'm also a little wary of constantly using expensive CDs - after having an original pressed game-CD explode in a 16x/40x DVD-ROM/CD-ROM drive, I try to give my more expensive discs as little wear as possible, and will generally make a CD-RW copy for regular use. (I just can't bring myself to make regular use of one-time-use CD-R's. It's just so wasteful, and I have an unhealthy love of polycarbonate.)

Yeah that would work nicely for the small number of discs currently in use but I'm looking more for an archival solution for old discs.

For those who rip them to your HD what emulator software do you use? I've stuck with Daemon tools for a long time.

 

[jjones]

Backups and things like that go onto a spindle case. Games, software and such are stored in their original box/jewel case. Movies get slimline jewel cases and are stored in boxes by genre like those boxes daniel1113 linked to. I might move to sleeves instead of jewel cases for the movies because they are beginning to take up too much space.

 

[imported_Imp]

All DVDs in original case. All CDs in original plastic case unless they came in really crappy/"special" cases with paper slots; these go in extra plastic cases. All my stuff is arranged in no order. Maybe by size. I got games beside my DVDs beside my collector's CDs.

 

[KarenMarie]

Stuff I buy is kept in their original jewel cases and in a cabinet.

Stuff I burn is usually kept in a spindle, in the car CD changer or tossed in a pile on the desk's inbox. (<-- terrible, i know)

 

[SludgeFactory]

Spindles, sequentially numbered discs, and a disc cataloger. Picking a cataloger is the hardest part, there seems to be hundreds of them. I've been pretty happy with Advanced File Organizer, the search speed within very large catalogs is impressive, about eleventy billion times better than the program I used to use (cdTree).

 

[HannibalX]

I keep my DVD movies in their original cases. They are organized inside a "wardrobe" type piece of furniture that has seven shelves inside. I have about 1000 DVD movies.

 

[0roo0roo]

cdbank cataloger

 

[oddyager]

They are ripped to my HD and then stored in sleeves and boxed up.