Your memories/media is/are dying

I'm back! For good this time...how many times have you heard me say that?

This is a topic that isn't so crazy but I don't think people think too much about it or worry like they should.

I am talking about the technology of media and storage. First, the simple...back-up that hard drive.

Hard drives fail. Often! Back it up. I mean everything on your computer that you can't logically recreate. Pictures, video, music and any other files. Back them up! Put them on an external or copy them all to DVD's once a month. You can never back up enough. Make the copies. The drives will fail, the DVD's will scratch or fade and you will get that virus.

Now that that is out of the way, on to the media. I mentioned that your DVD's will fade. And they will. Their shelf life is about 10 years. 10 years!!! I am speaking of the DVD you burned in your computer, not the 3rd season of Seinfeld.

So make a copy of that thing every few years. Get a fresh version and put it away.

More importantly is the memories. There are 2 very important items that I think everyone should focus on as soon as possible, and the company I work for can help.

First is VHS transfers. You don't have that VCR anymore, so why keep those around? Get them on DVD. It is a relatively easy process with the proper equipment. This can obviously not be done to the copywritten movies you bought at Best Buy. I've tried Home Alone and its not happening. It is probably the single reason I keep my VCR.

So take all those great home videos and get them on a convenient DVD. We can do DVD authoring too so there is a menu with all your videos listed. Get them transferred. VHS tapes fade. They degrade and they are actually a huge fire hazard. Those tapes lose quality drastically every year. Save them!

Second and probably most importantly are the hard copy pictures. Those are fading fast and everyone knows is. We can make all those pictures digital and put them on a DVD, CD, or hard drive so you can have them forever and access them easily.

Pictures get damp, tear, wither and fade. They will never be better quality then they are today. Don't let the history fade. Get them scanned into a high resolution digital format.

Take some time and pile all your media together. Then contact me or someone else who can do it. You just want them to be organized properly and it is typically cheaper the more you do, so get them all together at once. Take all the pictures out of frames and label if you need to.

Organize the memories, people. I have seen way too many people bring pictures in that are too far gone.

Once you get your pictures and VHS transferred....Back Them UP!!!

Let me know if you have any questions about this.

At work, we also do Slideshows with those pictures to remember the special ones.

You'll be kicking yourself if you don't do this!