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How do you store digital photos and media? If you’re like me, they’re probably scattered among your PC hard drive, Google Drive, your camera’s memory card, your iPhone, Apple iCloud, Amazon Photos…
I seriously need to get my memory-keeping act together before I lose all of these precious memories I’m trying desperately to keep.
I keep waiting. Waiting until I have a long enough block of time, waiting until I get the photos organized, waiting until the end of the year. Until, until, until…
But in the meantime, my digital photos remain scattered and unprotected. Until now!
The Best Way to Store Digital Photos – That Last!
So, What Is the Best Way to Store Digital Photos?
All of the digital photo storage options and photo storage services can be so overwhelming for those of us who are not professional photographers. With so many options and storage devices, it’s hard to know which storage option is the best for me.
But, I’ve recently discovered the absolute best way to store digital photos and other digital memories: M-DISC.
Now, I’m not talking about simply organizing photos. I’m talking about the best way to make sure they are safe and preserved for years and years to come. And when I say years and years, I mean 1,000 years!
Did you know:
- Hard drives and flash drives are electron-based and don’t retain data long term.
- “…only 50% of hard drives will survive until their 6th birthday.” via FastCompany
- External hard drives and flash drives were only made for sharing and transferring, not long-term archiving.
- Cloud storage services are out of your control and can be pricey with monthly fees.
What makes M-DISC better:
- M-DISCs allow you to “archive” memories and information on a hard disk you can have complete control over.
- M-DISC allows you unlimited photo storage access without an internet connection.
- M-DISC allows unlimited storage access without any extra or ongoing fees (i.e., Amazon Prime Membership, Dropbox).
- M-DISCs hold data for 1,000 years and beyond.
- M-DISC is resistant to sunlight, heat, humidity, and magnetism.
- A single M-DISC offers up to 100 GB of storage space.
- M-DISCs can be written and read by all current Bluray drives.
- M-DISC is the only data storage solution to withstand rigorous testing by the U.S. Department of Defense.
How to Store Photos with M-DISC
Step 1: Choose What to Archive. Choose which information you want to be saved for a lifetime. This won’t be everything; We’re talking about your high-quality photos, special old photos, video, music, and a few important documents.
Step 2: Resist Perfection! Don’t wait until everything is perfect. Forget about organizing and labeling. Just get it archived as is, or you might lose it forever.
Step 3: Access a Disc Writer Drive. If you don’t have a Blu-ray CD and DVD Writer drive already in your desktop/laptop, you can get an external USB Blu-ray Writer on Amazon. M-DISC works in any Blu-ray Writer. Drives are relatively affordable considering how invaluable your photo memories are and that you’ll use it to backup your digital photos regularly in the future.
Step 4: Purchase your M-DISCs. (Sign up for a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime, so you can have your M-DISCs at your door in just a couple days!)
Step 5: Follow the Burning Directions that Come with Your M-DISC and/or Blu-Ray Writer.
Once you’ve followed those easy steps, your memories will be archived for 1,000 years! No internet access necessary to view them them. Just put your M-DISCs in their plastic sleeves and inside your fireproof safe. You can also burn an extra M-DISC to store a backup at another location for extra security. Then, set a reminder on your smartphone calendar to upload new photos and media every six months. No more worries about losing those sweet memories!
How do you store your digital photos? Do you worry about losing them? Join the conversation in the comments below!
Digital Photo Storage Products on Amazon:
Get everything you need to store your digital photos right from Amazon…
98913 Verbatim M-Disc BDXL 100GB 4X with Branded SurfaceLG GP65NB60 8X USB 2.0 Super Multi Ultra Slim Portable DVD Writer Drive +/-RW External Drive with M-DISC Support
Like this Digital Photo Storage Resource? Save It & Share It!
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More Ideas for Making & Keeping Family Memories:
- DIY Painted Stones to Preserve Your Family Vacation Memories
- Birthday Photo Books from Mixbook
- A Summer Time Capsule Printable to Freeze Kids’ Summer Memories
D.F. says
Are you still able to read a ZIP disk? Technology became old over times and supports that seems now to be the best solution, can easily be no more readable in such a long time! My suggestion is:
1) Consider print the pictures and put the inside a picture album, I got pictures taken from my father many years ago, still good, best of all some old slides (but who as a slide scanner in these days)? Quite the same argument for your solution: even In 200 (less than 1000) years ho will have a M-disk reader? In 1000 year will a print be still readable by the human eye?
Lauren says
Hey,
Just came across this article. I had a hard drive crash and needed another option. Thanks for the advice. I did go ahead an bought the discs and drive from your links. I just tried to insert the M-Disc and the drive is just spitting it back out. I checked on the drive on Amazon and it seems it’s only a DVD-CD burner. Did you have the same issue? Did I get the wrong burner? The M-discs say they are blu-ray so I guess I need to buy a burner that can burn blu-rays.
Please let me know your thoughts. Just want to make sure I’m just not reading correctly lol
Thanks,
Lauren
Krissy of B-Inspired Mama says
I’m sorry you’re having trouble, Lauren.
And I appreciate your support here and especially using my affiliate links for your purchases. I’m so sorry if I steered you in the wrong direction with the external drive. I just updated the links with one I’m sure is correct.
It seems M-Disc has backed down on their support. When I worked with them and initially wrote this post recommending M-Disc, they had very helpful information on their site with guides to follow for all of this. Now, I see that is gone. Boo.
I still recommend M-Disc, but I just don’t know the answers to all of the technical questions. Sorry again!
(P.S. Here is a kit that includes M-Discs and a compatible drive: https://amzn.to/2O4HfbM *affiliate link*. You can also click “DRIVE ONLY” under “Style” to select just that drive for purchase.)
Lauren N says
Great thanks!
Thomas Hoven says
M-disks must be burned in an M-disk compatible burner. If it’sa BluRay M-disk the burner must also b blu-ray AND M-disk compliant.
You can read an M-disk in some non-compliant drives.
I don’t see much interest in M-disks nowadays. I sense a risk of it being discontinued. That would be a pity, because it is a good idea.
Marcey Ochoa says
Krista, After you burn everything to the M-disc, can you then go back and reorganize them on the M-disc itself? I have photos everywhere!! Ie. iPhone Cloud, jumpdrives, and pc hard drives. I keep waiting to have the time to combine them, organize them into some sensible way (year taken, occasion, etc), but we already had to pay $500 to restore one crashed hard drive, so now I’m thinking I just need to get them safely stored first…then organized…but can I do all of it on th M-disc??!! Please advise!!
Krissy of B-Inspired Mama says
Oh no! I can’t imagine going through the experience of a crashed hard drive – *hoping I didn’t just jinx myself* – I think your plan to get them all in one safe place first is a great one.
As for your question, I’m thinking no… but I’m not 100% sure. Maybe you could ask on the Amazon product page? https://amzn.to/2A5nzAD (P.S. I’ve updated the post with Amazon affiliate links to make it easier to purchase.)
Eloisa says
I heard that dvds are becoming obsolete. How can the pictures be accessed in the future if they stop making disc burners, discs, and anything compatible with discs? Thank you.
Krissy of B-Inspired Mama says
That’s a valid question, for sure, Eloisa! Here is what MDISC has to say about it…
“Optical Discs have been around since the early 1980’s and you can still read that original CD-ROM on the latest Blu-ray drives. There are also billions of CD’s, DVD’s, and Blu-ray discs with songs, movies, and data on them that millions of people want to be able to use. Just as the continuing market for LPs (Long-playing vinyl records) maintains a now-obsolete technology that was invented in the 1930’s because there are a lot of people who still want it, optical disc drives will be available for a long time to come because of the extraordinary penetration of optical discs into the lives of billions of ordinary people all over the world.”
Hope this helps! 🙂