a recent article in Science News reads in part:

"The bottom line: Don't store files on DVDs, I learned, unless you're prepared to dump the disks every three months and create new ones from your original source files.

"CDs will store your digital pix longer - maybe a year.

"Your computer's hard drive: That's the safest place to store digital files that matter. There the bits and bytes that define a snapshot of Mt. Everest, your baby at 6 hours of age, or grandpa's prize-winning radish may survive unscathed for three years or more. I picked up these depressing tidbits from David C. Tarrant of the School of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton, England."

http://sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/33277/title/Science_%2B_the_Public__Family_Snaps_in_Peril