how many times can you copy a file without errors?

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You could copy with a verify option if you’re worried. I can’t remember the last time I found a copy error, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t occurred. But I‘ve never seen any file playback problem with thousands of music files being created and copied to my NAS.
 
You are probably more likely to have files suffer bit rot after storage on both optical and hard discs over long periods.
What can one do? I have 12TBs of music files on my server drives. Do you think they will all go to hell after 9 or 10 years?
 
My NAS has has feature for RAID drives (where files are copied across 3 drives in a set, one drive can fail and the data for all files is still available on 2) that checks for disk rot and fixes based on comparing 3 versions of each bit, if one if different it’s changed to match the two the same. Actually my NAS is doing that check now. It auto runs every 3 months and takes about 4 days 24/7 to complete for 12 disc (4 x 3 disc RAIDs)
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-DISCPerhaps -I'm thinking about it...
I have faith in my Japan made TY cd and dvd discs - it’s the hard drives which I need to live off of for the rest of my life. I’m going to eventually sell off a ton of my vinyl and almost all of my CDs and even 5.1 discs when they are all long oop and somewhat desired.

Bit rot is not on my agenda.
 
I have faith in my Japan made TY cd and dvd discs - it’s the hard drives which I need to live off of for the rest of my life. I’m going to eventually sell off a ton of my vinyl and almost all of my CDs and even 5.1 discs when they are all long oop and somewhat desired.

Bit rot is not on my agenda.
Let's all hope it remains the treasure that it is today for a long time to come. :)
 
One of the many useful features of FLAC is that you can easily test the files for corruption. When a FLAC file is created, a checksum is also created and stored. It only "looks at" the music, so changing the metadata will have no effect:

Code:
flac -t SomeFile.flac

is all it takes. To test all files in the same directory:

Code:
flac -t *.flac

Of course, you have to get a bit more creative if you're trying to check an entire library.

To answer the original question, in theory you should be able to copy a file an infinite number of times, assuming that nothing is wrong with the hardware.
 
how many times can you copy a file, wav,dts,etc and not worry about errors?
Infinitely providing your hardware is not faulty. I would imagine that lower level ram, slow speed drives, and such could effect transfers, especially when there is a large amount of date being copied. I copied some large hard drives and found my (older / slower) laptop was not as robust at the task, and I tended to go with my newer better desktop after that.
 
Thanks for the responses.
I'm cleaning up my working drives( I have the original drives put away) and in trying to organize artists or music genre etc I sometimes
have to copy files more than once. I don't want to listen to every one of them, the biggest problem is CD discs go bad after a while.
Strangely I have CD discs that were tests and they have lasted with no problem and yet others that were final have gone bad.
Oh well, it's not like I have anything else to do:(
 
Thanks for the responses.
I'm cleaning up my working drives( I have the original drives put away) and in trying to organize artists or music genre etc I sometimes
have to copy files more than once. I don't want to listen to every one of them, the biggest problem is CD discs go bad after a while.
Strangely I have CD discs that were tests and they have lasted with no problem and yet others that were final have gone bad.
Oh well, it's not like I have anything else to do:(
Your CD-Rs have had some issues or some of your CDs have? My CDs are all fine, I think. A few went bad years ago, but they were known as rotten batch pressings. CD-Rs on the other hand can be very stubborn rippers as the years roll on. I used really good TY Japan and nice cheap ones stored in cool dark rooms so I got really great rips 15 years later, but I am aware of those bad brand failures.
 
I wish they were bad brands, mine too were TY's , stored in a 300-400 discplayer in the house. failure rate is quite severe
Yet I have these TDK cd-rws that play fine same amount of time, who knows?
 
I wish they were bad brands, mine too were TY's , stored in a 300-400 discplayer in the house. failure rate is quite severe
Yet I have these TDK cd-rws that play fine same amount of time, who knows?
Your burner might not have fired them quite right. My Plextor which was the most expensive burner in 1999 would do perfect burns on the cheapest of discs. I think burn quality was high on this brand and it made a difference in longevity too.
 
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