I have 3 cdrws that were used to back up photo files several years ago using windows 95 by clicking and dragging. Vista is unable to read the files on these cdrws (says they are corrupted). I have Nero 8 and it cannot read the discs either. How can I recover the files off of these discs? benedetto

You can't, you are pwnt. I've ran into the same thing on some of my older burned stuff, sux but there's really nothing you can do. C2D e6600 @ 3Ghz Asus P5B Deluxe 4GB Corsair DDR2 eVGA 8800GTS 512MB SB X-Fi Fatal1ty 2x WD 500GB SATA HDDs Seagate 750GB SATA HDD Corsair 620HX PSU

Recordable CD-Rs have a life span. Depending on the CD-Rs and who has made them, the life span can be unexpectedly short. CD-R storage is also of paramount importance. The place where you keep your CD-Rs should not be exposed to direct sunlight, CD-R should be stored vertically, etc.. After the life span, you cannot do anything to recover the files on those CD-Rs. To my knowledge it is not the files but the material from which the recordable CD is made that corrupts. Next time, copy from time to time all information on old CD-Rs to new CD-Rs before CD-Rs become corrupt. For your information, gold recordable CD-Rs have a very long life time. Same is true for DVD-Rs, DVD-RW, etc.. Regards SuatCINI