"Any magnetic media is a worse gamble for long term storage than than CDs." At the rate media and technology is evolving, any media is a poor bet for storing more than a few years. I share files on CDR's, but an external hard drive is my choice for backup. They're fast, reliable, very re-writable, and there are some relatively compact ones. FYI: Same topic in a thread in the OT forum, title "Lies! lies! lies!"