I went through this same nightmare a few years ago...discovered that most of my data which had been backed up on CD-Rs was lost.

99% of the blank CDR & DVDR media sold in stores is basically junk and not at all suitable for long-term storage. But there IS quality media available if you know what to look for and search the stores or shop online. I spent a couple of months of my spare time reading threads at

http://club.cdfreaks.com/

and particularly the blank media section

http://club.cdfreaks.com/f33/

and learned how to identify the best blank media (my fav is still an 8X DVD+R YUDEN000-T02 manufactured in Japan by Taiyo Yuden available online under their own brand or in limited supply in a few stores in the US under the Sony brand...though almost all Sony media is now 16X manufactured outside Japan and  is totally different)...how to burn it (different burners burn different media BEST at different burn speeds), how to do quality tests of the burned disc (using something like Nero CD-DVD Speed, for example)...and how to store the burned discs (best in a dark location where temp & humidity don't vary much)...etc, etc...for starters...

I agree that using multiple backup regimens is the wisest choice...however, choosing the highest quality blank media, and optimally burning & storing it will significantly reduce the chance of data loss.

A lot of people will re-run the quality test scans every year or two to look for signs of disc deterioration...if they see anything remarkable, they'll reburn the disc well before any data is lost.

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