Welcome
Thank you for visiting Forever Disks, a documentation and preservation project dedicated to optical storage formats that use a cartridge, caddy, or protective shell rather than an exposed disc.
From magneto-optical and phase-change media to WORM and other specialized formats, these systems were used in consumer, professional, industrial, and archival applications. Their protective enclosures helped shield the media from dust, scratches, and handling damage.
This wiki documents the formats, recording technologies, drives, media, and other hardware needed to identify, read, and write them.
Many of these systems have been out of common use for decades, and much of the knowledge surrounding them has disappeared along with the hardware. Documentation can be scattered, incomplete, or based on the memories of people who worked with these formats when they were current.
Our goal is to bring that knowledge together in one place. There are still plenty of old disks, cartridges, drives, and related equipment waiting to be identified and put back to use — if you know what you're looking at.
Contributions to Forever Disks are currently private, and accounts are invite-only. This may change in the future. If you have corrections, additional drive or media models, manuals, technical documentation, or first-hand knowledge of these systems, see our contribution guidelines to learn how you can help expand the archive please send an email to the founder found on the about page or join the Forever Disks Telegram Channel.
Cover image made with TextStudio.com.