March 11, 2026
Burn, baby, burn—then reburn
Tested: How Many Times Can a DVD±RW Be Rewritten? Methodology and Results
DVDs Are Back?! Internet Debates If Rewritable Discs Live Forever or Die Fast
TLDR: A researcher automated round‑the‑clock tests to see how many times a rewritable DVD can be reused, complete with Windows 11 hiccups and clever fixes. Commenters split between nostalgia and a hard warning that longevity—not rewrite count—makes or breaks these discs, especially for anyone trusting them with memories or backups.
A 2026 throwback test asks the question nobody thought we’d revisit: how many times can a rewritable DVD be burned before it taps out? The researcher built a Rube Goldberg–style automation with a Python clicker, Opti Drive Control, and a trusty Lite-On drive to endlessly write, verify, speed-test, and scan discs. When one drive wasn’t enough, a second was added over USB to speed things up—only for Windows 11 quirks to crash the party until someone dropped the “metered connection” tip like a cheat code.
The comments lit up with nostalgia and disbelief. One camp cheers the sheer dedication—“it’s 2026 and we’re still burning plastic frisbees!” Others hit the brakes: the real drama, they say, isn’t how many rewrites you can do, but whether these discs actually last—a dunk on anyone who used them for long-term backups. Meanwhile, a whole new generation admitted they had no idea DVD‑RW even existed, while tinkerers reminisced about “magic discs” they abused as teens to avoid raiding Dad’s DVD stash.
It’s Team Nostalgia vs. Team Reality Check, with a side quest of Windows Update rage and life hacks. No definitive “number” yet—but the vibe is clear: the experiment’s epic, the community’s spicy, and the biggest lesson might be that longevity beats bragging rights on rewrite counts.
Key Points
- •Testing used Opti Drive Control to perform write-verify cycles, transfer rate tests, and quality scans to assess DVD±RW endurance.
- •Manual operation was impractical due to long per-cycle times, so a Python script using pyautogui automated the GUI workflow.
- •Automation challenges included slow UI rendering and Windows theming changes; resolved with delays, alternative button images, and error-recovery steps.
- •A Lite-On iHAS120 6 drive was selected for its jitter-capable error scanning; multiple identical drives were available as backups.
- •To improve throughput, a second iHAS120 6 in a USB 2.0 enclosure on a Windows 11 mini-PC was added and the script was adapted.