Old magnetic tapes suffer from chemical and physical degradation. Their recovery often requires special ovens for stabilizing the substrate and manually calibrated reading units to read deformed tracks, in addition to the original backup software to interpret complex sequential data structures.
LTO, DLT, or DAT tapes were the standard for corporate backups for decades and still contain critical information in many organizations. Over the years, the binder that holds the magnetic particles to the plastic substrate degrades, causing the “sticky tape” syndrome where the tape adheres to the heads. Labs use low-temperature ovens to “bake” the tape and temporarily restore its flexibility, allowing reading without damaging the drive. Furthermore, calibrated vintage readers are used to adjust speed and head alignment, and original software (like BackupExec or NetBackup) to decode proprietary formats. This artisanal process manages to rescue data that seemed lost forever.
