rot
1. the process of rotting or the state of being rotten
2. something decomposed, disintegrated, or degenerate
4. Pathol any putrefactive decomposition of tissues
5. Vet science a contagious fungal disease of the feet of sheep characterized by inflammation, swelling, a foul-smelling discharge, and lameness
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
rot
[rät] (plant pathology)
Any plant disease characterized by breakdown and decay of plant tissue.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
rot
Decomposition in wood by fungi and other microorganisms; reduces its strength, density, and hardness. Also see
brown rot, white rot.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
bit rot
Bit rot, also called "format rot," is the inability to access digital data because hardware and software do not exist to read the format. For example, files saved on tape cartridges might not be retrievable because the drives are not available. Although computers no longer come with a built-in floppy disk drive, floppies are still readable because an external drive can be plugged into a PC via USB.
The Solution to Digital File Rot
One way to prevent archival bit rot is to be aware of format changes. Whenever a file format is updated, the application that reads it will also be changed. Within a few years of such an occurrence, users should open important documents and save them in the new format. For example, the original .DOC file format created by Microsoft Word in the 1980s became a legacy format after the new .DOCX format debuted in 2007. Because billions of .DOC files exist in the world, Microsoft has continued to support the old format in subsequent versions of Word, at least for now. However, lesser-known applications may not have such extended support. See data fade and software rot.
data fade
The gradual degradation of the bits on storage media that are not in constant use. There is no guarantee that an internal or external drive not accessed for three or more years will retain 100% of its data. Preventative solutions are writing the same data to two or more drives as well as continuous backup to an external service.
Data fade mostly occurs on hard drives, but solid state drives (SSDs) are vulnerable as well. Also called "data rot" and "bit rot," if SSD blocks or disk sectors are not rewritten periodically, the magnetic bits or charged cells may weaken and cause the data to be unreadable.
Magnetic tapes have a similar problem. Because tape is tightly coiled together, the magnetic bits begin to interfere with each other over time. When tape cartridges are archived, they must be recopied periodically. See magnetic tape formats, bit rot and RAID.
data rot
The slow deterioration of storage media until the data are no longer readable. Magnetic media are the most susceptible to data rot as their magnetic orientation deteriorates over time. Even solid state and optical media can decay over time. See bit rot and software rot.
link rot
Invalid hyperlinks on the Web. The more years go by, the more link rot because pages are moved to new locations or deleted. See dead link, 404 error, link consistency and Web rage.
software rot
The gradual decline in performance of an application in the computer. Software rot may manifest as slow execution or erratic behavior. Also called "software erosion," "bit rot" and "code rot," it generally occurs for two reasons. The first is bad software design in which the program's own configuration files can become corrupted after extended use. Deleting such files or re-installing the app may solve the problem. The second reason is incompatibility with the environment. Occasionally, a new version of the operating system can cause existing applications to fail or degrade, in which case upgrading the app, if possible, is typically the only solution.Copyright © 1981-2025 by The Computer Language Company Inc. All Rights reserved. THIS DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher.