Don't panic, your VHS tapes aren't rotting away in the loft, ready to greet you as a big pile of plasticky mush, despite what you may have read!

It's in a lot of companys' interests to scare you into transferring your old media to digital formats so they can sell you equipment and services.

However, those tapes are degrading and so are your audio cassettes and old pre-digital camcorder tapes. Most expert advice we have found suggests that tape stock, correctly stored and handled will last about 20-25 years. This means that consumer-owned VHS tapes recorded in the 80's and 90's will, on average, be approaching the end of their life-cycle. Clearly, there is no need to rush to transfer your video, but it may be a good time to start.

In the mean-time, some useful advice on prolonging the life of those tapes: Try to store them in a cool dark dry place, and away from magnetic sources. Don't leave them in the player. Rewind them after use, and store them in their cases to avoid exposure to dust.

And here's some excellent further advice from digitalFAQ.com about tape and disc longevity.