A method according to one embodiment includes: deciding to perform a refresh operation on a media cartridge having a tape wrapped around a spool; determining which drive of a plurality of drives is available to perform the refresh operation; causing the media cartridge to be mounted to the available drive; causing the drive to unwrap the tape from the spool of the media cartridge to about an end of the tape; and causing the drive to wrap the tape back onto the spool after the unwrapping, wherein at least some data on the tape is overwritten with new data, and a verification operation is performed using the new data.