?Locking up your papers/money? | Page 2 | Your stories | Discussion forum

USB Sticks are NOT designed for long-term storage. The only thing that tends to work in their favour is that they often are not used for continuous usage, which serves to extend their life BUT the storage mechanism is not as reliable long-term. Also, because of their physical size and portability, they are more susceptible to physical damage.

Though not USB sticks, my story is that a few years back, with my 3-drive, then expanded to a 4-drive set-up, I had a period of 10 drive failures in only 22 months... 8 of them were HDD failures, and two were drive enclosures electronic failures, so the HDD was salvaged (in other words, even some of the replacement drives failed). Then 2-3 yrs later I had a SSD failure. All my drives were top-end quality drives, different series, models and brands, and not budget drives. What a maddening ride that was.

Though I suffered some data loss due to so many failures in such a short time, thankfully due to my elaborate backup strategy of using mirrored RAIDs, drive-cloning, and version backups, my losses were limited to lesser used and important files.

Bottom line is, you can never have too many backups. And a solid backup strategy should deal with all types of issues: local backups for quick access and recovery of data files and/or system restoration, version backups, that protects against corrupted files, offsite backups (physical and/or cloud-based) protects against fire/flood/theft. Relying on only one type of backup makes the data vulnerable. Cloud-based backups are not foolproof, and should be part of a greater backup strategy.

And so with less reliable USB sticks, a solid backup strategy is important. All this is based on how important or valuable one's files are.

There are some pics/videos that can never be duplicated again. Examples:

1) Your first wedding.
2) Pics of relatives/friends who have passed on.
3) Children when they were children and who are now adults.

It would be terrible to lose these photos/videos forever. The old photos/films seem to last forever. Do you have photos of your parents, grandparents, etc.?
https://stressfulstyle.com/2024/08/28/how-long-do-35mm-last-before-they-expire/

smayer97 said
USB Sticks are NOT designed for long-term storage. The only thing that tends to work in their favour is that they often are not used for continuous usage, which serves to extend their life BUT the storage mechanism is not as reliable long-term. Also, because of their physical size and portability, they are more susceptible to physical damage.

Though not USB sticks, my story is that a few years back, with my 3-drive, then expanded to a 4-drive set-up, I had a period of 10 drive failures in only 22 months... 8 of them were HDD failures, and two were drive enclosures electronic failures, so the HDD was salvaged (in other words, even some of the replacement drives failed). Then 2-3 yrs later I had a SSD failure. All my drives were top-end quality drives, different series, models and brands, and not budget drives. What a maddening ride that was.

Though I suffered some data loss due to so many failures in such a short time, thankfully due to my elaborate backup strategy of using mirrored RAIDs, drive-cloning, and version backups, my losses were limited to lesser used and important files.

Bottom line is, you can never have too many backups. And a solid backup strategy should deal with all types of issues: local backups for quick access and recovery of data files and/or system restoration, version backups, that protects against corrupted files, offsite backups (physical and/or cloud-based) protects against fire/flood/theft. Relying on only one type of backup makes the data vulnerable. Cloud-based backups are not foolproof, and should be part of a greater backup strategy.

And so with less reliable USB sticks, a solid backup strategy is important. All this is based on how important or valuable one's files are.  

Wow! I don't think I've had 5 failures in 25 years ...

pwm said
Funny how HDDs go.
My recently semi-retired Acer desktop everyday PC is still running fine with windows 10 (enrolled in ESU, started at Windows 8) after almost 12 years of daily use with the original Seagate 1TB HDD. I've seen HDDs running 24 X 7 X 365 in my former job in IT that had lasted for over 10 years. I've been a home PC user since the days of 5 1/4" floppy disks (around 1990), and have never had a failure of any kind of storage device. I read a study that said the median time to failure of HDDs in a commercial cloud storage company was ≈ 5 years. I must just be lucky.
That has not deterred me from practicing proper backup procedures of course with multiple backups of critical data on various devices.  

My experience is similar. A Dell Tower purchased Feb 2014 with 2 Seagate 1Tb HDD's. It's been running 24x7x365 since day 1 and currently serving as Video/Music Server plus Home Automation. I actually like it better than my 2020 Dell Tower which has better specs but always ran slower than the old one. At least the 2020 Dell has the required gizmo to support Win 11.

"rarely powered down and re-booted,"

Are you at greater risk of being hacked?

When I'm viewing or updating a file stored on a USB should I make sure to have no browser open or doesn't it matter? I always think if I'm online then somebody could get into my USB so I make sure not to have a browser open at the same time but maybe I made that idea up out of nowhere, I don't know.

I have no financial or other sensitive info on my computer's hard drive so I don't care if the internet can see or get when my browser's open. But I do care that the internet doesn't access what's on my USB when inserted into a port on the computer. So I don't open my browser then.

With most operating systems - notably Windows and Apple - whether a browser is open or not does not affect the net connection! Data you want to keep safe from the internet should be on UNMOUNTED external drives if you do not need them on line.

When not using the internet, DISABLE your internet connection.
When using the internet, UNPLUG or TURN OFF your external drives.

Think about it - updates and torrents, for example, use their web "hooks" even with no browser running.

Another important detail: many documents, including e-books and some software such as spreadsheets, include hooks to "phone home" and report on their status - and whatever else they are snooping on in your system.

Thanks, RetirEd, that answers my question. Unfortunately I have no clue how to sever my internet connection, it just connects automatically every morning when I power on, it seems. I have Windows.

I suppose I could unplug the modem, but then I'd have to wait for the Bell modem to boot up again every time when I want the internet back.

Or I could just hope my lucky streak of the last couple decades keeps on.