Hard drives / memory sticks
Sep 24th 2019, 6:56 am
#1
Lowering the tone
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2007
Location: Here and there
Posts: 7,345
Hard drives / memory sticks
How long do you think they last?
The question occurred to me last night as I was plugging in a hard drive to save something and I realised I'd bought it in 2004... it's 15 years old!! Likewise I've got USB sticks of similar vintage, some of them still used regularly without any problems.
Most of the stuff on them is properly backed up elsewhere, but in general, how long could one reasonably expect them to last? And aside from the durability, I'm more amazed that 15 year old technology is still perfectly compatible with today's computers.
The question occurred to me last night as I was plugging in a hard drive to save something and I realised I'd bought it in 2004... it's 15 years old!! Likewise I've got USB sticks of similar vintage, some of them still used regularly without any problems.
Most of the stuff on them is properly backed up elsewhere, but in general, how long could one reasonably expect them to last? And aside from the durability, I'm more amazed that 15 year old technology is still perfectly compatible with today's computers.
Sep 24th 2019, 8:38 am
#2
Born again atheist
Joined: Jul 2005
Location: Europe (to be specified).
Posts: 30,259
Re: Hard drives / memory sticks
How long do you think they last?
The question occurred to me last night as I was plugging in a hard drive to save something and I realised I'd bought it in 2004... it's 15 years old!! Likewise I've got USB sticks of similar vintage, some of them still used regularly without any problems.
Most of the stuff on them is properly backed up elsewhere, but in general, how long could one reasonably expect them to last? And aside from the durability, I'm more amazed that 15 year old technology is still perfectly compatible with today's computers.
The question occurred to me last night as I was plugging in a hard drive to save something and I realised I'd bought it in 2004... it's 15 years old!! Likewise I've got USB sticks of similar vintage, some of them still used regularly without any problems.
Most of the stuff on them is properly backed up elsewhere, but in general, how long could one reasonably expect them to last? And aside from the durability, I'm more amazed that 15 year old technology is still perfectly compatible with today's computers.
Sep 24th 2019, 9:11 am
#3
Lowering the tone
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2007
Location: Here and there
Posts: 7,345
Sep 24th 2019, 3:47 pm
#4
BE Forum Addict
Joined: May 2009
Location: Langley, BC
Posts: 1,955
Re: Hard drives / memory sticks
There's no firm rule, but you can use a program like Acronis Drive Monitor to check the health of hard drives which can give you can idea. USB sticks it's more about how many read/writes you do. You can kill a USB stick in a week if you read and write large files to it 24/7.
Sep 24th 2019, 4:26 pm
#5
Tea Drinker
Joined: Nov 2006
Location: Kamloops, BC
Posts: 5,387
Re: Hard drives / memory sticks
How long do you think they last?
The question occurred to me last night as I was plugging in a hard drive to save something and I realised I'd bought it in 2004... it's 15 years old!! Likewise I've got USB sticks of similar vintage, some of them still used regularly without any problems.
Most of the stuff on them is properly backed up elsewhere, but in general, how long could one reasonably expect them to last? And aside from the durability, I'm more amazed that 15 year old technology is still perfectly compatible with today's computers.
The question occurred to me last night as I was plugging in a hard drive to save something and I realised I'd bought it in 2004... it's 15 years old!! Likewise I've got USB sticks of similar vintage, some of them still used regularly without any problems.
Most of the stuff on them is properly backed up elsewhere, but in general, how long could one reasonably expect them to last? And aside from the durability, I'm more amazed that 15 year old technology is still perfectly compatible with today's computers.
Sep 24th 2019, 4:35 pm
#6
Born again atheist
Joined: Jul 2005
Location: Europe (to be specified).
Posts: 30,259
Sep 24th 2019, 6:30 pm
#7
Lowering the tone
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2007
Location: Here and there
Posts: 7,345
Sep 24th 2019, 6:38 pm
#8
Stand-up Philosopher
Joined: Apr 2009
Location: Regina Saskatchewan
Posts: 16,344
Re: Hard drives / memory sticks
Oh goody! I'll try to guess the German.
= creeping senility
= it's a long life, too
= true that, Jimmy
= creeping senility
= it's a long life, too
= true that, Jimmy
