How long does a decent USB stick last?
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I'm thinking about getting one for several purposes, primarily for portable software, some certificates and keys, and a few backups. Since it won't be powered off for more than a few days or weeks and won't experience heavy writing (although I plan to use Veracrypt and that may cause some stress)
How long can I expect it to last? Obviously there will be backups, but I also don't want to lose anything on it as much as possible.
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I'm thinking about getting one for several purposes, primarily for portable software, some certificates and keys, and a few backups. Since it won't be powered off for more than a few days or weeks and won't experience heavy writing (although I plan to use Veracrypt and that may cause some stress)
How long can I expect it to last? Obviously there will be backups, but I also don't want to lose anything on it as much as possible.
How long does a decent USB stick last?
Until you store indecent stuff on it.
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I'm thinking about getting one for several purposes, primarily for portable software, some certificates and keys, and a few backups. Since it won't be powered off for more than a few days or weeks and won't experience heavy writing (although I plan to use Veracrypt and that may cause some stress)
How long can I expect it to last? Obviously there will be backups, but I also don't want to lose anything on it as much as possible.
I've had some for 10 years+.
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I'm thinking about getting one for several purposes, primarily for portable software, some certificates and keys, and a few backups. Since it won't be powered off for more than a few days or weeks and won't experience heavy writing (although I plan to use Veracrypt and that may cause some stress)
How long can I expect it to last? Obviously there will be backups, but I also don't want to lose anything on it as much as possible.
Can be years, but it's as much luck and storage conditions as anything else. Luck being that batch of components not having one tiny error, or the box not being dropped by a guy loading the truck.
Get 2 backups from 2 different high end companies. Store them somewhere cool and dark with little to no moisture, in a static bag. So a ziploc with a silica gel packet in a safe in a basement. Or even in a fake soda can in the back of your fridge.
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I'm thinking about getting one for several purposes, primarily for portable software, some certificates and keys, and a few backups. Since it won't be powered off for more than a few days or weeks and won't experience heavy writing (although I plan to use Veracrypt and that may cause some stress)
How long can I expect it to last? Obviously there will be backups, but I also don't want to lose anything on it as much as possible.
In my experience, they last until you look at the capacity a few years and several changes of use down the line and end up giving to someone for some weird reason with a single MS document filling it up.
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I'm thinking about getting one for several purposes, primarily for portable software, some certificates and keys, and a few backups. Since it won't be powered off for more than a few days or weeks and won't experience heavy writing (although I plan to use Veracrypt and that may cause some stress)
How long can I expect it to last? Obviously there will be backups, but I also don't want to lose anything on it as much as possible.
I’ve quite literally never had one fail even under heavy abuse.
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I'm thinking about getting one for several purposes, primarily for portable software, some certificates and keys, and a few backups. Since it won't be powered off for more than a few days or weeks and won't experience heavy writing (although I plan to use Veracrypt and that may cause some stress)
How long can I expect it to last? Obviously there will be backups, but I also don't want to lose anything on it as much as possible.
I tried several random cheap sticks recently and they all died within a year.
A funny story:
In my second grade at school, I got gifted a 4gb stick for winning something related to IT, it was around 2009. It worked all this time as a distro stick, until my PC couldn't see it anymore. I thought it died, but I tried it a year after and it magically works again now
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In my experience, they last until you look at the capacity a few years and several changes of use down the line and end up giving to someone for some weird reason with a single MS document filling it up.
Losing space due to write errors can be significant, but that's only half a drive failure. Usually still can read the data. So if giving the drive away I would assume even "wiping" the drive won't destroy the data.
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I’ve quite literally never had one fail even under heavy abuse.
I've had several USB sticks that have degraded or failed due to heavy wear, but I'm the type of person that sets up a 8x256gb RAID1 setup for fun. Maybe that's a bit outside of "normal use".
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I'm thinking about getting one for several purposes, primarily for portable software, some certificates and keys, and a few backups. Since it won't be powered off for more than a few days or weeks and won't experience heavy writing (although I plan to use Veracrypt and that may cause some stress)
How long can I expect it to last? Obviously there will be backups, but I also don't want to lose anything on it as much as possible.
Obviously there will be backups, but I also don't want to lose anything on it as much as possible.
Don't rely on a USB stick for that, no matter the brand, at least based on my personal experience.
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Losing space due to write errors can be significant, but that's only half a drive failure. Usually still can read the data. So if giving the drive away I would assume even "wiping" the drive won't destroy the data.
My comment was a (half) joking one on the increase in capacity over time due to technology advance - and the bloat in software. As I recall, the early USB sticks that I had were something like 32mb - useless by todays standards. Meanwhile the increasing size of even blank .docx pages has been remarked on over the years.
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Obviously there will be backups, but I also don't want to lose anything on it as much as possible.
Don't rely on a USB stick for that, no matter the brand, at least based on my personal experience.
I mean there will be backups of said USB drive. Thanks for the input
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I'm thinking about getting one for several purposes, primarily for portable software, some certificates and keys, and a few backups. Since it won't be powered off for more than a few days or weeks and won't experience heavy writing (although I plan to use Veracrypt and that may cause some stress)
How long can I expect it to last? Obviously there will be backups, but I also don't want to lose anything on it as much as possible.
wrote last edited by [email protected]
4GBThe first usb stick I bought more than 15 years ago, still works.
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I'm thinking about getting one for several purposes, primarily for portable software, some certificates and keys, and a few backups. Since it won't be powered off for more than a few days or weeks and won't experience heavy writing (although I plan to use Veracrypt and that may cause some stress)
How long can I expect it to last? Obviously there will be backups, but I also don't want to lose anything on it as much as possible.
I have some 1gb sticks that are about to turn 20 years old.
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I tried several random cheap sticks recently and they all died within a year.
A funny story:
In my second grade at school, I got gifted a 4gb stick for winning something related to IT, it was around 2009. It worked all this time as a distro stick, until my PC couldn't see it anymore. I thought it died, but I tried it a year after and it magically works again nowMaybe some soldering got loose
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4GBThe first usb stick I bought more than 15 years ago, still works.
I have one from ~2004 that still works, a whopping thirty-two megabytes!
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I'm thinking about getting one for several purposes, primarily for portable software, some certificates and keys, and a few backups. Since it won't be powered off for more than a few days or weeks and won't experience heavy writing (although I plan to use Veracrypt and that may cause some stress)
How long can I expect it to last? Obviously there will be backups, but I also don't want to lose anything on it as much as possible.
It's pretty random.
Carried a LaCie IAmAKey on my keychain for 10 years before it died. Probably used it a dozen times.
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I have one from ~2004 that still works, a whopping thirty-two megabytes!
At least me ZIP drives has 100 megabytes of storage
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I have one from ~2004 that still works, a whopping thirty-two megabytes!
I have a 32gb one from 2006. I remember splurging on it because at the time it was definitely like a hundred bucks, maybe a little more. I still have it as well, and it's been in the washer probably twice and still works. Of course, I now have a few free 128gb 3.1 drives that the store microcenter gives out for free once or twice a year. Using a USB 2.0 feels like ancient tech when transferring 20gb or more.
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I'm thinking about getting one for several purposes, primarily for portable software, some certificates and keys, and a few backups. Since it won't be powered off for more than a few days or weeks and won't experience heavy writing (although I plan to use Veracrypt and that may cause some stress)
How long can I expect it to last? Obviously there will be backups, but I also don't want to lose anything on it as much as possible.
As someone who works in IT since 2005 I haven't seen many die. Then again we barely use them so maybe in my life I've handled about 10-15 and seen 2 die. One in spectacular fashion when our department gave us all one since they thought it was a tool that was needed. Every single one of them ended up dying within the year. Just goes to show quality of the product can matter significantly sometimes. Outside that, they are pretty reliable, but I also would trust them the least out of the other options available for storage.
