"Shelf life" for a flash/jump stick?

bigred · 12th August 2012, 04:36 PM

Anyone? Did a search and get varying/vague answers, so I guess anecdotal info will do.

The Dark Lord · 12th August 2012, 04:50 PM

I've never had one die on me.

bigred · 12th August 2012, 05:01 PM

For how long?

Plus it may not "die" per se but if a file is corrupted.........

Skeptic Ginger · 12th August 2012, 05:09 PM

I have multiple flash drive backups for important stuff.

The Dark Lord · 12th August 2012, 05:10 PM

Well, I just checked and one that is probably ten years old still works. Can't say that I use it anymore though (much better ones have come along). The longest I've used one is probably about three years.

Ray Brady · 12th August 2012, 05:16 PM

I've got a 32MB Sony MicroVault that's still going strong. I can't remember how long I've had it, but I'd guess around a decade. I wouldn't be surprised if these things kept working until they either fall apart or get lost.

Vermonter · 12th August 2012, 05:17 PM

I think it's more a case of how many read/writes than hardware stability. If kept in a cool, dry place, I imagine the drive could be usable for quite a long time. Eventually it'll wear out, but I don't think many have actually come across a drive dying like that. Most flash drives die to being stepped on or washed.

Alan · 12th August 2012, 05:21 PM

I've had one stop working, perhaps after a year. Another stayed showing up as mounted for only a few seconds and then stop showing up as inserted and then reappear etc etc. That was after a few months.

And looking at it from another angle, I don't trust this Sony one. Plastic around the bit that is inserted broke off, so I wouldn't put it in a USB port anymore as it seems its structure is weakened. So there's the casing to look into as well.
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-USB-Stora.../dp/B0049XHRXC

They don't cost very much, so if you're concerned about losing data the main thing is just to have backups of things you store on them. They should be used to carry information from one place to another more than to store information for long periods, I think.

bigred · 12th August 2012, 05:34 PM

Then what would you use to store things? Keeping in mind I'm not going to spend a ton and it has to be easily obtained/practical/etc?

Alan · 12th August 2012, 05:48 PM

Originally Posted by bigred

Then what would you use to store things? Keeping in mind I'm not going to spend a ton and it has to be easily obtained/practical/etc?

Well, as long as you've got backups, it would be fine to store things on a flash drive.

You can save things on your computer, and on an external hard drive ($50 would probably get you one suitable to your needs) and things that are not private (in case of a security breach) could be uploaded to the internet for free behind a password you have (perhaps just attached to an email that you send yourself, or on Google Drive or Dropbox or SkyDrive or other cloud services).

Brian-M · 12th August 2012, 06:58 PM

Originally Posted by bigred

Then what would you use to store things? Keeping in mind I'm not going to spend a ton and it has to be easily obtained/practical/etc?

How about an archival-quality DVD?

For example: http://delkin.com/c-155603-archive-a...old-dvd-r.html

Supposedly guaranteed for 100 years. But I wonder how anyone would collect on that guarantee? Keep your receipt, and hope that the company is still in business if your grandkids need to collect?

Or just a regular DVD if you only need to keep it for a decade or so before re-copying it to something else. (But in that case, a flash-drive might be acceptable as well.)

NewtonTrino · 12th August 2012, 07:56 PM

I don't trust these things too much. They seem to randomly crap out on me.

Keep multiple copies of anything important. The cloud is hour friend. Personally I use a synology backup up to the cloud.

bigred · 12th August 2012, 08:29 PM

Well this brings out the issue and conflicting opinions/etc I'm seeing and hearing. eg I have heard CDs/DVDs you shouldn't really trust more than a year or 3 (although I've stored stuff longer and been OK so far). I would have thought USB sticks would be more perm.

Brian-M · 12th August 2012, 10:28 PM

Originally Posted by bigred

Well this brings out the issue and conflicting opinions/etc I'm seeing and hearing. eg I have heard CDs/DVDs you shouldn't really trust more than a year or 3 (although I've stored stuff longer and been OK so far). I would have thought USB sticks would be more perm.

Lifespan is significantly affected by the quality of the disk.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD-R#Expected_lifespan

Andrew Wiggin · 12th August 2012, 10:53 PM

Originally Posted by Vermonter

Most flash drives die to being stepped on or washed.

I think they're getting better about water damage. I've had mine go through the wash several times without a problem. I think it helps though that I've let it dry completely before using it. I've heard reports from folks who have plugged it in while still wet to 'check if it works' and have had them fry, so I've always avoided doing that. Also some of the more modern ones are completely encapsulated. I have a 16 GB drive from PNY where the all the actual circuitry fits inside a little chunk of epoxy inside the metal USB shield, and four contacts on the epoxy chunk are the USB contacts (and the only exposed metal on the circuit). The plastic shell is just there as a handle, since without it nothing would stick out of the port on the computer far enough to get a grip on.

OnlyTellsTruths · 13th August 2012, 03:28 AM

Originally Posted by The Dark Lord

I've never had one die on me.

Me neither.

Though if you are using them for storage, I would recommend to copy the data off the stick, format the stick, then copy it back on; about once every 2 to 3 years.

frskeptic · 13th August 2012, 04:20 AM

It depends what you want.
Shelf life if you don't care about the data inside or shelf life if you care about the data.

The flash memory modules inside are usually spec'ed for data retention of 10 years. This is a conservative spec, there is a security coefficient and some flash could probably last more than a hundred years and still have most of the data. But for cheap flash modules, expect data corruption after a few years.
If you care that the memory is still usable after X years, not the data in it, I'm almost 100% positive that most devices, if left unstressed (unplugged), will be usable decades after fabrication. If the packaging is good, if the materials are sufficiently stable. it's highly technology-dependent.

Dancing David · 13th August 2012, 04:20 AM

Originally Posted by bigred

Then what would you use to store things? Keeping in mind I'm not going to spend a ton and it has to be easily obtained/practical/etc?

Multiple flash drives, external HD and DVDs.

The more the merrier, there is also cloud storage as well.

frskeptic · 13th August 2012, 04:22 AM

It depends what you want.
Shelf life if you don't care about the data inside or shelf life if you care about the data.

The flash memory modules inside are usually spec'ed for data retention of 10 years. This is a conservative spec, there is a security coefficient and some flash could probably last more than a hundred years and still have most of the data. But for cheap flash modules, expect data corruption after a few years.
If you care that the memory is still usable after X years, not the data in it, I'm almost 100% positive that most devices, if left unstressed (unplugged), will be usable decades after fabrication. If the packaging is good, if the materials are sufficiently stable. it's highly technology-dependent.

aggle-rithm · 13th August 2012, 05:57 AM

Originally Posted by Vermonter

I think it's more a case of how many read/writes than hardware stability.

If they are like solid-state drives, then each time a bit is written to a physical location on the drive it increases the electrical resistance, making future writes more difficult. Eventually, the resistance is high enough that the location can no longer be written to.

SSD's have a built-in scheme that spreads out the saves so that the same location isn't written to over and over again while much of the space is left unused, which is the way disk drives do it. I'm not sure if the same is true of thumb drives.

Rat · 13th August 2012, 05:59 AM

We back up to DVD, previously CD, at work. People are horrified when they hear this, and we repeatedly get told that writable discs only have a lifetime of around 5 years. Never had one fail yet, and we're not buying "archival quality" discs. Can still read discs from well over a decade without any problems at all, including having to recatalogue whole sets, meaning reading each disc in full over a couple of hundred discs. I'm fairly sure that people who go on about the short lifetime of optical discs are talking about when you leave them unprotected on a window sill.

aggle-rithm · 13th August 2012, 06:14 AM

Originally Posted by Rat

We back up to DVD, previously CD, at work. People are horrified when they hear this, and we repeatedly get told that writable discs only have a lifetime of around 5 years. Never had one fail yet, and we're not buying "archival quality" discs. Can still read discs from well over a decade without any problems at all, including having to recatalogue whole sets, meaning reading each disc in full over a couple of hundred discs. I'm fairly sure that people who go on about the short lifetime of optical discs are talking about when you leave them unprotected on a window sill.

What people don't realize about optical disks is that the surface with the data on it is actually more robust than the other side, the one with the graphics. This is counter-intuitive, but it could explain why they don't last as long as people expect. They take special care with the readable side but consider the more fragile opposite side to be indestructible.

WildCat · 13th August 2012, 06:25 AM

Originally Posted by Rat

We back up to DVD, previously CD, at work. People are horrified when they hear this, and we repeatedly get told that writable discs only have a lifetime of around 5 years. Never had one fail yet, and we're not buying "archival quality" discs. Can still read discs from well over a decade without any problems at all, including having to recatalogue whole sets, meaning reading each disc in full over a couple of hundred discs. I'm fairly sure that people who go on about the short lifetime of optical discs are talking about when you leave them unprotected on a window sill.

Originally Posted by aggle-rithm

What people don't realize about optical disks is that the surface with the data on it is actually more robust than the other side, the one with the graphics. This is counter-intuitive, but it could explain why they don't last as long as people expect. They take special care with the readable side but consider the more fragile opposite side to be indestructible.

This is true, I have a lot of live musi archived in lossless format on CDs and DVDs for 15 years or so, and have never had one fail yet that has been stored in cd/dvd sleeves. But occasionally I'll find a disc that's been in a drawer for who knows how long, not protected in a sleeve, and these have a high failure rate.

I just hope they last long enough to put on a solid state drive when prices for those finally come down! Uploading several terrabytes of data to the cloud really isn't an option.

Bob001 · 13th August 2012, 07:38 AM

Originally Posted by bigred

Well this brings out the issue and conflicting opinions/etc I'm seeing and hearing. eg I have heard CDs/DVDs you shouldn't really trust more than a year or 3 (although I've stored stuff longer and been OK so far). I would have thought USB sticks would be more perm.

Just a question here. Pretty reliable information is probably available somewhere about how long DVDs will last. The DVDs Netflix sends out, for example, are probably used more often and handled more roughly than anything in somebody's home or office. Have they or similar businesses ever released data about how often they have to replace a disk?

Bob001 · 13th August 2012, 07:45 AM

This is from the web site that sells archival DVDs:

Quote:

....Because all Flash memory cards require a periodic surge of electricity to continue working properly over time, this means that leaving your archived card unused for too long can result in permanent data loss that will appear as merely an error when inserted into your PC....

So do flash drives have to be "charged" periodically? What does that actually do?

Brian-M · 13th August 2012, 05:10 PM

Originally Posted by Bob001

So do flash drives have to be "charged" periodically? What does that actually do?

If I understand this correctly, flash drives store data as static charges (which are read via a floating-gate transistor). In theory, the static charge can dissipate over time. A long period of time, such as years or decades.

But simply plugging in the drive wouldn't be enough to refresh the charge. You'd have to re-write the data to refresh it.

geni · 13th August 2012, 05:51 PM

Who cares? If you want to keep data long term you enscribe it on clay tablets. Otherwise just keep copying.

franklinveaux · 13th August 2012, 06:34 PM

Originally Posted by bigred

Well this brings out the issue and conflicting opinions/etc I'm seeing and hearing. eg I have heard CDs/DVDs you shouldn't really trust more than a year or 3 (although I've stored stuff longer and been OK so far). I would have thought USB sticks would be more perm.

Anecdotal information: I started using recordable CD-Rs when they first came out, when the only CD writer you could get was the Kodak PCD 1000 device that was larger than most computers and cost more, too.

That means I have CDs I recorded in 1992, which are still readable today.

BenBurch · 14th August 2012, 11:41 AM

The question is flash memory cell data retention time.

The answer is that it is on the close order of ten years.

DrDave · 16th August 2012, 01:02 AM

Email the files to yourself and let Hotmail worry about it!

12th August 2012, 04:36 PM	#1
bigred Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: USA Posts: 12,537	"Shelf life" for a flash/jump stick? Anyone? Did a search and get varying/vague answers, so I guess anecdotal info will do.

12th August 2012, 04:50 PM	#2
The Dark Lord Suspended Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 1,860	I've never had one die on me.
The Dark Lord Suspended Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 1,860

12th August 2012, 05:09 PM	#4
Skeptic Ginger formerly skeptigirl Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Shifting through paradigms Posts: 40,566	I have multiple flash drive backups for important stuff.
	__________________ (*Tired of continuing to hear the "Democrat Party" repeatedly I've decided to adopt the name, ~~Pubbie Party, Repubs~~ "Republics" and Republic Party in response.)

12th August 2012, 05:10 PM	#5
The Dark Lord Suspended Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 1,860	Well, I just checked and one that is probably ten years old still works. Can't say that I use it anymore though (much better ones have come along). The longest I've used one is probably about three years.
The Dark Lord Suspended Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 1,860

12th August 2012, 05:16 PM	#6
Ray Brady Muse Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 579	I've got a 32MB Sony MicroVault that's still going strong. I can't remember how long I've had it, but I'd guess around a decade. I wouldn't be surprised if these things kept working until they either fall apart or get lost.
Ray Brady Muse Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 579

12th August 2012, 05:01 PM	#3
bigred Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: USA Posts: 12,537	For how long? Plus it may not "die" per se but if a file is corrupted.........

12th August 2012, 05:17 PM	#7
Vermonter Critical Thinker Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 430	I think it's more a case of how many read/writes than hardware stability. If kept in a cool, dry place, I imagine the drive could be usable for quite a long time. Eventually it'll wear out, but I don't think many have actually come across a drive dying like that. Most flash drives die to being stepped on or washed.

12th August 2012, 05:21 PM	#8
Alan Illuminator Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 3,652	I've had one stop working, perhaps after a year. Another stayed showing up as mounted for only a few seconds and then stop showing up as inserted and then reappear etc etc. That was after a few months. And looking at it from another angle, I don't trust this Sony one. Plastic around the bit that is inserted broke off, so I wouldn't put it in a USB port anymore as it seems its structure is weakened. So there's the casing to look into as well. http://www.amazon.com/Sony-USB-Stora.../dp/B0049XHRXC They don't cost very much, so if you're concerned about losing data the main thing is just to have backups of things you store on them. They should be used to carry information from one place to another more than to store information for long periods, I think.
	Last edited by Alan; 12th August 2012 at 05:24 PM.

12th August 2012, 05:34 PM	#9
bigred Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: USA Posts: 12,537	Then what would you use to store things? Keeping in mind I'm not going to spend a ton and it has to be easily obtained/practical/etc?

12th August 2012, 05:48 PM	#10
Alan Illuminator Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 3,652	Originally Posted by bigred Then what would you use to store things? Keeping in mind I'm not going to spend a ton and it has to be easily obtained/practical/etc? Well, as long as you've got backups, it would be fine to store things on a flash drive. You can save things on your computer, and on an external hard drive ($50 would probably get you one suitable to your needs) and things that are not private (in case of a security breach) could be uploaded to the internet for free behind a password you have (perhaps just attached to an email that you send yourself, or on Google Drive or Dropbox or SkyDrive or other cloud services).
	Last edited by Alan; 12th August 2012 at 05:51 PM.

12th August 2012, 06:58 PM	#11
Brian-M Daydreamer Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Downunder Posts: 4,267	Originally Posted by bigred Then what would you use to store things? Keeping in mind I'm not going to spend a ton and it has to be easily obtained/practical/etc? How about an archival-quality DVD? For example: http://delkin.com/c-155603-archive-a...old-dvd-r.html Supposedly guaranteed for 100 years. But I wonder how anyone would collect on that guarantee? Keep your receipt, and hope that the company is still in business if your grandkids need to collect? Or just a regular DVD if you only need to keep it for a decade or so before re-copying it to something else. (But in that case, a flash-drive might be acceptable as well.)
	__________________ "That is just what you feel, that isn't reality." - hamelekim Last edited by Brian-M; 12th August 2012 at 07:02 PM.

12th August 2012, 07:56 PM	#12
NewtonTrino Illuminator Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Bothell, WA Posts: 3,782	I don't trust these things too much. They seem to randomly crap out on me. Keep multiple copies of anything important. The cloud is hour friend. Personally I use a synology backup up to the cloud.

12th August 2012, 08:29 PM	#13
bigred Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: USA Posts: 12,537	Well this brings out the issue and conflicting opinions/etc I'm seeing and hearing. eg I have heard CDs/DVDs you shouldn't really trust more than a year or 3 (although I've stored stuff longer and been OK so far). I would have thought USB sticks would be more perm.

12th August 2012, 10:28 PM	#14
Brian-M Daydreamer Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Downunder Posts: 4,267	Originally Posted by bigred Well this brings out the issue and conflicting opinions/etc I'm seeing and hearing. eg I have heard CDs/DVDs you shouldn't really trust more than a year or 3 (although I've stored stuff longer and been OK so far). I would have thought USB sticks would be more perm. Lifespan is significantly affected by the quality of the disk. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD-R#Expected_lifespan
	__________________ "That is just what you feel, that isn't reality." - hamelekim

12th August 2012, 10:53 PM	#15
Andrew Wiggin Master Poster Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: A small planet named for its dirt. You'll find it filed under 'mostly harmless' Posts: 2,914	Originally Posted by Vermonter Most flash drives die to being stepped on or washed. I think they're getting better about water damage. I've had mine go through the wash several times without a problem. I think it helps though that I've let it dry completely before using it. I've heard reports from folks who have plugged it in while still wet to 'check if it works' and have had them fry, so I've always avoided doing that. Also some of the more modern ones are completely encapsulated. I have a 16 GB drive from PNY where the all the actual circuitry fits inside a little chunk of epoxy inside the metal USB shield, and four contacts on the epoxy chunk are the USB contacts (and the only exposed metal on the circuit). The plastic shell is just there as a handle, since without it nothing would stick out of the port on the computer far enough to get a grip on.
	__________________ "Everyone takes the limits of his own vision for the limits of the world." - Arthur Schopenhauer "New and stirring things are belittled because if they are not belittled, the humiliating question arises, 'Why then are you not taking part in them?' " - H. G. Wells

13th August 2012, 03:28 AM	#16
OnlyTellsTruths Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 5,789	Originally Posted by The Dark Lord I've never had one die on me. Me neither. Though if you are using them for storage, I would recommend to copy the data off the stick, format the stick, then copy it back on; about once every 2 to 3 years.
OnlyTellsTruths Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 5,789	__________________ ________________________

13th August 2012, 04:20 AM	#17
frskeptic Scholar Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 58	It depends what you want. Shelf life if you don't care about the data inside or shelf life if you care about the data. The flash memory modules inside are usually spec'ed for data retention of 10 years. This is a conservative spec, there is a security coefficient and some flash could probably last more than a hundred years and still have most of the data. But for cheap flash modules, expect data corruption after a few years. If you care that the memory is still usable after X years, not the data in it, I'm almost 100% positive that most devices, if left unstressed (unplugged), will be usable decades after fabrication. If the packaging is good, if the materials are sufficiently stable. it's highly technology-dependent.
frskeptic Scholar Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 58

13th August 2012, 04:20 AM	#18
Dancing David Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Central Illinois Posts: 34,708	Originally Posted by bigred Then what would you use to store things? Keeping in mind I'm not going to spend a ton and it has to be easily obtained/practical/etc? Multiple flash drives, external HD and DVDs. The more the merrier, there is also cloud storage as well.
	__________________ Hell, dynamiting fish in a barrel is more challenging. - Ladewig I suspect you are a sandwich, metaphorically speaking. -Donn And a shot rang out. Now Space is doing time... -Ben Burch You built the toilet - don't complain when people crap in it. _Kid Eager

13th August 2012, 04:22 AM	#19
frskeptic Scholar Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 58	It depends what you want. Shelf life if you don't care about the data inside or shelf life if you care about the data. The flash memory modules inside are usually spec'ed for data retention of 10 years. This is a conservative spec, there is a security coefficient and some flash could probably last more than a hundred years and still have most of the data. But for cheap flash modules, expect data corruption after a few years. If you care that the memory is still usable after X years, not the data in it, I'm almost 100% positive that most devices, if left unstressed (unplugged), will be usable decades after fabrication. If the packaging is good, if the materials are sufficiently stable. it's highly technology-dependent.
frskeptic Scholar Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 58

13th August 2012, 05:57 AM	#20
aggle-rithm Ardent Formulist Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 14,150	Originally Posted by Vermonter I think it's more a case of how many read/writes than hardware stability. If they are like solid-state drives, then each time a bit is written to a physical location on the drive it increases the electrical resistance, making future writes more difficult. Eventually, the resistance is high enough that the location can no longer be written to. SSD's have a built-in scheme that spreads out the saves so that the same location isn't written to over and over again while much of the space is left unused, which is the way disk drives do it. I'm not sure if the same is true of thumb drives.
	__________________ To understand recursion, you must first understand recursion. Woo's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be adequately explained by aliens.

13th August 2012, 05:59 AM	#21
Rat Not bored. Never bored. Moderator Join Date: May 2003 Location: Leicester, UK Posts: 7,054	We back up to DVD, previously CD, at work. People are horrified when they hear this, and we repeatedly get told that writable discs only have a lifetime of around 5 years. Never had one fail yet, and we're not buying "archival quality" discs. Can still read discs from well over a decade without any problems at all, including having to recatalogue whole sets, meaning reading each disc in full over a couple of hundred discs. I'm fairly sure that people who go on about the short lifetime of optical discs are talking about when you leave them unprotected on a window sill.
	__________________ "Man muß den Menschen vor allem nach seinen Lastern beurteilen. Tugenden können vorgetäuscht sein. Laster sind echt." - Klaus Kinski UKLS 1988- Sitting on the fence throwing stones at both sides.

13th August 2012, 06:14 AM	#22
aggle-rithm Ardent Formulist Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 14,150	Originally Posted by Rat We back up to DVD, previously CD, at work. People are horrified when they hear this, and we repeatedly get told that writable discs only have a lifetime of around 5 years. Never had one fail yet, and we're not buying "archival quality" discs. Can still read discs from well over a decade without any problems at all, including having to recatalogue whole sets, meaning reading each disc in full over a couple of hundred discs. I'm fairly sure that people who go on about the short lifetime of optical discs are talking about when you leave them unprotected on a window sill. What people don't realize about optical disks is that the surface with the data on it is actually more robust than the other side, the one with the graphics. This is counter-intuitive, but it could explain why they don't last as long as people expect. They take special care with the readable side but consider the more fragile opposite side to be indestructible.
	__________________ To understand recursion, you must first understand recursion. Woo's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be adequately explained by aliens.

13th August 2012, 06:25 AM	#23
WildCat NWO Master Conspirator Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Albany Park, Chicago Posts: 49,019	Originally Posted by Rat We back up to DVD, previously CD, at work. People are horrified when they hear this, and we repeatedly get told that writable discs only have a lifetime of around 5 years. Never had one fail yet, and we're not buying "archival quality" discs. Can still read discs from well over a decade without any problems at all, including having to recatalogue whole sets, meaning reading each disc in full over a couple of hundred discs. I'm fairly sure that people who go on about the short lifetime of optical discs are talking about when you leave them unprotected on a window sill. Originally Posted by aggle-rithm What people don't realize about optical disks is that the surface with the data on it is actually more robust than the other side, the one with the graphics. This is counter-intuitive, but it could explain why they don't last as long as people expect. They take special care with the readable side but consider the more fragile opposite side to be indestructible. This is true, I have a lot of live musi archived in lossless format on CDs and DVDs for 15 years or so, and have never had one fail yet that has been stored in cd/dvd sleeves. But occasionally I'll find a disc that's been in a drawer for who knows how long, not protected in a sleeve, and these have a high failure rate. I just hope they last long enough to put on a solid state drive when prices for those finally come down! Uploading several terrabytes of data to the cloud really isn't an option.

13th August 2012, 07:38 AM	#24
Bob001 Muse Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 882	Originally Posted by bigred Well this brings out the issue and conflicting opinions/etc I'm seeing and hearing. eg I have heard CDs/DVDs you shouldn't really trust more than a year or 3 (although I've stored stuff longer and been OK so far). I would have thought USB sticks would be more perm. Just a question here. Pretty reliable information is probably available somewhere about how long DVDs will last. The DVDs Netflix sends out, for example, are probably used more often and handled more roughly than anything in somebody's home or office. Have they or similar businesses ever released data about how often they have to replace a disk?
Bob001 Muse Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 882

13th August 2012, 07:45 AM	#25
Bob001 Muse Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 882	This is from the web site that sells archival DVDs: Quote: ....Because all Flash memory cards require a periodic surge of electricity to continue working properly over time, this means that leaving your archived card unused for too long can result in permanent data loss that will appear as merely an error when inserted into your PC.... So do flash drives have to be "charged" periodically? What does that actually do?
Bob001 Muse Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 882

13th August 2012, 05:10 PM	#26
Brian-M Daydreamer Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Downunder Posts: 4,267	Originally Posted by Bob001 So do flash drives have to be "charged" periodically? What does that actually do? If I understand this correctly, flash drives store data as static charges (which are read via a floating-gate transistor). In theory, the static charge can dissipate over time. A long period of time, such as years or decades. But simply plugging in the drive wouldn't be enough to refresh the charge. You'd have to re-write the data to refresh it.
	__________________ "That is just what you feel, that isn't reality." - hamelekim

13th August 2012, 05:51 PM	#27
geni Anti-homeopathy illuminati member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: UK Posts: 26,564	Who cares? If you want to keep data long term you enscribe it on clay tablets. Otherwise just keep copying.

13th August 2012, 06:34 PM	#28
franklinveaux Scholar Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Portland, Oregon, USA Posts: 100	Originally Posted by bigred Well this brings out the issue and conflicting opinions/etc I'm seeing and hearing. eg I have heard CDs/DVDs you shouldn't really trust more than a year or 3 (although I've stored stuff longer and been OK so far). I would have thought USB sticks would be more perm. Anecdotal information: I started using recordable CD-Rs when they first came out, when the only CD writer you could get was the Kodak PCD 1000 device that was larger than most computers and cost more, too. That means I have CDs I recorded in 1992, which are still readable today.

14th August 2012, 11:41 AM	#29
BenBurch Gatekeeper of The Left Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: The Universe 35.2 ms ahead of this one. Posts: 32,142	The question is flash memory cell data retention time. The answer is that it is on the close order of ten years.
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16th August 2012, 01:02 AM	#30
DrDave Guest Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Geneva Posts: 3,110	Email the files to yourself and let Hotmail worry about it!