I have a laptop computer and my cd/writer is not working. I cant afford to replace it, so I have been buying the USB flash drives to put my games, photos, music, etc.... on. So if the flash drives do not have very long life spans, does anybody have anything else that you can tell me to use that has a longer lifespan! If anybody has other suggestions, I would appreciate if you would let me know!
Thank You!
2007-01-02 13:03:45 · 6 answers · asked by mommy 1 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Add-ons
Buy an external hard drive for backups. Or burn your files onto CD's, ZIP drive, tape sorage. . .
None are super expensive and relatively safe ways to safeguard your data.
If you don't have any of the peripherals needed to do these backups and decide to buy one, I would do the extra hard drive first, the CD next and the ZIP third. Few people have the capability to read the tape backups anymore so unless you are already set up to do them, don't. All should be about the cost of a few of those USB flash drives so expense shouldn't be the issue.
2007-01-02 13:12:59 · answer #1 · answered by Batty 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hello there,
I bought my first 16 mb usb thumb drive back in 2001 for $150. It worked until after the 5th time it went through the wash machine. That is probably the biggest problem I have with these devices. ME!
I have never had one just die that I hadn't washed, stepped on, ran over with the car, or lost. :( Over the past 6 years now, I have gone throught about 50 USB drives.
Probably the biggest issue I have with using these devices is will they be around and usable in the future? I have about 100 floppy disks that, in some cases, I can not even use anymore.
I suspect that in 10 years or so, there will be a replacement for USB.
They are more reliable than external drives, however, they do not hold as much
Tom
2007-01-02 13:14:11 · answer #2 · answered by Cafetom 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
They have a very long lifespan. You can rely on them to put your important files. But don't missuse or treat it badly. If you're not sure about USB Flash drives, perhaps you would consider using memory cards (MMC or MS) to store your data. But this would require a card reader.
2007-01-02 13:17:28 · answer #3 · answered by BryanB 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
USB should have a very long lifespan. But for safety sake try formatting the storage type from FAT32 to NTFS. I do not remember exactly how but I know it should help. Also try a portable HD
2007-01-02 13:06:22 · answer #4 · answered by jasonkidd5vinsanity15 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Data on flash drives will last a long time. If you are worried about loosing data, always keep another copy somewhere else.
2007-01-02 13:08:40 · answer #5 · answered by jt114881 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
for safety's sake by an external burner.i have been using my pen drive for 1 and a half year and data only get corrupt once.
2007-01-03 06:38:21 · answer #6 · answered by ad2 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋