Flash drive for back up?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’ve been a bad boy and have not been properly backing up my home computer. I have copies of stuff here and there on CD’s but it’s not organized.

It’s not critical data. The only important thing is about 4 gigs of pictures.

My idea is to just back it up and move it to new computers as I get them. Like I said it’s not a lot of data, so I’m thinking about using a flash drive.

Could I expect the data on a flash to be retained for 4-6 years? And, could you recommend one? Something in the 16gb range?

2

Flash drives are not good backup devices, IMO. They are not stable enough.

3

Yeah, that is a concern. But I’m not looking for real long term back up. I plan on moving the data forward.

How many CD readers will be around 10 years from now?

The other choice is an external USB hard drive. Which may be the way to go for me. But those too will probably be antiquated pretty soon (IMHO).

4

I would burn them to CD. Make several copies and keep them in different places if the pictures are valuable to you.

5

IMO, flashdrives aren’t backups, they’re copies. If you really want a backup that means going to a media designed for long term storage. If all you want are copies, buy a couple of 16G Flash drives (they cost $25, by a few) and copy everything. If one dies you have others.

6

Devices capable of reading CDs should still be standard equipment in 10 years. Both DVD and Blu-Ray drives are backwards compatible with CDs. You’re only in trouble if optical media becomes completely obsolete. To put that in perspective, floppies have been dead for ages, and you can still buy a new 3.5" floppy drive off of New Egg for under $10.

If you’re technically inclined, I’d suggest grabbing a DVD burner (less than $30) and backing up to DVD. 4 gigs of pictures should just about fill up a single DVD-R. That’s convenient enough that you can get away with making 2 or 3 backups just in case one DVD-R dies.

7

Yeah, but like I said, how many CD readers will be around 10 years from now? Or 20 years from now?
I prefer to move the data forward. And move my backups forward to new data storage. A flash is just an intermediate storage. CD’s are a pain in the ass.

How many 3.5 floppies are now gone? Mine are. Remember? 1.2 Mb!!!

Remember 5-1/4”?

Tape reels?

Punch Cards?

All are gone.

Yeah, I’m and old fart approaching 50.
Sorry, I let my response slip for a bit.

8

I think that is what I will do. CD media is going away. Fast. And the typical home computer with a CD drive will be gone in about 7 years. CDs will go the way of the 3.5.

Server class machines will use DVD longer, if for no other reason that the media actually has to be in the hands of those that purchased it for business reasons.

9

No, it isn’t. It’s still got a firm hold on the audio market. MP3 players and digital downloads have cut into that market somewhat, but new cars still come with CD players, and music stores are still filled with CDs. There are countless new, commercial CDs being produced every single day. CDs may have peaked, but they sure aren’t going anywhere soon.

Only technically true in the sense that they’ll have DVD or Blu-Ray players. However, DVD and Blu-Ray players are quite capable of reading CDs.

Brand new 3.5" floppy drive, $7.49 (plus $6 shipping).

This is utter nonsense. Businesses are more interested in license keys or certificates. It’s not unusual for a business to get just one copy of the physical media and enough licenses to cover their use.

Regardless, it’s downright absurd to claim that a typical computer will be unable to read CDs 7 years from now. For that to happen, the current cutting edge media, Blu-Ray, has to be completely obsolete. Not less popular. Not “dying” like you claim CDs are now. Completely obsolete. That ain’t gonna happen.

10

I would disagree that CD’s have a firm hold on the audio market. Personal audio devises do.

I used to think it was cool to have a whole album on my walkman. I now have 408 songs on my PHONE.

CD’s are about to become coasters. In my previous post I gave the technology seven years. I think I was being generous.

11

CDs are definitely old school and CD-DVDs may dissapear as standard equipment on new PCs well before that, but readers for CDs (even if they are CD-DVD-BR multi readers) will be around for well past another 10 years as accessories.

12

Different places outside the residence. If you’re house burns you loose the information.

I bought an external hard drive to back up 4 hard drives and damn if my computers didn’t figure it out and crash in succession just for spite. Do it, do it now.

As soon as my funds allow, I’m going to use an off-site storage service.