# How reliable do you consider USB Thumb Drives to be?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-reliable-do-you-consider-usb-thumb-drives-to-be/723512>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [June 26, 2015, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-reliable-do-you-consider-usb-thumb-drives-to-be/723512 "2015-06-26T03:55:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\
**Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-reliable-do-you-consider-usb-thumb-drives-to-be/723512/21 "2015-06-26T22:22:20Z")

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> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> What? **The backup services I’m talking about, like Carbonite or Mozy (which is what I use), have nothing to do with USB flash drives.** They install a small program on your computer that periodically uploads any new or modified files to their data center. You can retrieve individual files. And if you suffer a disaster, presumably there’s a way to get everything back at once. (Perhaps they can send the full backup on DVD?)

So why would you be discussing it in a topic explicitly and entirely about USB flash drives? Complete left turn, apparently.

ETA: I know about backup services. Which is why I was asking about what they have to do with flash drives. Which is the topic of this discussion. Hence my question. I was afraid I was missing the point. Turns out it wasn’t me.

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**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\
**Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-reliable-do-you-consider-usb-thumb-drives-to-be/723512/22 "2015-06-26T22:37:45Z")

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> [@gnoitall](#):
>
> So why would you be discussing it in a topic explicitly and entirely about USB flash drives? Complete left turn, apparently.
> 
> ETA: I know about backup services. Which is why I was asking about what they have to do with flash drives. Which is the topic of this discussion. Hence my question. I was afraid I was missing the point. Turns out it wasn’t me.

Well, the subject of the discussion in the OP is flash drives and backups, since he wants to use USB thumb drives as a backup and is asking if that’s reasonable. Suggesting other reasonable (and easier) methods of backup seems on-topic to me.

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**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\
**Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-reliable-do-you-consider-usb-thumb-drives-to-be/723512/23 "2015-06-26T22:46:40Z")

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> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> I’d recommend an online backup solution like Carbonite or Mozy. The disadvantage is that these services cost money. But the advantage is that they’re automatic.

I’m using Backblaze… Any strong opinions on their reliability and reputation?

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