External HDD

[Sulaman]

Hi Guys,

I was just wondering what the life expectancy for a external HDD would be.

I bought my computer 2 years ago and both the HDD inside failed about 5 months ago.

I don't want to waste money if the HDD is not going to last a good period of time.

What is the life expectancy for a external drive, and how can I increase it?

Thanks

[Lebowski]

It all depends on how the hard disk is used etc.


If a hard drive is going to go, it's going to go but there are things you can do to stop it happening as quickly such as keeping it defragmented so it's not trying to read different areas too much also get a little more RAM to minimize the amount the operating system will use a swap/page file (This doesn't apply to external because its unlikely you'll be running the os from it or putting a page file on it), but all in all it's not going to make too much difference.

The best thing you can do is get a hard disk with a decent warranty, I believe Seagate offer a 5 year warranty on some of their hard drives. EDIT: Which you could put in an external enclosure

If both of them EDIT: (The internal drives) failed at the same time i recommend looking at other causes such as a bad power supply as it's unlikely for 2 hard drives to fail at the exact same time without something such as poor power regulation being a part of it.

[GaRHaR]

External hard drives are also open to greater chance of being physically damaged due to being knocked, or moved around while on...this would decrease the unit's life...i turn my external off if i'm not using it, or playing a game.

[Sulaman]

Thanks guys,

I guess burning data onto CD/DVD would be the better option since CDs/DVDs can last for long periods of time?

Although this would make a large amount of CDs/DVDs.

[Lebowski]

Originally Posted by Sulaman

Thanks guys,

I guess burning data onto CD/DVD would be the better option since CDs/DVDs can last for long periods of time?

Although this would make a large amount of CDs/DVDs.

It's really not something you should worry too much about, just because your hard drives died (which i think there was something that caused it because its highly unlikely 2 drives will fail at the same time without something influencing it such as power as i said before) doesn't mean others will, or will that quickly.

The best thing you can do is get a drive with a long warranty that way if something does happen you can get a replacement.

But yes, you have a point, backup important data on something other than a hard disk, but you have to remember a CD is probably more likely to get broken/scratched etc.

If the data is important, back up to 2 cd/dvd's, put 1 in a safe or at a friends house in a safe place and keep the other around.

[GaRHaR]

Definately agree with Lebowski.

The biggest problem with backups - especially to CD/DVD is disc rott and scratches.
They're not the best method. If something is important enough to back up, 2 copies is fine...and if it's uber important, i'd check both copies every month or so, just to make sure you can copy the files off the cd and what not...

[Sulaman]

Seems that no option is really secure and reliable is it?

I can't wait till computers have only Flash memory.

But if I take care, maybe a external HDD is a good option.