is there a fool-proof method of storing files forever?
By spoiled311
@spoiled311 (5500)
Philippines
November 1, 2007 6:38pm CST
we had tapes, diskettes, floppy disks, iomega zip drive, now we have cds and dvds. we also have external hard drives and thumb drives, etc.
but my question is, how long will the information stored on these devices last? will they last a lifetime? will the data stored outlive us?
i mean we have gazillions of information, how will we be able to store them for future generations' use? is there a fool-proof method?
i believe cds and dvds have not been proven how long they will last. and they are pretty sensitive too. scratches will diminish their quality and may lead to inaccessible data.
what can you suggest? doing it online? will the cyberspace never crash? not at all?
i think this is something to think about.
1 person likes this
4 responses
@theprogamer (10534)
• United States
4 Nov 07
You can email files to yourself. Also you can have multiple gmail accounts or other accounts if needed. Thats the old way of doing it.
You can use a website like carbonite.com if you want to back things up too online.
You can try storing the DVDs carefully. You can also make 2 or 3 copies of the DVDs in case you feel one will fail.
External drives have varying qualities, but make sure to get one that is a singular hard drive not a double harddrive (most 750 GB, 1 TB and 1.5 TB harddrives are doubles). If one of the harddrives fails then you may get a data recovery issue.
You can also use a thumb drive but remember if you are going to use it for future generation storage, you can't use most of them that often. Just copy the files to the drive and then store the thing away.
Don't use Zip or Jaz drives. Those things are awful and they have even more problems than a DVD/CD ever could.
If you want, maybe get a spare desktop or laptop. Store the files on it, then put it away until you want to retrieve it.
2 people like this
@spoiled311 (5500)
• Philippines
5 Nov 07
"Don't use Zip or Jaz drives. Those things are awful and they have even more problems than a DVD/CD ever could.
If you want, maybe get a spare desktop or laptop. Store the files on it, then put it away until you want to retrieve it. "
hi progamer! what are the problems of zip or jaz drives? if we get like a like spare hard disk, wouldn't it, like you know, rust, if it isn't used?
by the way, your rating has gone down again. i will rate you to help you get up. hehehe
1 person likes this
@theprogamer (10534)
• United States
9 Nov 07
"hi progamer! what are the problems of zip or jaz drives? if we get like a like spare hard disk, wouldn't it, like you know, rust, if it isn't used?"-[/quote]
Zip and Jaz disks are prone to failing, software errors, hardware errors, they also have moving parts that can break/fail. I've read it and I've had it happened myself. They are also not universal like CDs, DVDs, USB port items. One has to have a Zip or Jaz drive to use the disks, they are specific and too many alternative options exist that can counter or surpass these items.
The external harddrives are in a protective shell already, but you can go get a protective case, plastic wrap, even the box and things it came in could work for physically storing them. External harddrives can last quite a bit even if one is not using it often. Some are built for storage and not so much use, others are built for round the clock use. As long as nothing major happens to the internal mechanisms the disk should be fine. I've gotten plenty of years out of my first harddisk, I still use it from time to time today.
"by the way, your rating has gone down again. i will rate you to help you get up. hehehe"-[/quote]
Heh, thanks. I still don't know who is doing it, but I'll keep posting and being on mylot.
@stealthy (8181)
• United States
3 Nov 07
Unfortunately, nothing is forever, not even love, much less file storage or data storage. One can keep transfering what they really want from the old type to the newest type and hope to at least keep up for a while. Even cd's and DVD's have a limited life as do zip drives, etc. Online storage has limitations, also. The site or email provider could go out of business or have massive server failure and all those have file size limits which are at least cumbersome if not prohibitive.
2 people like this
@spoiled311 (5500)
• Philippines
3 Nov 07
i am afraid you are so right stealthy. sigh, i guess we will just have to contend what we have.
do you think that it would be best to have hard copies of everything, like photos and documents?
1 person likes this
@stealthy (8181)
• United States
18 Nov 07
No, not everything, just really special things. I am a packrat and you would not believe how much stuff I have accumulated. I have been trying to get rid of some of it with limited success since it takes a lot of time. So take it from me try to be vey picky about what you think is special.
@varunkrishna007 (1909)
• India
2 Nov 07
I dont think there is a complete fool proof method for file storage every system has its own short comings but hope we will soon find out a near to perfect system
@bryan21764 (277)
• United States
2 Nov 07
Online is the way to go. Well if you don't mind that fact that it would be online and not in your personal storage spot in your house or something. I email important files to my self and store them in a special folder in my email inbox. Any time that I ever need the file I just download it and ta-da there it is. And more importantly is the fact that no matter where I am there is more then likely an internet connection near by. That is why I have my Resume and Portfolio online in my email box. So that if I ever need it I can get it, basically anywhere in the world. That and I figure that if Yahoo's servers are down and or they have lost all the information on there servers then chances are there are a lot larger problems happening in the world at that current time. Also sending pictures that you want to never lose is another good thing about sending your self files/pictures.
2 people like this
@spoiled311 (5500)
• Philippines
3 Nov 07
but emails also have the tendency to bog down. and there is limited space anyway.
1 person likes this
