Dear CNET members,
Happy Friday everyone! This week's topic--regarding Ted's question on the life expectancy of external hard drives--drew in a wave of great responses from our members. And I think most of us know that most mechanical things such as computer hard drives won't last forever and will eventually fail. But what about life expectancy? Is there a time frame in which hard drives tend to fail? Are there certain maintenance procedures or care that can be taken to prolong the life of external hard drives? Well, the bad news is that no one can predict when hard drives will fail, but there are some recommended methods that will help prolong the life of hard drives. Even then, those aren't sure bets either. From my experience, I have owned a few external hard drives, some lasting well over six years, and some that crapped out after about a year or two of use. I think it is the luck of the draw, and there is really no way to predict when your hard drive will fail, just like you don't know when your car will break down next. Out of the many responses from our members, most people mention that the life span of your hard drive depends on how much run time it has seen, how it is treated, and what temperatures it is subjected to. But the most important thing that many members have reiterated is how important it is to not depend on one hard drive or source to be your back up data. Use multiple backup media or have more than one backup hard drive to back up the data. In this week's discussion thread we have many great explanations on hard drive life expectancies, ranging from definitions to experiences, and some people even shared how to get the longest life out of your hard drives. So give all of them a read. To start you off I have selected a few featured answers from our members and I hope you learn a lot from them. Thanks everyone for your contributions. Have a fantastic weekend!
Cheers!
- Lee
Got suggestions? Send me an e-mail: messageboards@cnet.com |
I have been using the same 250GB external hard drive for more than five years. I backup quicken files, thousands of photos and a lot of other files to a portable drive several times a year. I would like to know if it has a life expectancy and should I eventually retire it? Are there maintenance procedures that will enable me to prolong the life of these drives or is it just a matter of luck when it goes south? Thanks so much! 
Featured member solutions
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