Forum Home
Press F1
 
Thread ID: 71710 2006-08-14 07:15:00 Flash memory and floppy disks reliability taly (5956) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
478423 2006-08-14 07:15:00 Hi there
Is it true that flash memory deterriorates because of frequent use? l am saving a document that I work on couple of times a day. Someone thinks that floppy disks are better choise.
Another question about floppy disks. Are they effected when passed through security check mashine?
Thanks
taly (5956)
478424 2006-08-14 07:22:00 these days floppy disks are not reliable. i've gone through heaps of new floppy disks but the old ones still seem to keep on going. tweak'e (69)
478425 2006-08-14 07:48:00 Floppy disks are not affected by a security scanner, but I agree with tweak'e, that floppy disks are now so unreliable it's not funny. Its not that unusual to have 2 fail out of a box of 10.

This is because so few floppy disks are now used, ony a handful of (low) quality manufacturers are left.

Flash memory does indeed fail with use, and if you do two read/writes a day it will only last about 20 or 30 years. However the floppy would probably die in a week.
godfather (25)
478426 2006-08-14 09:22:00 Well Samsung (www.engadget.com) seems to think flash memory is good. Theyve made a laptop that uses 32GB NAND flash memory.

It doesnt uses any hdd's whatsoever.

And according to the latest Netguide, it promises reading and writing at 53mb a sec.

Only downfall is the sucky CPU.
Speedy Gonzales (78)
478427 2006-08-14 21:34:00 Floppies always did vary depending on manufacturer. I have some Sonys that are excellent. pctek (84)
478428 2006-08-14 21:45:00 Your best bet is to use industry best-practice with your backups, currently you are saving only on the hard drive and one other form of media. I think you should be making regular back ups to multiple removable media.

TIPS:

Back up your file regularly on your PC at least every day, perhaps save it with the date in the filename...this way if one version becomes corrupt you can just go back to yesterday's version...you have lost 1 days' work, not the entire doco.

If your PC has two hard drives, it's useful to save a copy on the other drive, but don't omit the step below...as this doesn't protect you from fire, theft, or overall data corruption on your entire system...

Back up to some form of removable media, CD or DVD recommended, floppy definitely NOT recommended, regularly, once a week at least, the frequency depends on the importance of the document really.

Save a copy of your removable media backups offsite.

Only saving one copy to a USB key or something will not protect you in the event that the PC is stolen with the USB key in it :)
bardin (1950)
478429 2006-08-15 00:01:00 Thanks to everybody!
I do save on second HDD in addition to flash. Some firms offer to save of site, in their systems. Just vrecently seen offer for doctors to keep their records on internet.
taly (5956)
478430 2006-08-15 01:17:00 Floppies are not as good as they used to be; but they don't cost as much. I can remember 5.25" floppies costing $15 each.

I still often use floppies, especially for quick file transfers. But I always do a proper format on them -- with the media test -- and I don't use any which have any bad spots.
Graham L (2)
1