Paula

Increasingly good question! I've been bailed out a few times at work and at
home because I keep important current stuff on my USB stick. It would be
great to know more about longevity.

I recall seeing something amongst the thousands of email newsletters last
year that suggested USB flash drives are rated for 10,000 read/write
operations. But it was pretty vague, and didn't say if there are differences
between brands. And how do you know the brand of the chips inside - the
brands on the outside are highly variable and even fly by night as these
little gizmos move into the throw away commodity and advertising markets.

I'd like to know what 10,000 r/w cycles means eg if you copy important stuff
to your USB stick and then don't use it for a couple of years. Do they have
to be at least plugged in occasionally? Do you have to refresh the contents
eg by copying elsewhere and back again occasionally?

Also I don't know how susceptible they are to external threat - I assume a
big magnet will hurt, but what about passing electrical currents, heat,
politicians etc?

I do know from personal experience that they will survive a trip through a
full soak rinse wash spin cycle in a washing machine, but the clothes peg
didn't hold it on the line very well. Dried out, it worked.

The biggest threat in my experience is physical loss - they are so small!

Hope this thread turns up something useful.

Glenn

Glenn Sanders MRMA
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