When I Search internet, people are saying that life span of a hard drive is about 3 to 5 years. I assumed that is for hard drives that are used continuously or at least powered up and running 7/24. I am using my computer only a few hours a day and my hard drives are more than 7 or 8 years old and still running. Should I start to consider to replace them ?
I also have USB drives being used for back up. Once they are filled, they are just sitting on the shelf. Will the data disappear on me ? Should I just copy the data between hard drives once every 2, 3 years so that they are read and re-written to ensure no data lost ? But is copying between old hard drives ( exceed 3 to 5 years old) worth it ? or should I copy the data to new hard drives every 3 to 5 years.
I know one best answer to it is if the data is important, the best is to copy to new hard drives every few years. I am hoping that some one out there can share their experience.
I also have USB drives being used for back up. Once they are filled, they are just sitting on the shelf. Will the data disappear on me ? Should I just copy the data between hard drives once every 2, 3 years so that they are read and re-written to ensure no data lost ? But is copying between old hard drives ( exceed 3 to 5 years old) worth it ? or should I copy the data to new hard drives every 3 to 5 years.
I know one best answer to it is if the data is important, the best is to copy to new hard drives every few years. I am hoping that some one out there can share their experience.