Flash drive or hard drive?

[8thMan]

I need to back up the Word files on my iMac. I work on them regularly and can't afford to lose them. Altogether they can hardly amount to a more than a few gigs, if that. I would normally use an external HDD but flashdrives are a lot more convenient. Are they a reliable back up source?

 

[CanadaRAM]

I need to back up the Word files on my iMac. I work on them regularly and can't afford to lose them. Altogether they can hardly amount to a more than a few gigs, if that. I would normally use an external HDD but flashdrives are a lot more convenient. Are they a reliable back up source?

Like every other storage medium, they are reliable up until the point they fail.

Anything that you need to keep long-term should be backed up onto CD-R or DVD-R. I would be burning a DVD monthly and storing them in a safe place.

Flash is fine for day to day backup. Try to also have the files backed up onto a hard disk. Never trust your data to only one medium.

 

[CalBoy]

Like every other storage medium, they are reliable up until the point they fail.

Anything that you need to keep long-term should be backed up onto CD-R or DVD-R. I would be burning a DVD monthly and storing them in a safe place.

Flash is fine for day to day backup. Try to also have the files backed up onto a hard disk. Never trust your data to only one medium.

^^^ Very good advice. Use your flash drive for everyday back-up, and periodically update your external storage device (if you choose to have one dedicated for just backing-up). With harddrive prices the way they are, you have no excuse to not back-up your most important files (and even the unimportant ones).