IT Professionals

When It Is Dead, It Is Dead

Posted by on Sep 23, 2008 | 2 Comments

Recently I had someone ask me about getting a USB Flash drive working so they could copy some sort of video file to it. Sounds simple enough, however after awhile it seems like one might consider the possibility that when a drive is not allowing data to be transfered to it, then it may be dead.

Obviously this would need more testing, especially when not dealing with solid state drives like a USB Flash Drive, but the fact is that many portable drivers border on disposable in my opinion.

With this in mind, why do people spend so much time trying to work with a USB Flash drive that clearly demonstrates that it is broken? Based on my own experience, I have found the following reasons to be the most common.

  • Critical data that is already on the drive that needs to be recovered.
  • Lack of funds at the moment to simply rush out to purchase a new one.

Despite those two reasons above, I remain steadfast in saying that if there is no data on a Flash Drive of consequence, stop spending ridiculous amounts of time fooling with it. Just accept the loss and move on. My feeling is if the drive is showing up, seems to be working based on what you see in your device manager (Windows), chances are it is simply a great time to get a new one.

Am I wrong? Should we all spend tremendous amounts of time on something so easily replaceable? Hit the comments, share your thoughts.

  • Eric Solash

    It’s the same as a CD R/W – Floppy disk; it is DISPOSEABLE.. Use them to transfer/carry data NOT as backup or archive,

  • Barry Kirwan

    I am in complete agreement with Eric.
    I have 5 USB Flash drives all of which are dead in the water after only a few weeks use. After trying each in my three computers with the message that the drive could not be read I got the message.
    I swapped over to using SD Cards and then only for transferring data to machines I repair, never for long term storage of any sort.
    For long term use a HDD in an external enclosure is the way to go. For these I always buy HDD with 5 year warranty,
    Flash Drives have a limited life anyway and should only be considered for infrequent use.
    A bit of a waste of money, in my opinion.
    I note that many schools use flash drives for students to transfer homework and the like to their home computers. Poor kids get into a panic when the drive won’t read and think it is their fault.