Poll: Reliability of Various Storage Drives

I have had a hard drive fail on me

  • Yes

    Votes: 976 85.1%

  • No

    Votes: 171 14.9%
  • Total voters
    1,147
A

Asgorath

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jul 12, 2004
Messages
1,253
I am conducting a poll to use as data in a speech I am giving. Please answer the following questions. Only answer a question if it applies to you.

1. Have you ever had a hard drive fail on you?

2. Have you ever had a USB Pen fail on you? (if you've used these)

3. Have you ever had an external Hard Drive Fail on you? (if you've used these)

4. Have you ever had a CD-R, DVD-R, or other optical media fail/corrupt on you?

5. Have you ever deleted a file by accident and had it be unrecoverable?

6. Do you have any sort of backup regimen?
 
1. Had a partition on my hard drive mysteriously disappear so I consider it failure, I removed the drive and call it a POS.
 
Please also post if you've never had a drive failure. I am looking for a poll of both sides of the coin.
 
2. Sandisk Cruzer mini 512mb. The thing just kept getting errors for every computer i plugged it into. This was after a year of abuse and being attached to a keychain though.
 
1. I have statistical significance. (I have seen more good and bad drives than IM has in stock today.)
2. Not as of yet.
3. I'll presume you're not only counting USB/Firewire garbage, and include EMCs and NetCraps in yes.
4. Yes. Then I stopped buying the cheapass media that delaminates after 3 months.
5. I don't count; I have forensic recovery tools and backups.
6. DDS3 autochanger and bacula.
 
Please, I need more data. Help a guy out and answer a few questiosn for me.

thanks.
 
1. Have you ever had a hard drive fail on you?
yes
2. Have you ever had a USB Pen fail on you? (if you've used these)
no, do not own one
3. Have you ever had an external Hard Drive Fail on you? (if you've used these)
no
4. Have you ever had a CD-R, DVD-R, or other optical media fail/corrupt on you?
yes
5. Have you ever deleted a file by accident and had it be unrecoverable?
not sure, must not have been important, since i do not remember
6. Do you have any sort of backup regimen?
sorta
 
1. Have you ever had a hard drive fail on you?
Yes, unfortunately. :(

2. Have you ever had a USB Pen fail on you? (if you've used these)
No, I don't own one (but wish I did).

3. Have you ever had an external Hard Drive Fail on you? (if you've used these)
No, don't have that nor planning to.

4. Have you ever had a CD-R, DVD-R, or other optical media fail/corrupt on you?
Hell yes! :mad:

5. Have you ever deleted a file by accident and had it be unrecoverable?
No, never. Restoration saves the day, everytime. :)

6. Do you have any sort of backup regimen?
Yes, of course.
 
1. Have you ever had a hard drive fail on you?
my personal drives no (knock on wood)

2. Have you ever had a USB Pen fail on you? (if you've used these)
no

3. Have you ever had an external Hard Drive Fail on you? (if you've used these)
no

4. Have you ever had a CD-R, DVD-R, or other optical media fail/corrupt on you?
heck ya...and it really sucks

5. Have you ever deleted a file by accident and had it be unrecoverable?
no....ontrack is the bomb

6. Do you have any sort of backup regimen?
oh ya...hdd, dvd, cd's

i work in a repair shop and see hard drives go bad every day....mainly maxtor and seagate oh ya and ibm.
Anything in these 399 hp, dell, etc specials
and the cheap external drives go bad alot. I saw 3 seagates last week and only one would let me get data off of it
 
1. Yes, probably about 10 total now. Not including one's i replace in client's laptops. Then that's about 40+

2. Not yet, only using 3 right now.

3. 5 externals, all have been fine so far. Very little use though.

4. Yes, my likely caused by poor handling on my part.

5. No, I've been able to restore everything from backups.

6.Ohh yes, yes i do..
 
1. Have you ever had a hard drive fail on you?
Nothing I have owned yet so far.

2. Have you ever had a USB Pen fail on you? (if you've used these)
Nope, and I've had my San Cruz Mini 1Gig for about a year almost. And I do make additions to the drive often.

3. Have you ever had an external Hard Drive Fail on you? (if you've used these)
Nope, my USB drive still kicking strong.

4. Have you ever had a CD-R, DVD-R, or other optical media fail/corrupt on you?
Don't really know. I don't use this media often enough mostly stick with the hard drive type storage.

5. Have you ever deleted a file by accident and had it be unrecoverable?
nope

6. Do you have any sort of backup regimen?
I don't back everything up, just my media. So about once a month I back all my music from my laptop hard drive to my external hard drive. Which times a couple of hours to back up, but hell I do that when I go to bed.
 
had a seagate 160gb fail on me the other day, i kept it in a adaptec external box that i got from BB. had a 512 cruzer burn out on me after 5 days of having it when i plugged it into a front USB port on a case. had a raptor start makeing lots of funky sounds and i sent it in for RMA. i had a 40 gig drive "loose" a partition of music and such. sent it in for RMA once i did the "freezer trick" on it.
yes i back up every nite. full system incremental backup onto my maxtor onetouch II with a data varify. and acronis drive image once a month of my C drive. i burn my 4 gigs of setup files onto a DVD. and have my collection of photos on a DVD, my 2nd PC, my laptop.
 
1. Have you ever had a hard drive fail on you?
Have lost 200gb of data because i neglected to defrag the drive, but havent had a physical failure yet.
2. Have you ever had a USB Pen fail on you? (if you've used these)
no
3. Have you ever had an external Hard Drive Fail on you? (if you've used these)
no
4. Have you ever had a CD-R, DVD-R, or other optical media fail/corrupt on you?
Yes, with a couple very old discs - not from scratches either.
5. Have you ever deleted a file by accident and had it be unrecoverable?
No
6. Do you have any sort of backup regimen?
Not till Blu-ray/HD-dvd. Would take way too long to put over half a TB of data on dvds.
 
1. Several. Mainly old Quantums back in the day and Maxtors.

2. Two.

3. Yes, one drive and the firewre ports broke somehow on another drive.

4. Tons, especially back when 2x burners were the fastest around. Maxells and Sony have been the worst offenders.

5. Of course.

6. Yes.
 
1. Yes, several Western Digital drives have died on me. I only buy Seagate now...

2. Yes, but it was a cheap pos. My Corsair one is still going strong.

3. Don't have one.

4. I've gotten a few coasters but the drivers have never just stopped working.

5. No

6. All my important data (aka music collection) is backed up on DVDs.
 
1. Have you ever had a hard drive fail on you? Nope. Always used Western Digital because thats what my Father has liked. Tons from way back in the day starting with 1.6GB upto current. Only reason I've ever retired a drive from my system is because its capcity is to small. The maxtor's in my sig are my first non-WD drives. They seem to be doing pretty well too.

2. Have you ever had a USB Pen fail on you? (if you've used these) No. I've had 3, an M-Systems 16MB, an IBM 32MB, and a Lexar 1GB.

3. Have you ever had an external Hard Drive Fail on you? (if you've used these) Never owned any.

4. Have you ever had a CD-R, DVD-R, or other optical media fail/corrupt on you? Hell YES! Nightmarish experiences with Office Depot, Verbatim, and Maxell brands becoming corrupt over time, 6months to over a year. All my optical media is kept in large 100CD+ capactiy folders and stored in my closet. Most of it stores digital video, I have managed to recover some by doing raw data extraction and then using tools to remake the files. Sometimes I've bene able to notice the gaps and cut outs in the media, sometimes I can't. And then others can't be recovered at all.

5. Have you ever deleted a file by accident and had it be unrecoverable? No.

6. Do you have any sort of backup regimen?I have 2 sets of hardrives in mirror RAID arrays, and after each school semester I backup all my documents to disc. I use Fuji branded TY discs now. Hopfully they last better than others but I'm not counting on it.
 
1. Have you ever had a hard drive fail on you?
yes
4. Have you ever had a CD-R, DVD-R, or other optical media fail/corrupt on you?
yes
5. Have you ever deleted a file by accident and had it be unrecoverable?
yes
6. Do you have any sort of backup regimen?
no

This poll is a little lopsided though. Harddrives will die. If you run a drive long enough it will die. Some sooner than others. If you're on a constant upgrade cycle you may never see a drive die but that doesn't mean it won't.
 
1. yes, 3 drives: very old seagate 2,5gb hdd, failed after major psu failure (strange thing is that it died not exactly after psu, but after transfering this drive to another computer and taking it back to the old one), 20gb seagate 5400 rpm, dead after major psu failure, 20gb ibm 7200rpm, shit hit the fan when i was playing diablo 2.
2. no.
3. no - never used one.
4. yes, mostly cheap cd-r's and dvd+r's which were just unreadable.
5. yes, shift-del on a directory with some mp3's. tried to recover it with some recovering software but it was corrupted.
6. yes, if making regular norton ghost images of drives (especially one important drive) counts.
 
1. Have you ever had a hard drive fail on you?
YES
2. Have you ever had a USB Pen fail on you? (if you've used these)
NO but have had it show that it had less memory then it should .. just had to reformat it
3. Have you ever had an external Hard Drive Fail on you? (if you've used these)
no
4. Have you ever had a CD-R, DVD-R, or other optical media fail/corrupt on you?
no
5. Have you ever deleted a file by accident and had it be unrecoverable?
yes
6. Do you have any sort of backup regimen?
yes
 
Lost a WD800JB last week (It was 3.5 years old). For backup, I just have Windows make a backup on one of my storage drives.
 
1. Have you ever had a hard drive fail on you?
yes
2. Have you ever had a USB Pen fail on you? (if you've used these)
n/a
3. Have you ever had an external Hard Drive Fail on you? (if you've used these)
not yet
4. Have you ever had a CD-R, DVD-R, or other optical media fail/corrupt on you?
yes, multiple times
5. Have you ever deleted a file by accident and had it be unrecoverable?
no
6. Do you have any sort of backup regimen?
in a manner of speaking
 
1. Have you ever had a hard drive fail on you?

not one Ive bought new

2. Have you ever had a USB Pen fail on you? (if you've used these)

no

3. Have you ever had an external Hard Drive Fail on you? (if you've used these)

never used one, they fail alot :p
(get bumped and moved when they shouldnt)

4. Have you ever had a CD-R, DVD-R, or other optical media fail/corrupt on you?

@#@!@#@!!#$$##$$#@@!!!!!
(translation: mere days after the warranty expired)
EDIT > missed media, yeh that too

5. Have you ever deleted a file by accident and had it be unrecoverable?

No, however I wrote off 2 whole RAID arrays, first because it was an onboard controller and the board died, second because there are 720 possible permutations for connecting a 6 channel array :p

6. Do you have any sort of backup regimen?

Multiple RAID 5 arrays, multiple locations of files on computsers on different house circuits, multiple copies of hard media backup (regularly checksummed) and hardcopies (paper), Id still feel more comfortable with offsite backup as well, but can't justify it
 
1. Have you ever had a hard drive fail on you?
Deathstar and quite a few WD 27gb drives. Like 11.
2. Have you ever had a USB Pen fail on you? (if you've used these)
No
3. Have you ever had an external Hard Drive Fail on you? (if you've used these)
N/A
4. Have you ever had a CD-R, DVD-R, or other optical media fail/corrupt on you?
DVD-ROM, slot load, I think I crushed it. 17" monitor on it didn't help. :(
5. Have you ever deleted a file by accident and had it be unrecoverable?
Have never tried to recover things. Usually I don't delete things unless I'm real sure, and if I need them back I write them off and create/download it again.
6. Do you have any sort of backup regimen?
Ice Czar said:
Multiple RAID 5 arrays, multiple locations of files on computsers on different house circuits, multiple copies of hard media backup (regularly checksummed) and hardcopies (paper), Id still feel more comfortable with offsite backup as well, but can't justify it
Click to expand...
What he said, almost. No hardcopies, and I am the offsite backup for my house. Oh, and my comps are on UPSes too to hopefully prevent power-loss-induced corruption.

 
I wish all my boxes where on UPSs
but alas I dont have enough to go around :p
(they are all surge protected however and with good PSUs)

Had I not been investing in the [H]igh Altitude Lab, and placing alot of that equipment on the UPSs I have, Id be at full coverage.
 
1. NO

2. NO

3. NO

4. Yes, DVD-ROM (Pioneer SCSI slotload), CD-RW (Yamaha 8X SCSI) - (both died)

5. Not sure, can't remember

6. Store all my data on a NAS running RAID 5, (my documents are on DVD+R and I keep more than 1 copy of those)
 
1. Have you ever had a hard drive fail on you?

Yes. The circuit board shorted out while in the middle of a game.

2. Have you ever had a USB Pen fail on you? (if you've used these)

No

3. Have you ever had an external Hard Drive Fail on you? (if you've used these)

No

4. Have you ever had a CD-R, DVD-R, or other optical media fail/corrupt on you?

Media, yes. Drives, yes.

5. Have you ever deleted a file by accident and had it be unrecoverable?

None of consequence

6. Do you have any sort of backup regimen?

No, guess I still havent learned
 
1. Have you ever had a hard drive fail on you?
Yes, After 8 years of use. The top came loose. Makes a really nice loud noise that scared the shit out of me.
2. Have you ever had a USB Pen fail on you? (if you've used these)
No(had one for 3 years now)
3. Have you ever had an external Hard Drive Fail on you? (if you've used these)
Dont own one
4. Have you ever had a CD-R, DVD-R, or other optical media fail/corrupt on you?
Nope. I have never had any optical media fail and have owned for 10 years all kinds of optical devices.
5. Have you ever deleted a file by accident and had it be unrecoverable?
No
6. Do you have any sort of backup regimen?
Yes and no. I got 2 hard drives and put everything importent on the hard drive with no OS. Every time my computer gets screwed by a virus it only effects the drive with OS on it.
 
1. Have you ever had a hard drive fail on you?
Yes

2. Have you ever had a USB Pen fail on you? (if you've used these)
No

3. Have you ever had an external Hard Drive Fail on you? (if you've used these)
N/A

4. Have you ever had a CD-R, DVD-R, or other optical media fail/corrupt on you?
Yes, scratched to hell.

5. Have you ever deleted a file by accident and had it be unrecoverable?
No

6. Do you have any sort of backup regimen?
Yes, spare HD that I copy the good stuff to.
 
1. Have you ever had a hard drive fail on you?

Yes

2. Have you ever had a USB Pen fail on you? (if you've used these)
No

3. Have you ever had an external Hard Drive Fail on you? (if you've used these)

4. Have you ever had a CD-R, DVD-R, or other optical media fail/corrupt on you?
Yes

5. Have you ever deleted a file by accident and had it be unrecoverable?
Yes

6. Do you have any sort of backup regimen?
Yes
 
1. Have you ever had a hard drive fail on you?
No

2. Have you ever had a USB Pen fail on you? (if you've used these)
No

3. Have you ever had an external Hard Drive Fail on you? (if you've used these)

4. Have you ever had a CD-R, DVD-R, or other optical media fail/corrupt on you?
Yes. Oh god yes....

5. Have you ever deleted a file by accident and had it be unrecoverable?
Yes =*(

6. Do you have any sort of backup regimen?
No
 
Asgorath said:
I am conducting a poll to use as data in a speech I am giving. Please answer the following questions. Only answer a question if it applies to you.

1. Have you ever had a hard drive fail on you?

2. Have you ever had a USB Pen fail on you? (if you've used these)

3. Have you ever had an external Hard Drive Fail on you? (if you've used these)

4. Have you ever had a CD-R, DVD-R, or other optical media fail/corrupt on you?

5. Have you ever deleted a file by accident and had it be unrecoverable?

6. Do you have any sort of backup regimen?
Click to expand...



1. Yes, I have had MANY fail on me...Even though they had failed i was able to get 90% of the data back by doing a board swap on the HD's. (only works somtimes)

2. Yes, I have had 3 die on me within a year..I just use them alot.

3. Yes, I have 4 External USB Laptop HD's i use for day to day transfer of data between work and home. I had to replace 2 HD's about a month ago..(donno why they died to this day)

4. Yes, I donno why...but they just die...easy to replace as they are cheap. This goes for both DVD/CD burners and ROM's

5. Yes, MANY TIMES LOL!!!!

6. Yes, I have a 2TB Raid5 File server with a 7 tape backup libary. (i get the old shit from work :D ) I also back my machines nightly. All my servers also have 2x 3000VA UPS's to keep them alive if power goes out... :D
 
1. Have you ever had a hard drive fail on you?
Yes, many

2. Have you ever had a USB Pen fail on you? (if you've used these)
No

3. Have you ever had an external Hard Drive Fail on you? (if you've used these)
Yes, a Maxtor

4. Have you ever had a CD-R, DVD-R, or other optical media fail/corrupt on you?
Yes

5. Have you ever deleted a file by accident and had it be unrecoverable?
No. I rarely try to recover stuff I've deleted, even if by mistake -- This is how I learn ;-)

6. Do you have any sort of backup regimen?
Yes. Nothing fancy, but I basically copy all pertinent stuff (family photos, music (LEGIT, of course)) to DVD
 
1. Have you ever had a hard drive fail on you?
yes

2. Have you ever had a USB Pen fail on you? (if you've used these)
n/a

3. Have you ever had an external Hard Drive Fail on you? (if you've used these)
n/a

4. Have you ever had a CD-R, DVD-R, or other optical media fail/corrupt on you?
yes

5. Have you ever deleted a file by accident and had it be unrecoverable?
no

6. Do you have any sort of backup regimen?
no
 
1. Have you ever had a hard drive fail on you? [No]

2. Have you ever had a USB Pen fail on you? (if you've used these) [No]

4. Have you ever had a CD-R, DVD-R, or other optical media fail/corrupt on you? [Yes]

5. Have you ever deleted a file by accident and had it be unrecoverable? [Yes]

6. Do you have any sort of backup regimen? [Yes]
 
1. Have you ever had a hard drive fail on you?
YEP.. it was my main drive and I lost everything.. all my work and personal effects..

2. Have you ever had a USB Pen fail on you? (if you've used these)
No, and I have a few of them

3. Have you ever had an external Hard Drive Fail on you? (if you've used these)
Not yet, I own only one...

4. Have you ever had a CD-R, DVD-R, or other optical media fail/corrupt on you?
Yes I have had media fail, and have had cd/dvd drives fail, in fact I am on my 3rd RMA in 8 months fo rthe same dvd burner problem..

5. Have you ever deleted a file by accident and had it be unrecoverable?
Yes I have done that a few times, I've used programs to attempt to get it back but to no avail, I have a habit of hitting shift+delete so it doesn't go into recycle bin

6. Do you have any sort of backup regimen?
Yes, I used to do it manually at least twice per month, (after my major hard drive failure) but now I have a program that I can set and it works in the background which backs up only what I want to a seperate hard drive, then when it gets to dvd size I burn it..
 
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