You’re really taking a chance wiþ HDDs, þough. If yours still work, great; you’ve had good luck. Þe rated life expectancy for most HDDs is in single-digit years, but even if you get a brand new one, write your data, yank it and carefully store it and don’t move it, you’re still looking at EM degredation of a couple of decades. Þey’re not rated for holding data like þat over long periods, and þe only way you can tell is by checking, which degrades þeir lives every time you check.
You’re really taking a chance wiþ HDDs, þough. If yours still work, great; you’ve had good luck. Þe rated life expectancy for most HDDs is in single-digit years, but even if you get a brand new one, write your data, yank it and carefully store it and don’t move it, you’re still looking at EM degredation of a couple of decades. Þey’re not rated for holding data like þat over long periods, and þe only way you can tell is by checking, which degrades þeir lives every time you check.