this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2025
76 points (95.2% liked)

Ask Lemmy

33493 readers
1600 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

I'm thinking about getting one for several purposes, primarily for portable software, some certificates and keys, and a few backups. Since it won't be powered off for more than a few days or weeks and won't experience heavy writing (although I plan to use Veracrypt and that may cause some stress)

How long can I expect it to last? Obviously there will be backups, but I also don't want to lose anything on it as much as possible.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] quediuspayu@lemmy.world 36 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (4 children)

4GB

The first usb stick I bought more than 15 years ago, still works.

[–] Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 22 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I have one from ~2004 that still works, a whopping thirty-two megabytes!

[–] HeyJoe@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago

I have a 32gb one from 2006. I remember splurging on it because at the time it was definitely like a hundred bucks, maybe a little more. I still have it as well, and it's been in the washer probably twice and still works. Of course, I now have a few free 128gb 3.1 drives that the store microcenter gives out for free once or twice a year. Using a USB 2.0 feels like ancient tech when transferring 20gb or more.

[–] P1nkman@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago

At least me ZIP drives has 100 megabytes of storage 😎

[–] Psythik@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago (2 children)

The very first USB stick I bought was 32MB and I thought that was a lot cause it held way more than a floppy.

[–] thermal_shock@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Mine was 64 and thought i found gold when I found a lost 256mb. Think I paid about $100 ircc. Had been using 100mb zip drives before usbs.

[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago

In 2000 or so a 1GB stick was $999 at Tiger Direct. Who could use a whole gig?!

[–] dabaldeagul 2 points 3 days ago

I had one that looks exactly the same but a green accent color instead of purple! Only 1 gig haha

[–] Nibodhika@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

I have this exact same USB drive, 4GB also bought around 15 years ago it still works like a charm