Risks of saving all your files on a USB flash drive

One of the apparent solutions to have backup copies of our files is to. use a USB flash drive. They take up little space and in some we can even store a large number of files and archives without fear of running out of space quickly. However, USB flash drives are more for temporary use, such as taking a document to print or delivering a job to a client, not so much for use as the basis of a backup system.

Let’s see what are the typical dangers involved with USB flash drives. or even larger external hard drives, which we can keep connected to computers for backup purposes.

Risks of backing up to a USB flash drive.

Backing up is essential to be able to work, avoiding risks that jeopardize the daily work of your business. whether you are a company, a freelancer or an individual. Let’s see what risks you have if you limit yourself to using a USB stick, instead of making backups in the cloud through a system well configured for this purpose.

• That the device gets lost. More common than it seems is that the device ends up disappearing, given that it is small. If we often take it out of our computer to use it for something, there is a risk that it will get lost and we will never hear from it again. However, this can be prevented by never taking it out of the computer.

• That a virus enters and you have to format it. Sometimes, USB flash drives are a transmission mechanism for computer viruses, from the copy shop to your home computer. If you fail to remove the virus, the USB stick may become unusable, or you may have to format it, losing the documents you had on it.

• The physical device may be damaged. If it spends many hours in the sun, it may melt. It may also suffer a shock that makes it unrecognizable to the computer, or the connector may not be inserted. Physical devices are more at risk of damage than storing files in the cloud.

• Their lack of operability. For backups to be meaningful, they should be on a centralized server, so that they can be easily retrieved. In case we have the backups on USB sticks, the waiting time may be longer if for whatever reason they are not in the right place.

Are you making your backups on USB flash drives? Have you ever encountered problems with this type of device, and not been able to recover the files stored on it? Tell us about your problem in the comments.