Hard drive retention time

[Ravi Kiran]

Please answer to my clueless question for HEALTH reasons. Urgent!!!. I'm suffering from serious "Gadget allergies" and i want to stay away from computers , laptops and smartphones for a very long time say around 15 to 20 years from now and want to rely on pen and paper and calculator work only. I don't know where to post this fuzzy question but i have a doubt regarding Hard drive retention time. If i were to leave my Desktop PC with magnetic HDD (not an SSD Drive PC) without power for around 15 to 20 years will the data on hdd remains intact after 20 years from now. My hdd contains very important Engineering and scientific research papers, ebooks and IDEs and sdks (this includes masm32 and masm64 sdks).

If there were any old compuer science experts in this forum please answer to my stupid question. Urgent!!!

Google search only gives me vague answers.

[zedd151]

For an HDD, I would worry about the lubricant within it drying up, making the platter not rotate at speed - or the head immovable or irratically movable.

Also very high humidity/flooding could reek havoc on the metal HDD case, electrical connections(due to corrosion), and things of that nature.

Exactly where the computer will be stored, and how, would matter.

In any case, I would make backups on SSD... for the odd chance that something did happen to the HDD or the computer itself. How much data in total are we talking about?

No computer science expert here, just some common sense things to consider. I have probably missed a few though.

How old is the HDD in question? (Is it old already?) Has it been used a LOT?

[Ravi Kiran]

For an HDD, I would worry about the lubricant within it drying up, making the platter not rotate at speed - or the head immovable or irratically movable.

Also very high humidity/flooding could reek havoc on the metal HDD case, electrical connections(due to corrosion), and things of that nature.

Exactly where the computer will be stored, and how, would matter.

In any case, I would make backups on SSD... for the odd chance that something did happen to the HDD or the computer itself. How much data in total are we talking about?

No computer science expert here, just some common sense things to consider. I have probably missed a few though.

Actually sir i have disconnected monitor only from the cabinet for
Health reasons long time ago (say around 1 year before) but the cabinet
(Case with hdd and processor) is
Powered on once for 4 or 5 months for
the fear of losing valuable data ie. The cabinet's power supply is still connected to mains. Also the cabinet is placed in less humid conditions.

[Ravi Kiran]

For an HDD, I would worry about the lubricant within it drying up, making the platter not rotate at speed - or the head immovable or irratically movable.

Also very high humidity/flooding could reek havoc on the metal HDD case, electrical connections(due to corrosion), and things of that nature.

Exactly where the computer will be stored, and how, would matter.

In any case, I would make backups on SSD... for the odd chance that something did happen to the HDD or the computer itself. How much data in total are we talking about?

No computer science expert here, just some common sense things to consider. I have probably missed a few though.

How old is the HDD in question? (Is it old already?) Has it been used a LOT?

The hdd is 6 years old bought in 2018
500GB samsung. Of which 498 GB is filled only with ebooks, Electrical engineering  research papers, IDEs and SDKs . Zero videos and audios.

[zedd151]

I wouldn't leave it connected to power mains for the entire duration. A lightning strike nearby could cause irreparable damage to anything connected to the power grid. We are potentially talking 20 years here, anything can happen in that length of time.

My best suggestion still stands, have a least 1 full backup of all of your data in case of catastrophic disaster and don't store the backup in the same physical location as the computer.

[Ravi Kiran]

I wouldn't leave it connected to power mains for the entire duration. A lightning strike nearby could cause irreparable damage to anything connected to the power grid. We are potentially talking 20 years here, anything can happen in that length of time.

My best suggestion still stands, have a least 1 full backup of all of your data in case of catastrophic disaster and don't store the backup in the same physical location as the computer.

Even here i don't leave it connected to
Supply mains for entire duration of the day. The UPS sits in between supply mains and cabinet's PSU.
Would you reccommend and voltage stabiizer in case of power surges .

[fearless]

I would recommend an external SSD. I recently purchased a 1TB Crucial X6 external SSD for backups: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-CT1000X6SSD9-X6-Portable-SSD/dp/B08FSZT2J7/

[zedd151]

Would you reccommend and voltage stabiizer in case of power surges .

My best suggestion still stands, have a least 1 full backup of all of your data in case of catastrophic disaster and don't store the backup in the same physical location as the computer.

The safest way, imo, for long term data storage such as you are describing. Two or more redundant backups are even better.
I believe that anywhere else you might ask, will draw the same conclusion.

[jj2007]

Google for data storage m-disc blu-ray or go straight here or here.

Avoid USB sticks and SSDs, they don't last long. Mechanical hard disks are somewhat better, but still, they don't last eternally. The gold standard is M-Disk.

[Ravi Kiran]

Would you reccommend and voltage stabiizer in case of power surges .

My best suggestion still stands, have a least 1 full backup of all of your data in case of catastrophic disaster and don't store the backup in the same physical location as the computer.

The safest way, imo, for long term data storage such as you are describing. Two or more redundant backups are even better.
I believe that anywhere else you might ask, will draw the same conclusion.

The last time i have internet access is before 1 year and once again for now.
Too much information is confusing and highly distracting. This forum is only forum i know and trust on. My health condition is still the same and once again i'll disconnect internet for a very long time.

[zedd151]

My health condition is still the same and once again i'll disconnect internet for a very long time.

Sorry to hear that, I did not know of your health issues before today. 
I hope that you will get well soon. 

[daydreamer]

External HD backup would be good,but seldom used old computer I experience tiny clock battery  empty ,leading to BIOS clock starts at minimum clock date and time setting
I don't know if some online backup service would be safer than living in area where hurricanes, storms,floods catastrophe that destroy all computer equipments, including external backup drives ?

[NoCforMe]

My Guess™® is that a mechanical hard drive will easily last that time period (15-20 years): I'm using some drives that are about that old. Keep in mind that any decent drive is hermetically sealed, so lubricants stay unfrozen (besides, the crucial pivots are ball bearings). Just store it somewhere that won't endure really wild temperature extremes, and of course don't drop it on the floor!

[jj2007]

M-Disc:

The glassy carbon layers, in theory if preserved correctly in an environment like a salt mine, could store the data for over 10,000 years before going outside of readable specifications. However, the polycarbonate plastics, which are commonly used by almost all optical media and heavily in CBRN and ballistic protective equipment due to their optical, physical impact and chemical resistant properties, have a lifespan rating of only around 1000 years before degradation.

[daydreamer]

M-Disc:

The glassy carbon layers, in theory if preserved correctly in an environment like a salt mine, could store the data for over 10,000 years before going outside of readable specifications. However, the polycarbonate plastics, which are commonly used by almost all optical media and heavily in CBRN and ballistic protective equipment due to their optical, physical impact and chemical resistant properties, have a lifespan rating of only around 1000 years before degradation.

How disappointing if you want to transfer concius to robot because you want to live forever and you only last 1000 years before memory breaks down :)