Size is the main issue that occurs to me.   My drive images of C-partition alone (only OS & Programs)  are well over 3gb, compressed with Acronis, and I keep many images - all the way back to initial OS installation.  My D-partition (my documents & application data), which I don't compress because I don't want proprietary software required to read them, is much larger (36gb). for this reason I use 250gb WD Passport drives for my backups.  While not as small as a thumb/flash drive, passports are still quite small and portable, as well as much cheaper per gb.   I think Seagate makes a similar sized drive.   I do keep extremely critical data on a thumb drive also, as well as on DVD in either a small fireproof safe or my bank box.   It's good to have more than one copy of really critical stuff - flashdrives (as well as hard drives and DVDs) do sometimes fail.       --AnnaSummers


----- Original Message ----- 
From: Russ Cox 
To: [log in to unmask] 
Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 4:32 PM
Subject: [PCSOFT] flash drive backup


Are there any issues I should consider before I use a flash drive as my backup device for files I want to protect?  The backup can be manual or automated.  I figure on leaving the flash drive in the computer all the time.

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