How long do hard drives last?  I heard five years.?
923399
I think you should start copying your files....!I too lost my hard drive and lost all the data...!I can give you a link that deals with hard drive problems. Some RAM/hard drive problems can be easily fixed yourself by using easily available tools. I found the info at http://fixit.in  useful. Try this site, if you can get what is required.
807681
5 years is light years.  Get a new one, format the current, and use it as a file server or print server on your home network.
169941
one source i've found says five years. another says 3-5 years.
952661
You will run out of room in about 2 years. Get a 120G or higher now. \n\nI have over 2500 MP3's and tons of programs on my 120G, and it's just over half full.\n\nDon't forget to make frequent backup's of all your stuff. Hard drives do crash. \n\nI've created a folder just for stuff I want to keep. Every month my stuff (Outlook info, address book, etc.) gets backed-up to this folder. Every six months I burn this folder to several DVD-RW's. I use RW's so I can rotate them.
26227
I used to work for a component manufacturer who designed a number of the internal parts for many of the major vendors HDDs, this is what I was told:\n\nThe average service life of a hard disk is usually given as "5 years or 20,000 hours." This means if a hard disk operates 24 hours a day, you will need to replace your drive with a new one every 1.5 to 2 years. (For specification details, refer to your hard disk drive's user manual.)\n\nThe measure of service life used by most hard disk manufacturers is "mean time between failures" (MTBF)*1 (usually quoted at between 300,000 to 500,000 hours). The ratings (for expected service life) used by PC makers are more conservative, as they are based more closely on "real world" usage conditions. Since expected service life and MTBF figures can differ by hundreds of thousands of hours, we recommend you use the expected service life value. For example, the usual service life of a 2.5 inch drive will be almost 5 years or 20,000 hours, if used at the temperatures specified for your PL. However, if a drive is operated continuously, i.e. 24 hours a day, its service life will be shorter.\n\nFor more information refer to the sources below.
635570
the best makes are western digital ore seagate, seagate usually give a 5 year warranty. this is important very important. as drives break down more than people think.\nliteon is good dvd drive, benq is not so reliable, samsung is good, hp is good. lg is good but don't last. also try get a good speed. 16x upwards\n\nalways by new or from a reliable source
244948
They only have to keep them for 7 years than they can destroy them. After 3 years they can take them out of the office and out the in storage.
745379
Leave it alone for a few weeks, if there aren't screws on it, then your going to end up cracking it open. Actually if you don't use it for a while and it dries up on its own, your drive probably will still work, I've had several electronics that got soaked but I let them dry for a few weeks and they usually ended up fine. Some people run over flash drives as well, and they still survive.
635632
2-5 years usually is the life span\n\ndepreciation value upon salvage is almost nothing. 866 processors were going for during their hey day at $350. That very same processor can be bought for $7 on ebay. That's 2%. Graphics cards are even worse. Often it's merely the price of the metals and materials for scrap. Memory tend to be a bit better averaging many $15-30 from $100. Cases are worth whatever market scrap is. A computer is hardly a investment if that is what you are looking for.\n\nLaptops are a bit better. $2000 laptops are going for $350 on ebay. That's a 17.5% salvage. \n\nBetween 6-18 months of purchase all computers are obsolete. Some are even obsolete the day of purchase.
444762
The best thing to do with hard drives is prevent problems from occurring, rather than try to recover from problems after they occur.  You may want to look at Spinrite.
577575
I can say yes and no.\n\nHarddisk when used, will slowly damage itself, this is because harddisk have moving parts, etc. Harddisk expected life span is about 5 years.\n\nDVD drive is also damaging itself for the same reason, moving parts. The DVD itself however, would only broke if you handle the DVD incorrectly or the DVD player has flaws.\n\nIt is not something to worry, as you might know, every single thing in this world has a life span, nothing goes forever. And the damage of Harddisk and DVD is more of that sort of damage. Unlike records, where the damage is because the record is being physically touched and scratched evrytime it's played, the damage of DVD is much less than that since the only thing that touch it is laser\n\nThe damage done to DVD, DVD drive, and harddisk is natural. Nothing in this world last forever, and that includes them, but the degrading of DVD and harddisk take an very acceptable amount of time that you can safely ignore it most of the time.
790693
Get a Gateway computer, i have one, they last forever and have the best help if something goes wrong. The price may be a bit high but its really worth it overall if you want to keep it for many years to come
295653
I'm going to presume that you mean as compared to other media. Large sized hard drives are relatively inexpensive and compact (imagine one hundred Ipods or one hundred DVDs next to a 500 gigabyte hard disk). However, they do have a limited life span (I can't give you any figures, but each time you write something to a hard disk you are hastening it's departure from this world), and they are quite sensitive to shock.
544552
The laptops we have here at work, mostly Dells, have lasted five years so far without one problem.  I know only one person that has a Vaio and her is still running fine after four years.  It really boils down to how well you take care of your system.  Laptops are a bit more fragile than Desktops.
692816
No. And it does not shorten the life of your hard drive. Actually most Windows installations have a maximum life of about 6 months before the Registry is corrupted or you have a system crash that deletes all your files. Reinstalling Window is, in fact, the ONLY way to prevent that or repair it. As long as you have your files and data backed up, you have absolutely nothing to fear by reinstalling. In fact, it will make the computer run as good as new. You will also get better and faster at doing it each time.
224947
9 times out of 10 it's dead. These units do not last that long anymore. I've gone thru 3 in 5 years including name brand Sony to no name ones. For the cost of a new drive it's not worth spending more than 30 mins making sure your current drive is dead.\n\nI've got 3 Burners that only read, want one?
427530
um most pcs will run theirs down in 5 years but i have seen them last UPTO 7 years chances are you will throw your comp out before it dies