I recently removed a hard disk drive from an old PC, backed up the files I wanted, and formatted it. CrystalDiskInfo reported that the drive was healthy, although I had to rely on an AI explanation because I'm not very familiar with all of its indicators. Since AI-generated interpretations can be wrong, I'd like some real-world opinions: is this kind of HDD lifespan typical, or is it unusually long? How old are the oldest hard drives you're still using, and what condition are they in?
1 Answer
I’ve had several drives reach 11 to 16 years, including older Samsung and WD models. Some are still used for games, movies, general files, or backups, but not for anything irreplaceable. I also have an external drive approaching 10 years and a couple of drives from around 2004 that still work.
I have a WD Black from around 2012 that’s still running in my NAS. It doesn’t get treated as the only copy of anything important, but it continues to work fine.