Yes it's true. I knew someone and told them to keep proper back ups but he wouldn't listen and walked around using his USB stock from work to home. I kept saying you can lose it etc etc but no he knows best. Well anyway. One day he went to his pc and put the USB stick in and guess what ? It said it needed to be format because it was corrupt.
Always back up !!! Click save and save again when you work. With your bitcoin keep not one not two but as many backs ups as you can. Always back up !!
Topic: Do not use USB sticks for long term storage! Its not safe! (Read 5128 times)
Just a reminder
Its not safe to use USB sticks or SSDs for long term storage they lose data over time if they are not powered!
You can't just stick your private keys on a few USB sticks or SSD and box them up for 4 - 8 years you will lose all your coins.
For long term storage have at least 3 backups paper wallets or HDDs. You can even use something like DropBox But be sure to encrypt your wallet and change the name.
You can even hide your wallet inside a image file.
I agree that usb stick is not recommended if you are going to store your bitcoin,there are specific hardware storage for bitcoin anyway there are already a lot of safe and installable applications like electrum to store your bitcoin but of course,don't put all your eggs in one basket,we never know what could happen..
easy way --
1. Encrypt your wallet with a very strong password
2. Save it in several cloud storage
3. And for extra security save them on several HDD
that's all
1. Encrypt your wallet with a very strong password
2. Save it in several cloud storage
3. And for extra security save them on several HDD
that's all
Bump. (｡◕‿◕｡)
Just a reminder
Its not safe to use USB sticks or SSDs for long term storage they lose data over time if they are not powered!
You can't just stick your private keys on a few USB sticks or SSD and box them up for 4 - 8 years you will lose all your coins.
For long term storage have at least 3 backups paper wallets or HDDs. You can even use something like DropBox But be sure to encrypt your wallet and change the name.
You can even hide your wallet inside a image file.
Great post, thanks for that never thought of that, although i do have most of my private keys on paper also.... how can i learn about hiding my wallet inside an image?
I was considering a trezor, but I don't see how trezor like devices aren't going to suffer from the same thing as any solid state storage, so I think I will keep saving my stuff on different usb and on different hard drives too and do period backups. It's simply impossible that they all break at the same time and I end up with no bitcoins. Additionally, upping it somewhere with a strong password and changing the file extension seems like a good idea, but im not sure if changing the file extension cam damage a wallet file.
You should read the Trezor user manual to appreciate exactly how a Trezor works. The 24 word seed that is generated when you initialize your Trezor is the source for all your private and public keys and bitcoin addresses. As long as your seed is stored safely the longevity of the Trezor device is irrelevant. Lose it stompt it to pieces if you like. Then just recover your seed to a new Trezor and back to normal. Most folks who use Trezor keep a spare around for just that. I have Trezors that are two years old and still work fine by the way, but I certainly do not expect them to last indefinitely. The seed in effect is your bitcoin and as long as you have your seed your bitcoin are completely safe.
You can use the same Trezor for both bitcoin and litecoin and Ether support is expected as soon as Mist developers get around to integrating the Trezor API. There are other hardware wallets but I consider Trezor the most versatile.
Time to burn our cold wallet keys or dat files into a dvd rom and chuck it in a dry box?
Flash ROM will eventually lose its data at room temperature but it will take an exceedingly long period of time for a new drive.
For a very heavily used drive or one that is stored at very high temperature, the data loss is a real issue but for a new drive that is rated for 1000 hours at 120 degrees C I suspect the other components will degrade before the ROM stops retaining its data.
For a very heavily used drive or one that is stored at very high temperature, the data loss is a real issue but for a new drive that is rated for 1000 hours at 120 degrees C I suspect the other components will degrade before the ROM stops retaining its data.
I known fact that USB devices starting losing data after long term storage, but i think in fututre people will make device that will hold data for years.
What about hardware USB wallets? Since it is USB based, it has to be regularly plugged in?
I am not completely sure what will happen to the data on the device if it's been left unpowered for months or even years but assuming that Bitcoin hardware wallets have the same flash memory like in ordinary thumb drives it's possible that the data may be lost if you haven't used it once for years. To feel more safe you could just create backups of the private keys of your Bitcoin hardware wallet on laminated pieces of paper and keep them in addition to the hardware device and if the hardware malfunctions you could always restore your Bitcoins by using the paper backups. It's never a good idea to put all of your eggs in one basket.
Paper wallet
Laminate it
Keep in bank safety deposit box (~ $15 - $25 per year)
Tattoo private key microscopically camouflaged within another tattoo on your body.
Make sure trusted family member has access to bank safety deposit box in the event of your death. Also inform trusted family member of hidden tattoo for private key(s).
Another option could be to keep copy of private keys in separate safety deposit box at a different bank in case you don't like tattoos or in case you die in a horrible fire and your body is burned to a crisp or you get eaten alive by sharks or a pack of wild dogs.
Also be sure to give trusted family member access to this second safety deposit box in your death will.
Laminate it
Keep in bank safety deposit box (~ $15 - $25 per year)
Tattoo private key microscopically camouflaged within another tattoo on your body.
Make sure trusted family member has access to bank safety deposit box in the event of your death. Also inform trusted family member of hidden tattoo for private key(s).
Another option could be to keep copy of private keys in separate safety deposit box at a different bank in case you don't like tattoos or in case you die in a horrible fire and your body is burned to a crisp or you get eaten alive by sharks or a pack of wild dogs.
Also be sure to give trusted family member access to this second safety deposit box in your death will.
Keeping anything in a bank safety deposit box is worse then taking your chances with storage devices.
What about hardware USB wallets? Since it is USB based, it has to be regularly plugged in?
Just a reminder
Its not safe to use USB sticks or SSDs for long term storage they lose data over time if they are not powered!
You can't just stick your private keys on a few USB sticks or SSD and box them up for 4 - 8 years you will lose all your coins.
For long term storage have at least 3 backups paper wallets or HDDs. You can even use something like DropBox But be sure to encrypt your wallet and change the name.
You can even hide your wallet inside a image file.
Well, 6 different sticks on 6 different locations should do the trick!
I Laminated some stuff when I was a kid and now 20+ years later I find some of the ink has blotched a bit. Just make sure the ink is dry first.
Yes Just as a new AA battery can lose charge over time a SSD or USB memory stick can lose the incredibly weak charge it holds in each of its millions of gates. A solid state device has no moving parts, data is stored by
holding a small amount of charge inside each gate, that charge over time can leak out. Some memory sticks can hold up to 3 distinct energy levels so even the smallest change in voltage from electron drift or whatever
can over time change the output of that gate corrupting your data. This is why you must power them up from time to time. The controller inside the USB device or SSD will 'top up" all the gates with the appropriate
amount of voltage to ensure you don't lose any data but it must be done regularly.
There are other failure mechanisms that can cause a gate to lose their voltage, I was just reading about "whiskers" (because they look like hair) growing off cheap tin transistors causing faults.
http://www.jacmusic.com/html/club/Link-List/Whiskers/microscope1.jpg
Yes Just as a new AA battery can lose charge over time a SSD or USB memory stick can lose the incredibly weak charge it holds in each of its millions of gates. A solid state device has no moving parts, data is stored by
holding a small amount of charge inside each gate, that charge over time can leak out. Some memory sticks can hold up to 3 distinct energy levels so even the smallest change in voltage from electron drift or whatever
can over time change the output of that gate corrupting your data. This is why you must power them up from time to time. The controller inside the USB device or SSD will 'top up" all the gates with the appropriate
amount of voltage to ensure you don't lose any data but it must be done regularly.
There are other failure mechanisms that can cause a gate to lose their voltage, I was just reading about "whiskers" (because they look like hair) growing off cheap tin transistors causing faults.
http://www.jacmusic.com/html/club/Link-List/Whiskers/microscope1.jpg
I think we may be chasing a Red Herring here.
Flash manufacturers test their devices at >125C, which is EXTREMELY hot, for 1000 hours with 0 data retention loss to be standards compliant.
According to this study, which someone posted in response to a Trezor discussion, 1000 hours at 150C is equivalent to a century at 25C
http://www.nxp.com/files/microcontrollers/doc/eng_bulletin/EB618.pdf
Flash manufacturers test their devices at >125C, which is EXTREMELY hot, for 1000 hours with 0 data retention loss to be standards compliant.
According to this study, which someone posted in response to a Trezor discussion, 1000 hours at 150C is equivalent to a century at 25C
http://www.nxp.com/files/microcontrollers/doc/eng_bulletin/EB618.pdf
That's talking about the silicon, the wafer itself. Not the whole device, which has other parts (caps that short, resistors that drift up, possibly other silicon, circuit runners/solder connections that go bad due to shitty substrate/thermal cycling, etc., etc.).
And, of course, it's probably something like half-life, e.g. "50% chance X will be broken in 100 years," that sort of thing, not a guarantee that X won't break in the next 5 minutes.
The company posting that study guarantees its products for, according to them, 10 to 20 years. That's replacement cost, AFAIK, not "we'll make good on all the data you lost."
Paper wallet
Laminate it
Keep in bank safety deposit box (~ $15 - $25 per year)
Tattoo private key microscopically camouflaged within another tattoo on your body.
Make sure trusted family member has access to bank safety deposit box in the event of your death. Also inform trusted family member of hidden tattoo for private key(s).
Another option could be to keep copy of private keys in separate safety deposit box at a different bank in case you don't like tattoos or in case you die in a horrible fire and your body is burned to a crisp or you get eaten alive by sharks or a pack of wild dogs.
Also be sure to give trusted family member access to this second safety deposit box in your death will.
Laminate it
Keep in bank safety deposit box (~ $15 - $25 per year)
Tattoo private key microscopically camouflaged within another tattoo on your body.
Make sure trusted family member has access to bank safety deposit box in the event of your death. Also inform trusted family member of hidden tattoo for private key(s).
Another option could be to keep copy of private keys in separate safety deposit box at a different bank in case you don't like tattoos or in case you die in a horrible fire and your body is burned to a crisp or you get eaten alive by sharks or a pack of wild dogs.
Also be sure to give trusted family member access to this second safety deposit box in your death will.
You believe what you want but my own personal life experiences with memory sticks have tought me to be very weary of the listed manufacturer specifications and tolerances.
I think we may be chasing a Red Herring here.
Flash manufacturers test their devices at >125C, which is EXTREMELY hot, for 1000 hours with 0 data retention loss to be standards compliant.
According to this study, which someone posted in response to a Trezor discussion, 1000 hours at 150C is equivalent to a century at 25C
http://www.nxp.com/files/microcontrollers/doc/eng_bulletin/EB618.pdf
Flash manufacturers test their devices at >125C, which is EXTREMELY hot, for 1000 hours with 0 data retention loss to be standards compliant.
According to this study, which someone posted in response to a Trezor discussion, 1000 hours at 150C is equivalent to a century at 25C
http://www.nxp.com/files/microcontrollers/doc/eng_bulletin/EB618.pdf
Usb sticks for short term storage only
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