Re: Do bootable USB sticks have a date of expiry?

On 8/17/26 10:12 AM, Dr Rainer Woitok wrote:
> Greetings,
>
> less than a year back I updated my bootable USB stick with the then cur-
> rent ISO image.   However, a few weeks back  I wanted to use it,  and it
> did NOT boot.   I had to first copy  a new ISO image  onto the USB stick
> using another computer.  Is this normal?
>
> Sincerely,
>    Rainer
>
It's not necessarily normal. But it's not unusual. A USB stick uses 
quantum effects in semiconducting material to create regions of trapped 
electrical charge that represent ones and zeroes. Over time the trapped 
charge leaks out / gets shorted to ground. A good quality USB stick 
should be readable for several years. A cheap one might start 
"forgetting" things in six or eight months. YMMV.

--
D. Bryant
Canyon Lake, Texas