Solved Are optical boot disks more reliable than USB boot sticks?


Haydon

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From a parallel thread

I have always found the optical disks to be more reliable. Sometimes USB sticks are hit or miss whether they will boot or not.

To which I agreed

A built-in optical disk drive is a must for my present (and next) desktop for that important reason, a reliable boot disk (y)

... and now I wonder myself why optical beats USB in this regard. Is it perhaps because there is only 1 ODD but several USB ports?

(In yet another thread, USB ports in the front and back of a tower are asserted to behave differently, may or may not have a bearing on the issue)
 

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Personally I've found USB flash drives very reliable. I don't use the optical drive I have on an older HP laptop because of this. All the other laptops I own don't have optical drives.
 

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    ASUS VivoBook
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    ACER NITRO
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I keep my Macrium Reflect recovery files and Windows installation files on both a USB stick and on DVD. The USB stick is much faster and the DVD serves as a fallback solution.
 

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    Windows 11 Pro 22H2 OS Build 22621.675
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    Dell Inspiron 5482 2-in-1
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    Intel Core i7-8565U
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In my 35+ years of computer use I can't actually remember a flash drive ever failing on me. either for booting or data storage but I definitely remember plenty of CDs, DVDs and their drives failing on me, boot, data and audio.
The drives are particularly prone to failure since the drive mechanism tends include plastic cogs that wear quickly, rubber bands that stretch, split, come unseated, perish. Then there is the optical head that can scratch, be covered in debris or the laser can defocus, fail and bit rot of the laminates used for the disc.
Flash drives have their fair share of shortcomings as well, bit flip, corrupted file system, broken USB connector, small enough to loose.
But honestly can't remember the last time a flash drive failed to boot a system I worked on.
 

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    Windows 11 Pro 22H2, build: 22621.521
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    Intel i7-12700K 3.6GHz Base (5.0GHz Turbo)
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    Asus ProArt Creator B660 D4
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    WD SN570 1TB NVME (Boot), Samsung 870QVO 1TB (SSD), SanDisk 3D Ultra 500Gb (SSD) x2, Seagate 3Tb Expansion Desk (Ext HDD), 2x Toshiba 1Tb P300 (Ext HDD)
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It is only people who have never had issues with optical drives that would say they are more reliable.

You have to draw a distinction between the media (optical disk, flash drive) and the reader (optical drive, usb port).


Media
Optical disks can get scratched, dirt on them, exposure to heat etc. will reduce efficiency etc.
A well looked after optical disk can last a long time.

Sure a usb drive can fail (fairly rare but risk increases with age - all will fail sooner or later), so they should not be solely used for critical data backup (always have two independent backups at least for critical data).

Reader
Optical drives will inevitably fail as they have moving parts. Age is a factor i.e. not if but when.
The sensors can get dirty as well - standalone drivers used to have cleaning disks but I have not seen any for pc drives for years

USB ports rarely fail - when they do, the mobo is probably failing anyway




In simple terms, the optical drive is the most unreliable item, and a disk is only as good as the reader trying to read it.

So overall it is no contest - a usb drive and reader, is definitely more reliable than a disk and optical drive.

Howeve
r, all the above is all statistical based - nobody can ever say that your that a compenent of your particular system will not fail early, or will last for a long time. All you can do is reduce risks by redundancy e.g. as @Fortitude says. The amount and type of redundancy depends on criticality of information to be stored.
 

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  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
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    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
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    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
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    Yep, got one
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    Yep, got one
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    Stella Artois
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    Built in
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    Bluetooth , wired
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    72 Mb/s :-(
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    Edge mostly
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    TPM 2.0
Hi there
I find the most reliable by far if you have a spare one is to use an external SSD and connect to computer via SATA->USB connector. If you do it right you can have bootable full windows installations, windows install iso's, boot recovery (macrium), windows PE, partition manager, linux distros etc. Absolutely great for any sort of install and recovery. The Ultimate tool.

To install any Windows on a hdd from this drive simply boot the full windows system on it and then run DISM / Apply-Image to the target disk / partition / vhdx.

A 500GB samsung 860 / 870 SSD is absolutely fast enough for this and has enough space for almost anything you want on it -- plus its small enough to ot be a nusiance if travelling and probably less likely to get lost than USB sticks !!!.

Cheers
jimbo
 

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    PC/Desktop
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    2 X Intel i7
My personal opinion: Optical media may appear to be more reliable as far as booting goes only because there are fewer ways to mess it up. By that, I mean specifically that flash media gives you more options, presenting more opportunities to mess it up.

As an example, I have found that if a user or some app sets up a flash drive as GPT, some apps such as the media creation tool may not correct that situation leading to media that won't boot on some systems.

I wrote a batch file for myself that creates Windows boot media that takes all of these various conditions into account and have NEVER seen it fail even after trying on many, many different computers.

Bottom line - if it ain't working, you probably did something wrong or didn't correct a previous problem with the flash drive first :-)
 

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  • OS
    Win11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
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    Home Built
    CPU
    Intel i7-11700K
    Motherboard
    ASUS Prime Z590-A
    Memory
    128GB Crucial Ballistix 3200MHz DRAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    No GPU - CPU graphics only (for now)
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    Realtek (on motherboard)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP Envy 32
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1440
    Hard Drives
    1 x 1TB NVMe Gen 4 x 4 SSD
    1 x 2TB NVMe Gen 3 x 4 SSD
    2 x 512GB 2.5" SSDs
    2 x 8TB HD
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    Corsair HX850i
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    Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black cooler + 10 case fans
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    CODE backlit mechanical keyboard
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    Logitech MX Master 3
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    Additional options installed:
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  • Operating System
    Win11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 2
    CPU
    Intel i7-1255U
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe Graphics
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    Realtek® ALC3306-CG codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    13.3-inch IPS Display
    Screen Resolution
    WQXGA (2560 x 1600)
    Hard Drives
    2 TB 4 x 4 NVMe SSD
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    Buttonless Glass Precision Touchpad
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    Backlit, spill resistant keyboard
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    1Gb Up / 1Gb Down
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    Edge
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    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    WiFi 6e / Bluetooth 5.1 / Facial Recognition / Fingerprint Sensor / ToF (Time of Flight) Human Presence Sensor
Some newer opticals won't read older DVDs or CDs, some are fussy as to what brand of media they can write to or only write at a slow speed.
I've got and old PC which has SATA and IDE with an old IDE DVD drive in it purely for getting stuff off some of the older DVDs and CDs I have that are unreadable in newer drives, so I can back up the data to external drives, Old SATA and IDE drives of which I seem to have a cumulated a lot that are still in good condition are useful for that purpose.
Last time I actually wrote anything to DVD on a newer drive, it trashed 4 DVDs before I got one that actually finalised, had to reduce the write speed to snails pace, not bothered since as got fed up with creating coasters and thumb drives are IMO far more reliable for repair and boot options. I've actually disconnected the optical drives from my 2 main PCs and used the SATA ports for additional SSDs.
 

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  • OS
    Windows 11 22H2 OS Build 22623.1095
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    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Self Build
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3800X
    Motherboard
    Asus PRIME B350-PLUS
    Memory
    16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 @3000Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS - GeForce RTX 3070 Ti 8 GB TUF GAMING OC
    Sound Card
    On Board Realtec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer KA241
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080 @60Hz
    Hard Drives
    240GB PNY CS900 SSD - OS
    2 x 1TB Crucial MX500 SSD
    1 x 500GB Crucial MX300 SSD
    2TB Seagate ST2000DM001-1ER164
    2TB Seagate ST2000DM008-2FR102
    PSU
    750 Watt Corsair TX750 Plus
    Case
    Cooler Master 690 III
    Cooling
    Akasa AK98 5 Case Fans
    Keyboard
    Logitech K270 - wireless
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    Logitech - M185 wireless
    Internet Speed
    BT Fibre 75 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
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    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    Use hardware KVM to switch monitors on three PCs and software (input director) to use mouse and keyboard on all 4 PCs.
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro 22H2 build 22621.900
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 3881 - modified with SFX PSU fitted internally
    CPU
    Intel i5 - 10400
    Motherboard
    Dell 032w55 version A00
    Memory
    16GB of HyperX Fury @ 2133 Mhz
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA 6GB GTX 1060.
    Sound Card
    Builtin
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ACER KA241
    Screen Resolution
    1920x 1080 @60Hz
    Hard Drives
    256GB SK hynix NVMe
    1TB Western Digital WD10EZEX-75WN4A1
    PSU
    Modular 450 Watt Corsair SF450 Platinum ( Mod to replace the Dell 265 Watt PSU)
    Case
    Inspiron Small Desktop
    Cooling
    Dell stock cooler
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    Dell
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Internet Speed
    BT Fibre 75 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
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    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    Use hardware KVM to switch monitors on three PCs and software (input director) to use mouse and keyboard on all 4 PCs.
From a parallel thread



To which I agreed



... and now I wonder myself why optical beats USB in this regard. Is it perhaps because there is only 1 ODD but several USB ports?

(In yet another thread, USB ports in the front and back of a tower are asserted to behave differently, may or may not have a bearing on the issue)
I prefer Flash Drives (USB Sticks). I haven't used my DVD drive in aeons, it seems.

I have had no failures.
 

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  • OS
    Windows 11 23H2 22631.2861
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    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy TE01-1xxx
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-10700 CPU @ 2.90GHz 2.90 GHz
    Motherboard
    16.0GB Dual-Channel Unknown @ 1463MHz (21-21-21-47)
    Memory
    16384 MBytes
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel UHD Graphics 630
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
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    Monitor 1 - Acer 27" Monitor 2 - Acer 27"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    WDC PC SN530 SDBPNPZ-512G-1006 (SSD)
    Seagate ST1000DM003-1SB102
    Seagate BUP Slim SCSI Disk Device (SSD)
    PSU
    HP
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    HP
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    Standard
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    Logitech Wave K350
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    Logitech M705
    Internet Speed
    500 mbps
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    Windows Defender
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    That's all Folks!
  • Operating System
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 (10th gen) 10700
    Motherboard
    Intel
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel UHD Graphics 630
    Sound Card
    Built-in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer 27" & Samsung 24"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x
    Hard Drives
    SSD (512 GB)
    HDD (1 TB)
    Seagate
    PSU
    Intel i7 10th Generation
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    HP
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    HP/Intel?
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    Logitech M705
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wave K350
    Internet Speed
    50 mbps
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    Firefox 90.2
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    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    Headphone/Microphone Combo
    SuperSpeed USB Type-A (4 on front)
    HP 3-in-One Card Readr
    SuperSpeed USB Type-C
    DVD Writer
From a parallel thread



To which I agreed



... and now I wonder myself why optical beats USB in this regard. Is it perhaps because there is only 1 ODD but several USB ports?

(In yet another thread, USB ports in the front and back of a tower are asserted to behave differently, may or may not have a bearing on the issue)
it's no longer the case where DVD's are better. In fact a flash drive will totally out perform any DVD,
 

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  • OS
    Windows 11 Home(Beta) - 23H2 - 22635.3350
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    PC/Desktop
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    Banana Junior 5600- G Series
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
    Motherboard
    Asus ROG Strix B550-F
    Memory
    G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 64GB 4x16
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    NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X
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    Viotek 32", 28" ASUS VP28U
    Screen Resolution
    1080p
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    Primary SAMSUNG 970 EVO Plus
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    EVGA BQ 700w 80+ Bronze
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    Zalman i3 NEO
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    ARCTIC Freezer 7 X
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    Corsair
    Mouse
    Amazon Generic with Cord
    Internet Speed
    Download: 295.11 mbps Upload: 65.35 mbps T-Mobile Internet
    Browser
    Firefox and Edge
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    MS - Defender
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    Speakers: Klipsch ProMedia 2.1
From a parallel thread



To which I agreed



... and now I wonder myself why optical beats USB in this regard. Is it perhaps because there is only 1 ODD but several USB ports?

(In yet another thread, USB ports in the front and back of a tower are asserted to behave differently, may or may not have a bearing on the issue)


1. Not all USB sticks are equivalent. Buy good ones, and they don't usually have problems.
2. I keep both USB sticks and backup CD/DVDs of important bootable things.
3. I always use Verbatim -R CD or DVDs.
4. For USB sticks I like the higher end Corsair, Samsung or PNY models.
5. For USB sticks, always remember to use the "eject" thing in the System Tray before removing them.

As said by Lobsang, the Tibetan motorcycle repairman, that was reincarnated as a computer...
"You can't have too many backups".

From the book: The Long Earth
Side note: I highly recommend the 5 book series.
by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
 
Last edited:

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  • OS
    Win 11 Home ♦♦♦22631.3374 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦23H2
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    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Built by Ghot® [May 2020]
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
    Motherboard
    Asus Pro WS X570-ACE (BIOS 4702)
    Memory
    G.Skill (F4-3200C14D-16GTZKW)
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA RTX 2070 (08G-P4-2171-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC1220P / ALC S1220A
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell U3011 30"
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1600
    Hard Drives
    2x Samsung 860 EVO 500GB,
    WD 4TB Black FZBX - SATA III,
    WD 8TB Black FZBX - SATA III,
    DRW-24B1ST CD/DVD Burner
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling 750W Quad EPS12V
    Case
    Cooler Master ATCS 840 Tower
    Cooling
    CM Hyper 212 EVO (push/pull)
    Keyboard
    Ducky DK9008 Shine II Blue LED
    Mouse
    Logitech Optical M-100
    Internet Speed
    300/300
    Browser
    Firefox (latest)
    Antivirus
    Bitdefender Internet Security
    Other Info
    Speakers: Klipsch Pro Media 2.1
  • Operating System
    Windows XP Pro 32bit w/SP3
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Built by Ghot® (not in use)
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ (OC'd @ 3.2Ghz)
    Motherboard
    ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition
    Memory
    TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX (2 x 1GB, DDR2 800)
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA 256-P2-N758-TR GeForce 8600GT SSC
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic G90FB Black 19" Professional (CRT)
    Screen Resolution
    up to 2048 x 1536
    Hard Drives
    WD 36GB 10,000rpm Raptor SATA
    Seagate 80GB 7200rpm SATA
    Lite-On LTR-52246S CD/RW
    Lite-On LH-18A1P CD/DVD Burner
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad EPS12V
    Case
    Generic Beige case, 80mm fans
    Cooling
    ZALMAN 9500A 92mm CPU Cooler
    Mouse
    Logitech Optical M-BT96a
    Keyboard
    Logitech Classic Keybooard 200
    Internet Speed
    300/300
    Browser
    Firefox 3.x ??
    Antivirus
    Symantec (Norton)
    Other Info
    Still assembled, still runs. Haven't turned it on for 13 years?
I bought a few USB3 sticks on the last day of Maplin's bankruptcy sale in 2018 for next to nothing. They are Branded Maplin but seem to be to a high standard. Maplin was a UK store equivalent of Radio Shack sadly missed as now there is nowhere to buy individual electronic components and such without going online, which usually means buying in bulk.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 22H2 OS Build 22623.1095
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Self Build
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3800X
    Motherboard
    Asus PRIME B350-PLUS
    Memory
    16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 @3000Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS - GeForce RTX 3070 Ti 8 GB TUF GAMING OC
    Sound Card
    On Board Realtec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer KA241
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080 @60Hz
    Hard Drives
    240GB PNY CS900 SSD - OS
    2 x 1TB Crucial MX500 SSD
    1 x 500GB Crucial MX300 SSD
    2TB Seagate ST2000DM001-1ER164
    2TB Seagate ST2000DM008-2FR102
    PSU
    750 Watt Corsair TX750 Plus
    Case
    Cooler Master 690 III
    Cooling
    Akasa AK98 5 Case Fans
    Keyboard
    Logitech K270 - wireless
    Mouse
    Logitech - M185 wireless
    Internet Speed
    BT Fibre 75 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    Use hardware KVM to switch monitors on three PCs and software (input director) to use mouse and keyboard on all 4 PCs.
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro 22H2 build 22621.900
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 3881 - modified with SFX PSU fitted internally
    CPU
    Intel i5 - 10400
    Motherboard
    Dell 032w55 version A00
    Memory
    16GB of HyperX Fury @ 2133 Mhz
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA 6GB GTX 1060.
    Sound Card
    Builtin
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ACER KA241
    Screen Resolution
    1920x 1080 @60Hz
    Hard Drives
    256GB SK hynix NVMe
    1TB Western Digital WD10EZEX-75WN4A1
    PSU
    Modular 450 Watt Corsair SF450 Platinum ( Mod to replace the Dell 265 Watt PSU)
    Case
    Inspiron Small Desktop
    Cooling
    Dell stock cooler
    Mouse
    Dell
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Internet Speed
    BT Fibre 75 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    Use hardware KVM to switch monitors on three PCs and software (input director) to use mouse and keyboard on all 4 PCs.
I agree with jimbo45. If reliability of external storage media is your true concern, you cannot beat a USB SSD drive.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Homebuilt
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero (WiFi)
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Education
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 7773
    CPU
    Intel i7-8550U
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce MX150
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 512GB NVMe SSD
    SK Hynix 512GB SATA SSD
    Internet Speed
    Fast!
In my 22 years of using Windows PC's I have only seen one optical drive fail. (I have never seen a HDD fail but that's another story). The number of times I have produced a "coaster" I can count on one hand that has a couple of fingers missing. Boot discs always work. USB sticks on the other hand don't fail either per se but I have had many that either wouldn't boot at all or would only boot on the computer they were made with. Some computers require special procedures to boot from USB. One of mine requires booting into the BIOS and then choosing to boot the USB stick as a boot override. There are no boot order options. My Acer laptop requires pressing F12 at boot to get a boot menu to choose from. A menu that is not guaranteed to even show the USB stick. My other devices I can set a boot order in the BIOS and that works, sometimes.

Yes, the USB sticks are faster, if they're 3.0, and are less prone to damage. However, my experience shows them less reliable as boot media. They're great for data transfer and storage and much more convenient than optical discs in that usage.

My main computer has 2 optical drives. They both read and write CD's and DVD's but one also does that for Blu-Ray. If I need to make a boot media I want to keep. I will more often burn an ISO to an optical disc. I use the free BurnAware program or sometimes just the built in Windows burner. My flash drives are continually being erased and/ or reformatted. I also have the capability of printing a label on the disc with my inkjet printer and I do that fairly regularly. I have burned discs that are 20 years old and they still work perfectly.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom built
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
    Motherboard
    MSI B550-A Pro
    Memory
    16 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-3200
    Graphics Card(s)
    PowerColor Red Devil Radeon RX 6600XT with 8GB GDDR6
    Sound Card
    Realtek integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer Nitro 24" RG241Y 144hz refresh rate
    Screen Resolution
    1920 X 1080
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital Black SN770 1 TB NVMe SSD
    Samsung 860 QVO 1 TB SATA SSD
    Seagate Barracuda 1 TB HDD
    PSU
    LEPA B650 650 watt
    Case
    Enermax Coenus
    Cooling
    Cooler Master Hyper T4 air
    Keyboard
    CM Storm Devastator
    Mouse
    E-Blue Cobra Jr.
    Internet Speed
    100mbs
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge Chromium
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
    Other Info
    Optical Drives: LG DVD-RW and Pioneer BluRay/ DVD burner
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus ROG Zephyrus G14
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS
    Motherboard
    Asus board (GA402RK)
    Memory
    16 GB Samsung DDR5-4800
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Radeon 680M and discrete Radeon RX 6800S with 8GB GDDR6
    Sound Card
    Integrated Realtek with Dolby Atmos
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Laptop screen 14" WQXGA, IPS, 120hz refresh rate
    Screen Resolution
    2560 X 1600
    Hard Drives
    1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD (WD Black SN850)
    PSU
    Battery power and Asus power brick/adapter. Also has USB-C charging
    Case
    Laptop
    Cooling
    Laptop fans in vapor chamber
    Mouse
    Touchpad and Omoton bluetooth mouse
    Keyboard
    Built in RGB backlit
    Internet Speed
    100mbps
    Browser
    Edge Chromium
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
Maybe I am just unlucky in this, but my experiences have been very different.

While my current desktop no longer has optical drives, other older ones still do and I have found those to be the MOST reliable boot devices -- maybe because I go to the trouble to keep my optical disks in cases and regularly clean the laser lenses.

Next (down) in reliability has been USB sticks -- but this varies greatly by brand. I have an older Corsair Voyager that has NEVER failed me in all the years that I have used it, but it cost a fortune (back then). I have had newer ones fail me often, probably over 2/3 of the time. I have thrown more away due to this than I currently still have.

Next (down) in reliability has been external drives, with spinners being more reliable than SSDs. I had one spinner last me 5 years and I am two years into my second. I have gone through three external SSDs in under a year and ultimately, given up on using them because they simply won't connect more than half of the time -- and this is independent of whether I use USB-A ports or USB-C ports. And, this is true across seven different PCs, including three laptops of different models and brands.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom built
    CPU
    Ryzen 5600X
    Motherboard
    ASRock Steel Legend
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GT 710
    Sound Card
    None
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23",24", 19" - flat panels
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1200
    Hard Drives
    None - only M.2 SATA and NVMe drives
    PSU
    750W
    Case
    Antec
    Cooling
    stock Wraith cooler
    Keyboard
    Corsair gaming
    Mouse
    Logitech M720
    Internet Speed
    1Gb
I find the most reliable by far if you have a spare one is to use an external SSD and connect to computer via SATA->USB connector.
Just one word of caution on using an SSD as a Windows installation disk:

Some computers don't like to boot from NTFS formatted USB media which may cause you to create one or more FAT partitions on your SSD. Just be aware that FAT does not support TRIM.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Home Built
    CPU
    Intel i7-11700K
    Motherboard
    ASUS Prime Z590-A
    Memory
    128GB Crucial Ballistix 3200MHz DRAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    No GPU - CPU graphics only (for now)
    Sound Card
    Realtek (on motherboard)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP Envy 32
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1440
    Hard Drives
    1 x 1TB NVMe Gen 4 x 4 SSD
    1 x 2TB NVMe Gen 3 x 4 SSD
    2 x 512GB 2.5" SSDs
    2 x 8TB HD
    PSU
    Corsair HX850i
    Case
    Corsair iCue 5000X RGB
    Cooling
    Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black cooler + 10 case fans
    Keyboard
    CODE backlit mechanical keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1Gb Up / 1 Gb Down
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    Additional options installed:
    WiFi 6E PCIe adapter
    ASUS ThunderboltEX 4 PCIe adapter
  • Operating System
    Win11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 2
    CPU
    Intel i7-1255U
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC3306-CG codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    13.3-inch IPS Display
    Screen Resolution
    WQXGA (2560 x 1600)
    Hard Drives
    2 TB 4 x 4 NVMe SSD
    PSU
    USB-C / Thunderbolt 4 Power / Charging
    Mouse
    Buttonless Glass Precision Touchpad
    Keyboard
    Backlit, spill resistant keyboard
    Internet Speed
    1Gb Up / 1Gb Down
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    WiFi 6e / Bluetooth 5.1 / Facial Recognition / Fingerprint Sensor / ToF (Time of Flight) Human Presence Sensor
I definitely prefer USB flash boot device vs DVD drive. In my desktop PC, the section for DVD drive is empty, instead I have the external USB DVD-RW/BD drive. I use it quite rarely, mostly for reading my old archive DVDs and DVD with drivers for some external hardware components like a Wi-Fi adapter.

Because a boot USB drive needs to be updated not often, its longevity doesn't suffer with time. I don't use them as storage of other files even when they have enough empty space. As an external storage, USB SSD is unbeatable. I use Samsung T5 500 Gb, balanced from the point price/size for me personally (some people may prefer other drives, newer and with more size). For example, I keep on one SSD multi-GB video games for playing from USB 3.1 port (not shooters), no much wearing for two years, performance is quite good. On the other side, USB SSDs are not intended to work as boot devices; I tried but it's hard to create such because need to load the corresponding OS driver during early boot stage.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro; Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    i7-12700K (Alder Lake)
    Motherboard
    Asus PRIME Z690-M Plus D4
    Memory
    16 GB (2x8 Corsair DDR4-2132)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus GeForce 1050 Ti, 4 GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Philips 235PQ
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Windows 11: Samsung SSD 870 EVO, 500 GB (SATA), MBR
    Windows 8.1: Samsung SSD 980 PRO, 500 GB (M.2), MBR
    PSU
    Platimax D.F. 1050 W (80 Plus Platinum)
    Internet Speed
    Local link 1 Gbps, provider's line 500 Mbps
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Other Info
    Realtek PCIe GbE Family Controller (for Windows 8.1 compatibility)
    Microsoft Office H&S 2013 x64
I have had no real problems with either, except I might die from old age by the time an optical disc finishes.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus TUF Gaming (2024)
    CPU
    i7 13650HX
    Memory
    16GB DDR5
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile
    Sound Card
    Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC Supreme; Emotiva UMC-200; Astell & Kern AK240
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Sony Bravia XR-55X90J
    Screen Resolution
    3840×2160
    Hard Drives
    512GB SSD internal
    37TB external
    PSU
    Li-ion
    Cooling
    2× Arc Flow Fans, 4× exhaust vents, 5× heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K800
    Mouse
    Logitech G402
    Internet Speed
    20Mbit/s up, 250Mbit/s down
    Browser
    FF
  • Operating System
    11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Medion S15450
    CPU
    i5 1135G7
    Memory
    16GB DDR4
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe
    Sound Card
    Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC Supreme; Emotiva UMC-200; Astell & Kern AK240
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Sony Bravia XR-55X90J
    Screen Resolution
    3840×2160
    Hard Drives
    2TB SSD internal
    37TB external
    PSU
    Li-ion
    Mouse
    Logitech G402
    Keyboard
    Logitech K800
    Internet Speed
    20Mbit/s up, 250Mbit/s down
    Browser
    FF
I was early to the CD burning game. I purchased the first available consumer CD burner on the market. I used to burn CDs, DVDs, and Blu-Rays like crazy. In fact, I had a collection of over 1,500 DVD movies and several hundred Blu-Rays. Now, I've ripped them all to digital format and store them on HDDs. I can't even remember the last time I burned an optical disc, but I still have a couple hundred blank Blu-Rays that I keep around "just in case".

Thumb drives are just WAY more convenient and much faster. I have some thumb drives that will do well over 200 MB/s.

It's funny how things that were at one-time cutting-edge technology can simply fade away into almost non-existence.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Home Built
    CPU
    Intel i7-11700K
    Motherboard
    ASUS Prime Z590-A
    Memory
    128GB Crucial Ballistix 3200MHz DRAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    No GPU - CPU graphics only (for now)
    Sound Card
    Realtek (on motherboard)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP Envy 32
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1440
    Hard Drives
    1 x 1TB NVMe Gen 4 x 4 SSD
    1 x 2TB NVMe Gen 3 x 4 SSD
    2 x 512GB 2.5" SSDs
    2 x 8TB HD
    PSU
    Corsair HX850i
    Case
    Corsair iCue 5000X RGB
    Cooling
    Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black cooler + 10 case fans
    Keyboard
    CODE backlit mechanical keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1Gb Up / 1 Gb Down
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    Additional options installed:
    WiFi 6E PCIe adapter
    ASUS ThunderboltEX 4 PCIe adapter
  • Operating System
    Win11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 2
    CPU
    Intel i7-1255U
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC3306-CG codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    13.3-inch IPS Display
    Screen Resolution
    WQXGA (2560 x 1600)
    Hard Drives
    2 TB 4 x 4 NVMe SSD
    PSU
    USB-C / Thunderbolt 4 Power / Charging
    Mouse
    Buttonless Glass Precision Touchpad
    Keyboard
    Backlit, spill resistant keyboard
    Internet Speed
    1Gb Up / 1Gb Down
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    WiFi 6e / Bluetooth 5.1 / Facial Recognition / Fingerprint Sensor / ToF (Time of Flight) Human Presence Sensor
If reliability of external storage media is your true concern, you cannot beat a USB SSD drive.
I think the same way. But if the data is important be sure you have more than one copy just in case.
That mistake is one many end-users make when storing data. "I can't access my external whatever" calls I receive are frequent.
SSD, standard external, and other media all can and will fail.
I always ask the question, don't you still have said data on the computer and the answer is always no.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10

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