Windows 7: Backing-Up Reliability Question ?

Hello,

Typical Family guy, and backup photos and some documents once a month.
Rarely, if ever, goes beyond a few hundred Megs.

For "long term" backups, and I'm not really sure what long term does, or should, imply, am I better off with a large capacity 16 GB or 32 GB USB Memory Stick (which brands are best ?), or a dedicated HD that is turned completely off between backups, and just plugged in once a month for a few hundred Megs of backing up ?

Why ?

Thanks,
Bob

Well played.

I would go with a USB stick. They're just as, if not more, reliable than a hard drive, but can also take a good beating and still work fine. Plus, being cheaper, you could always buy 2 or 3 for multiple backups.

But, they can be lost and easily damaged.

Not that I`ve done either of those


And once a month is far too infrequent, back it up right away.