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Title says it all.
I have a number of "old" MicroSD cards, that aren't really worth putting into any phone or tablet anymore, but still seem to be very capable of storing data (and reading it back - I've made sure to verify that).
I have a lot of documents (drivers license, insurance papers, health cards, various ID cards, income tax papers, etc) that I keep in a relatively small (8GB) encrypted container file, created with VeraCrypt.
Any one of the MicroSD cards ought to be suitable for storing an extra copy of the encrypted file. The VeraCrypt is part of my regular backup set.
My question is - how tough are MicroSD cards, really? Rugged enough to leave in a wallet you carry in your back pocket? I feel like it wouldn't take much for them to bend and snap in half. I have slightly larger plastic cases (that the cards typically come with), which might help prevent them from bending, but these are much thicker than a typical card itself, so I lose that benefit and now have something bulky in my wallet.
What do you think? Leave one unprotected in my wallet, or does someone manufacture some sort of slightly bigger container for them that's rugged enough but still not too bulky?
Or now that I think of it, does anyone know of a wallet with a tiny pocket that can be closed with a zipper or something that would help prevent a card from accidentally slipping out...?
Or would you just forego the whole idea, and place the encrypted file on your phone...
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If you find a way to keep it safely in your wallet you still need some way to read it, like your phone.
So why not just keep it on/in your phone?
If you can't find time to do it right the first time, how are you going to find time to do it again?
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Mike Hankey wrote: you still need some way to read it, like your phone.
Not a concern for my use case, as a matter of fact, I don't want my phone to easily be able to use it, just store it so I can later transfer it back to a PC if I ever need to.
I'm not doing this to view the content of the encrypted file on the go; I view this as just an extra offsite backup that follows me everywhere I go.
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Mike Hankey wrote: you still need some way to read it, like your phone.
Adapters to full size SD cards are available. When I bought another "full size" SD card for my video camera, what I got was an adapter with a microSD card inserted.
I have got about a dozen readers for full size / adapter SD cards: In my PC screens (for years, all Dell screens had that), my two video cameras, my two system cameras (not smartphones), three different USB external card readers I bought for reading other memory cards, my car GPS map plotter (external, not part of the car stereo), ...
The GPS map plotter will read SD cards (including microSD in adapters) for playing sound files, install new road maps etc. but it cannot transfer arbitrary files on the card to another unit such as your PC. All the others can. I would think that at least one of them will still be operational the day I pass away.
I also can read mini and micro CD cards on my phone. The phone is more likely to get lost or stolen, or to break down (it is 8.5 years old) than my PC disks, and PC disks are subject to backup procedures. I keep a minimum of information on my mobile, for fear of loosing or breaking the phone, and fear of loosing the information to a thief. Sometimes, I use the phone as a carrier when I bring a file to a friend, but the primary copy is always on my PC; the phone copy is a secondary, temporary one.
Religious freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make five.
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I'd put it on my phone. MicroSD cards are problematic, simply by virtue of being so small. I wouldn't trust it even in a wallet. You're digging around in there for something else, it falls out you won't even notice. Over a long enough timeline it's bound to happen.
The other thing is is they are simply not reliable long term storage. Bit drift seems to be a thing, and it will corrupt if not regularly used, in my experience. This jibes with what I've read online on the subject.
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That's one of my primary concerns.
I'm more okay with losing a card every once in a while (as I said, the data's encrypted) than losing the data because it becomes unreadable. I just don't know whether sitting in a wallet would exacerbate that type of problem.
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They're very physically durable from what I've seen. I've even seen one work after it melted on a hot car dash.
But they're just not entirely.. stable? I guess.
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https://honeythecodewitch.com/gfx
And my IoT UI/User Experience library here:
https://honeythecodewitch.com/uix
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honey the codewitch wrote: it will corrupt if not regularly used, in my experience
Maybe SD technology is improved compared to (early) memory stick technology. In the early memory stick days, when Windows was not aware of the disk technology, it would regularly update metadata on the stick. In those days, the memory controller (on the stick) did not iterate writings over all free blocks (wear leveling), so the same physical block was written again and again, wearing out those flash cells. Leaving the stick plugged in for a week or two was a sure way to ruin it. (You could do a full format every now and then, to detect worn out pages, but I have little confidence in a medium that has started to fail.)
Maybe the controllers in today's SCs implement wear leveling. Also, Windows is much more careful about high frequency metadata updates on flash units. I would think that wearing out an SD card by high activity (rather than by non-use) takes a lot longer than with the early USB memory sticks. But I have burnt my fingers a few times, so today I never leave neither USB sticks nor SD cards in the reader of a running PC for extended periods of time.
Religious freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make five.
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Oh absolutely, there's that issue. But I'm talking about just pulling an SD off the shelf that's been collecting dust and firing it up after a year. I've had numerous corruptions just doing that. I'm not sure why, but some kind of bit drift, I guess?
Check out my IoT graphics library here:
https://honeythecodewitch.com/gfx
And my IoT UI/User Experience library here:
https://honeythecodewitch.com/uix
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Hmm, tape a small envelope in your phone case and store one or two there?
Should be a feature of those phone dot thingies.
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Hmmm, what I have is more of a protector than one of those fancy cases that fold and have pockets of their own, but I could still put a card in a small ziplock bag taped at the back of the phone (and then place the case back over it).
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They're way more rugged than people give them credit for. If you're worried about them bending, don't be. Your credit cards don't get bent often I'd wager. They're too tiny for that to be too much of a problem. If you're worried about scratches, get a tiny plastic case or just wrap it in cellophane (it's anti-static).
For peeps saying, just keep it on your phone... its worth noting that your phone is the first place someone will look for private data. Granted, a micro SD card is also obvious in your wallet. So given those two choices, the phone is the better route if you plan to access to the data often. So, guess I didn't need to mention that. 
Does VeraCrypt not run on your phone btw? Just gonna assume it offers a high level of encryption that would warrant not relying on your phones security alone.
Also, if this is a backup you don't need to access often, why not forgo keeping it on your person and eliminate any worries? Unless it's just a backup of a backup in case your first backup gets in a fire or stolen? In which case, would a cloud-based backup suffice?
Jeremy Falcon
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It's pretty much a backup of a backup of a backup by now, I already have plenty of them, it's just a matter of having an extra set "just because" I happen to have spare MicroSD cards doing nothing, and this might be a good use. Being so small, I figured, why not carry this in my wallet?
And no, as far as I know, VeraCrypt does not have a client for Android, but as mentioned elsewhere, the intent is not to have the content readily accessible on Android. It's just a transport mechanism.
I wouldn't worry about physically losing the card either.
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You should be fine then man. Those little boogers are sturdy. Your main concern would be scratches, but you can just wrap it. It's not that much different than a credit card as far as durability goes and it's not like we scratch up the mag strip on them daily. Still, nothing cellophane can't handle.
Jeremy Falcon
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Oh, about the only issue I can think of, is if you sweat a lot and it gets wet because your wallet is wet, you'd have to let it completely dry out before using it again.
Jeremy Falcon
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If they're encrypted, just scatter them everywhere. Sock drawer, wallet, safe deposit box, etc.
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if you have lots of them, then tape 4 to a credit card you do not use very often.
Put 4 in a ziploc in your phone case.
Write some software that will compare all 4 images and choose the “majority” bit match to help with losing a bit here and there.
The encryption software should have anti tamper to tell you if a checksum/hash is wrong when you decrypt it.
Great idea for offsite/on person backup.
Also install a phone home program on the SDs in case someone swipes your wallet or phone.
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I have a couple of external USB drives for backups of data, attached to my PC. The drives are Bitlocker encrypted, in case one gets lost or stolen. Everytime I start the PC I have to use my Bitlocker password to get access to the drives.
However, I recently discovered that once I have access to a drive, if I turn off the PC by hitting the power button instead of doing a proper shutdown through the Start menu, any "open" drives remain open. Next time I start the machine, the drive is immediately accessible. No password needed! You have to go through the proper shutdown procedure to ensure your machine won't have immediate access to the drive on the next startup.
I must admit I haven't checked if a different computer will also have access to the drive left open on my main PC. But the point is: My main PC may get stolen with the external drives during a burglary, for example.
Ok, I have had my coffee, so you can all come out now!
modified yesterday.
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Check the power management settings - your power button is probably set to "sleep" or "hibernate" but there is a "Shut down" option which should restart the OS on power up and require access control to the drives: Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Power Options > Chose what the power buttons do
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
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Yes, I found the setting to change what the power buttons do. I changed that from "sleep" to "shut down".
BUT: There is no way to save this change!  At least not in the very latest version of Windows 11! When I exit the settings panel, Windows resets the setting to the default "sleep"! Stoopid Windows!
Ok, I have had my coffee, so you can all come out now!
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Did you hit the "Change settings that are currently unavailable" - the system settings are in UAC Registry so unless you are elevated, it won't change. Mine is set to "Shut down" and that is persistent.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Yes I did change that setting and it is NOT persistent. Note: I am the only user on this machine and I am the only administrator. It is running Windows 11 Pro fully updated. I have hibernation mode turned off as it bloats up my system backup images.
Ok, I have had my coffee, so you can all come out now!
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Well, if your system does go in sleep mode, then it'll have to do a full power-up anyway if your system gets stolen and spends any amount of time without any power, just as if you'd have yanked the power cord while it was turned on, rather than doing it while it was sleeping--the results would be the same. Unless it's a laptop and the battery runs long enough.
But perhaps more importantly (from my perspective): If your external drives are backups, physically disconnect them and only power them on when doing an actual backup. Ransomware is just as capable of encrypting your mounted backup drives as your main system. Especially since you enter your Bitlocker password on every boot, conveniently making your backups accessible to said malware.
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Sound advice, but I use Windows Security Ransomware Protection on all folders where data are stored. My Macrium system images are protected by Macrium's Image Garden against any and all unauthorized alterations. Then I also maintain an old style 8TB Western Digital spinning disk drive for off-line storage of all important data. This drive is kept powered down an disconnected 99% of the time.
On top of all that: I make at least every week a DVD backup of all new critical data. The DVDs are closed and locked after creation to prevent any further changes. I have a high pile of such old DVDs in my off-line collection.
As regards my system drive: If the worst happens I can always clean my systems drive and do a clean install of Windows on the drive. I have done many clean installs and it typically takes me 3 or so hours to be fully up and running. I always keep a few flash drives with the bootable tiny Windows PE operating system that has embedded the Diskpart utility that can forcibly clean any disk and prepare it for a clean install.
I don't have much faith in backups on the cloud and mostly avoid that. Some of my critical backups are stored off site in a relative's residence.
If you want to know more about Windows PE, see:
Windows PE (WinPE) | Microsoft Learn[^]
Ok, I have had my coffee, so you can all come out now!
modified yesterday.
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