Quote from: someguy123 on June 19, 2013, 06:08:35 PM

Quote from: grue on June 19, 2013, 05:31:10 PM

Quote from: Remember remember the 5th of November on June 19, 2013, 05:07:08 PM

Didn't Google use some kind of tape to store their data, even today in 2013?

Those are tape drives, which are great for backups. But they are impractical to use because tape readers are rare. They are also subject to the same problem as VHS tapes: they deteriorate over time.

Tape drives aren't that rare. Many businesses store data on tape because they're actually quite reliable. Unlike hard drives they don't have moving parts, plus they're EXTREMELY cheap. You can get a 1.6 terabyte tape for £15 over here:
http://www.businessdirect.bt.com/products/sony-lto-ultrium-4-1-6tb-data-cart-4KNR.html?refs=56270000

Although, tapes are restricted to mostly businesses, because the tape machines are really damn expensive.

Floppies are one of the worst possible mediums for your wallet though, back on my old laptop, I had floppies that would gain bad sectors within a few days of writing something to them. They're highly volatile to data destruction just from normal use; plus floppy drives are uncommon now, my current PC doesn't even have a CD drive ( I usually use flash media for installing an operating system, and all my games come from services such as Origin and Steam. )

I would suspect a defective floppy drive on the laptop.