When I did computer work at Hewlett-Packard, on ocassion we had to vault hard drives for safe-keeping. I was told as long as the hard drive is stored a particular way (described below) in a static, safe, climate controlled location like a bank-vault, the data on it should be safe for at least 7 – 10 years which was required by audit.

At HP we had the items to do this but you will need to purchase them:

1. Visit Amazon.com
2. Search for “Desiccant pack”
3. Purchase $5 worth of Desiccant packs also sold as “Silica Gel” packs.
4. Search for “Reseable Antistatic Bag”
5. Purchase for $5 a reseable antistatic bag big enough to hold the hard drive and one or two desiccant packs.

At HP, we would put the hard drive in the reseable static bag along with one or two desiccant packs and try to get as much air out of the bag as possible prior to sealing the bag; and then we stored the hard drive in a climate controlled bank vault.