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Introduction to USB Flash DrivesEric Moore, CUGGSeptember 10, 2005 |
USB flash drives are one of the greatest inventions since
sliced bread. They provide a quick and convenient means of
moving and sharing data between computers, and can fit in your pocket
unlike larger media such as floppies and CDs.
USB flash drives are electronic devices that function like CDs and
floppy disks, but are based on a different design principle.
Unlike a traditional drive, which has moving parts including a rotating
disk made of plastic or metal, a flash drive has no moving parts to
wear out or break. The information stored on a flash drive is
maintained in non-volatile RAM. Unlike the RAM in your
computer, which loses information the moment you turn off the power,
non-volatile RAM in the USB drive retains your information even when
the drive isn’t connected to a USB port. One note
of caution however: the information is not permanent. Even a
flash drive can lose information over a long period of time.
You should not use a flash drive as a long-term storage
option. It is best that you always back up any critical files
from your flash drive to other media such as a hard disk or CD.
You can save files to a flash drive as transparently as you would to a
conventional disk. When the flash drive is inserted in the
USB port, Windows will detect the device and display it under My
Computer with a drive letter. You can save new and modified
files through programs such as Microsoft Word and Adobe
Photoshop. You can also drag and copy folders and files to
and from the flash drive with Windows Explorer. When you
unplug the drive, it is best to do so as you would other hot-swappable
devices. When the drive is plugged in, Windows will display a
tiny gray and green icon in the System Tray in the lower right-hand
area of your taskbar. Left-click once on the icon and you
should see a listing for your flash drive. Left-click once on
this listing and Windows will attempt to safely unmount the
drive. If information is still being written to the device,
you will receive a warning and have to try again later.
Otherwise, you will receive confirmation when it is safe to remove the
drive. It is especially important to remember to do this when
saving or modifying information on the drive.
Flash drives come in a variety of capacities ranging from a few tens of
megabytes to a few gigabytes. Smaller models are comparable
to low capacity Zip disks, while larger models can store more than one
CD’s worth of information. Prices vary according to
manufacturer, features, and accessories, but you will generally pay
between four cents and eight cents per megabyte of storage.
(As a rule of thumb when computing the cost per megabyte, one gigabyte
is equal to 1024 megabytes.) Flash drives are sold by most
online computer retailers as well as brick and mortar stores such as
OfficeMax, OfficeDepot, Circuit City, and Best Buy. When
searching an online retailer’s site, you may find the flash
drives listed with other storage products such as hard drives, or under
a separate category for USB devices.
When shopping for a flash drive, consider the features and accessories
that are provided. Depending on the make and model, the drive
may have such features as encryption support to protect your data, a
write-protect switch to prevent accidental erasure of information, an
LED to indicate when information is being read from or written to the
device, and a hardened case making it more crush resistant.
Accessories may include a lanyard, a USB extension cable, extra caps,
and/or a CD with drivers for Windows 98SE. If a CD is not
provided, you should be able to download the Windows 98SE driver for
free. Windows Me, 2000, and XP generally do not require any
software be installed, unless you are using a drive with encryption.
Some drives are designed better than others. Some have caps
that may easily fall off and become lost. Others have caps
that are attached to the drive and swivel on and off. Some
drives have a hole for the lanyard on the cap, which increases the
chances of losing the drive while wearing it around your
neck. Others have the hold on the drive itself.
Some drives are very slim enough that two may fit in side-by-side USB
ports. Some are thicker which makes them easier to handle and
find in your pocket or purse, but allows less room for plugging them
in. For instance, if your USB port is located near the bezel
of your computer case, it may not provide enough clearance for the
drive. In such cases, you would need a USB extension cable or
USB hub. For more information, you may search the internet
for reviews on USB flash drives or send a message to CUGG at members@cugg.org to
request advice.
Some drives support USB specifications 1.1 and 2.0. Others
may only support 2.0. If you are not sure whether your
computer supports the newer 2.0 specification, be sure to consult your
computer’s documentation or manufacturer’s
website. If possible, you will want support for USB 2.0, as
it supports faster file transfers. Some
manufacturers’ drives are faster than others, so you may wish
to consult product reviews in computer magazines and online for
comparative performance data.
Drives with plastic cases are more likely to crack or break than those
with metal cases. I almost broke one drive while it was
plugged into the back of a laptop. I had to tip the laptop
back to read some information on the bottom. This jammed the
drive downward against the tabletop and almost split the plastic cover
apart.
If you use a drive with encryption, be aware that you may not be able
to access your data if you use the drive on a PC that does not have the
encryption drivers. For instance, a computer at a public
library probably will not have the required drivers, thus preventing
you from accessing your information. If security is not an
issue to you, then you may be best off turning the encryption off.
I use a flash drive regularly on the job, and much prefer it over
conventional media such as floppies, Zip disks, and CDs. The
drive I use is a 1 GB Lexar JumpDrive Sport. Unlike most
drives which have a plastic cap that slides on and off, the JumpDrive
Sport has a durable rubber cap that reaches all the way around the
drive. There is no chance of it falling off when I carry it
in my pocket. I primarily use the drive when I need to carry
a copy of a program to be installed on several computers. I
just copy the necessary file(s) to the drive, install the software, and
then delete the files when I am finished. (Copying files to a
flash drive is easier and can be faster than it is to burn the files to
a CD.) I have even copied an entire installation CD to the
drive and used it to install software on a computer with a defective CD
drive. It is also ideal for quickly copying large files from
my laptop to a desktop computer, including this very blog entry.