Our Technology Blog
Posts tagged USB Flash Drive
Why USB Flash Drives Are A Necessary and Universal Tool
Dec 2nd
USB Flash drives are everywhere these days from home office desktops, kitchen computers to computers at work, in the field or on vacation.
Why are USB drives everywhere?
- They offer computer users the freedom and flexibility to save as many files and pictures as they want without bogging down their computers.
- USB drives are affordable and cost as little as $5 for a 2 GB flash drive.
- Unlike other ineffective forms of advertising and promotion, USB drives are a great form of promotion because, any logo or branding information that’s printed on them will be seen every single day.
1980’s USB Flash Drives
One of the most popular and cool uses for USB drives in this day and age is to have them printed up in shapes and styles that mimic things that were popular in the 1980’s.
For example: Quicksilver is now issuing USB drives in the shapes and styles of their 1980’s skateboards and surf boards. These flash drives are hot sellers especially for anyone who skated or surfed in the 80’s and is searching for a bit of nostalgia.
Other popular flash drives from the 1980’s are Transformer and Voltron flash drives, these flash drives are also hot sellers right now thanks to the popularity of the recent Transformer big screen movies.
USB Drives for Company Promotion
If you own your own business or you’re in the sales field and want to make a name for yourself, there’s no better way to promote yourself than by giving away free USB flash drives.
Before giving them away, make sure that you have USB drive printed with your name, logo, phone number and website address because, if a potential customer has more ways to contact you they will be more likely to contact you when they need your service than looking in the phone book to call a competitor.
Think All Flashdrives are Created Equal?
Dec 11th
USB flash drive technology is currently the most common method for the storage and transfer of digital information. When you’re buying a flash drive, it may seem like they’re all the same—aside from their exterior design. You can get flash drives that are shaped like legos or colored with neon patterns, but in all likelihood, you expect the technology inside the case to work the same way. Strangely enough, however, picking out a flash drive is not all about choosing the best or most attractive design. Not all flash drives are actually created equal and if you intend to buy one, it would behoove you to do a little thought and research before you make a decision.
Choose the Right Size
Most people will tell you that you should begin your considerations with an honest look at your budget and your memory needs. Flash drives are becoming capable of handling more and more storage in smaller and smaller packages almost daily, but more is not necessarily better. Consider the type of use you will be making of your drive and calculate whether you really need 250 GB to move your word documents around. Ideally, you should shoot for a size just a bit over what you really think you’ll need during the lifetime of the device. You can always upgrade if you need to, but you’ll feel like you wasted money if you spring for a super expensive device with a capacity you never even begin to tap.
Choose the Best Drive
Picking a storage capacity will help to narrow the field. Your next considerations should be the manufacturer and brand as well as any useful features you might want. Picking a well-known and established brand will help you to feel that you are getting a quality product. You may also want to look for a drive with a good warranty. Most flash drives take a lot of abuse after all, you will want to know that your device is protected. When it comes to features, look for write protection switches that will keep a computer from wiping or overwriting the drive without your permission. Another feature to look into is password protection.
What You Should Know About Backing Your Files Up On USB Devices
Dec 9th
One of the most common uses for USB technology is data storage. It makes sense really, the whole purpose of the technology is to facilitate data transfer from one device to another. We use USB flash drives and hard drives all the time when we need a place to store our information—whether it’s for a temporary transfer or long term storage. In the case of long term storage, however, the details of what and how you store your information become much more important. The stakes rise again when you are storing data for the back up of a machine. No one wants to take the trouble to make a back up, only to find its been corrupted or destroyed when you really need it. If you’re planning to make a back up using a USB drive, then here’s what you should know.
Pick the Right Device
The first thing that you will need to do is pick a device to store your data. Though there are many USB devices available for this sort of use it is best to consider an external hard drive. These drives are essentially the same as the ones in your computer. What makes them a better choice for long-term data storage is their stability over the long term and their large storage capacity. Something like a USB flash drive will tend to be less stable after multiple uses and though their memory capacity continues to grow, an external hard drive still has it beat.
Protect Your Data
Once you’ve made your back up, you will want to take steps to protect your data. This also means protecting the drive you used to hold that data. An external hard drive, for example should be stored level and protected from vibration and sudden movement. A flash drive will need to be put in a safe place where it cannot get lost or damaged. If you are truly concerned about your data, you may want to consider taking some extra steps to protect it. These could include making multiple back ups or arranging for data encryption on your drive. If you take the necessary steps to protect your data, then it will be waiting for you when you need it.
What Are YOU Looking For In A USB Drive?
Dec 3rd
Choosing a USB drive might seem easy in this day and age. Technologically speaking, there has never been a better time to get a hold of the best technology on the market. Drives are smaller, faster, and more stable than they have ever been before, after all. Still, all this advancement has come at a cost. There are also more brands than ever to choose from, as well as more silly bells and whistles. It can be difficult to make an educated decision between all the options on the market. You can’t just buy any drive on the market either though, as this is the device you will be using to store your information. You need to take the time to pick the best USB drive for your intended purpose.
The USB Flash Drive
This is by far the most common type of drive used to transfer information these days. A flash drive is removable and rewritable, it generally weighs less than an ounce and can store up to 256 GB. These drives can have a 10-year data retention cycle and may allow as many as a million write or erase cycles. These drives are great for temporary storage and portability, but there are some drawbacks to them as well. For one thing, though you can get a flash drive in nearly any design you like, they are small and easy to lose. They’re also easy to forget and send through the wash with your favorite jeans. In addition, you will find that after a certain number of write or erase cycles, the drives become unstable and are no longer useful. This type of drive is best used with information that you are interested in moving between machines rather than information you plan to store forever.
The External Hard Drive
External hard drives are set up much like the drives that run your computer. This means that they do have some fragilities, but they are different than those of the flash drive. An external hard drive is a much better choice for your critical system back up than your flash drive, but don’t expect to use it to carry music or projects from the home computer to a computer at work or school.
What You Can Do With A USB Flash Drive
Aug 11th
Many people have USB flash drives for the purposes of storing data. This is obviously the standard reason to own one of these drives. However, if you do own one of these drives or are considering purchasing one, there are a lot of other things you can do with the drive. Here are some of the top uses that a USB flash drive is good for:
Run Portable Applications
Many people today are running portable applications with the use of their USB flash drive. OpenOffice is a complete office suite that can be accessed as a portable application. In addition, Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird are also available for the use as portable applications. This means that you can take the most vital applications with you wherever you are and use them on the go.
Boot An Operating System
Another cool feature of the USB flash drive is the ability you have to boot from the flash drive entirely. This is great is you are having problems with your hard drive. However, you may have to learn how to correctly do it! The process can be complicated at first.
Connect To A Wireless Network
Also, for those that have a wireless network they are accessing, you might want to consider saving the configuration information to the USB flash drive. Then you can connect wirelessly with other computers easily. Windows software can easily help you do this.
Create A Password Reset Disk
Do you ever forget the passwords you have created? It is sometimes hard to remember them all with the requirements that some sites require. However, if you create a password reset disk on your USB, you will be able to remember passwords in a pinch. This may come in handy when you least expect it and you will be glad that you took the time to use this feature of your flash drive.