In a fast paced environment do you still imagine yourself saving files using floppy diskettes? It’s the square shaped disk which has a minimal storage capacity only and is very sensitive to viruses. Then comes CD’s or CD-RW but what a hassle since you need a CD writer first to be able to save your files. Thanks to technology and now we are introduced to the use of USB Flash Drive.
USB Flash drives are also known as thumb drives, pen drives or flash disk which is a portable memory storage that can be plug in any computer or laptop’s USB port. It can store data from your important files and presentations, pictures and even music files. The use of USB flash drives has been admired by many for its easy data transfer capabilities (through any USB port) and better memory storage compared to floppy diskettes. Depending on how the user will utilized its capacity, the memory of USB flash drives may vary starting from 128 MB up to 2 GB. For saving files and pictures only, a 128 or 512 MB will be enough but if you use it for saving music files and downloaded television shows then 1-2GB USB flash drive would be perfect for you.
USB flash drives last longer since you need not to worry about scratches unlike CD-RW and floppy diskettes which can be easily damaged if bended. USB flash drive comes in different sizes and shapes also. A corporate type of person may opt for the basic sleek USB drives but some may choose fancier color or even a wearable baller I.D type of flash drive. It is very personal also since one can enable a password or partition files. With the right encryption software than be found on the internet, you can choose files that can be viewed by anyone and provide password for your private files.
However USB flash drives don’t last forever. According to an online tech blog, a USB flash drive can support a hundred thousand rewrite and as it gets old it slows down. So its durability and capacity depends on the number files you save, delete and save again (also know as rewrites), the file size and how much you use it. But nevertheless it is still worth your money because can you imagine saving a hundred thousand times on a floppy diskettes or CD-RW?
To maximize the use of your USB flash disk here some basic reminders you have to take note of once you already got one.
1. Don’t forget to scan your USB flash drives every time you put it on a USB Port.
Some of your files may be corrupted or it is possible to get viruses directly from the computer you are using since USB flash drives can acquire data easily. A virus infected files when copied to you flash drive can do harm not just to your flash drive but to the next computer or USB port you will be using. A number of good anti-virus scanners are downloadable over the internet.
2. After every use of your USB flash drive do not forget to safely remove it. Wait for the computer to prompt “Safely Remove Hardware” before unplugging your USB flash drive from the port. Removing your USB flash drive without doing this may erase your last saved file.
3. Lastly if all else fails you may reformat your USB flash drives. You can do this by going to
My Computer > then look for your device right click it and you will find it there. Just click start or tick the Quick format box and it will make your USB flash drive clean. Take note that buy doing such will delete all your existing files.
The Basics of USB Flash Drive 
