Question:
Frequently Asked Questions About USB Flash Drives
Portable USB flash drives remain one of the most curious computer peripherals available today. Some people wonder what in the world they're used for, while others wonder what in the world they can't be used for.
This FAQ will help clear up some of the basic questions I hear about those miniature hard drives you so often see dangling from people's key chains.
Answer:
What is the difference between a USB flash drive and a “regular” flash drive?
A “flash drive” is a solid state drive (SSD) technology that stores data like a typical hard drive found in most PCs, but uses no moving parts. Flash drives come in many forms, including external storage devices, portable USB drives, and even as the main storage drive in some extra small laptops.
A USB flash drive is the industry term for a very small, very portable flash drive meant for easy data storage or transfer, and which connects to a computer via a USB port. USB flash drives are so small that most of them are designed to easily attach to a key ring.
What do people use USB flash drives for?
Because of their extreme portability (most weigh in at an ounce or less), the most common purpose for USB flash drives is transferring files between computers at different locations. As their storage capacity has increased, they have also become more and more useful for backing up important files from your PC’s hard drive and storing them in a secure location.
What are the benefits of using a USB flash drive instead of burning files to a CD or transferring them directly to another computer?
Necessity is the mother of invention, and USB flash drives are so popular today because they are faster, easier to use, and more convenient than almost any other method. Burning CDs takes time, and is a permanent process. If you’re taking a project from your office to your home, and you’re going to be finished with it at the end of the week, burning a CD just for that can be wasteful. What’s more, if you make changes to the project, you have to burn a whole new CD in order to take it back to work.
Transferring files directly from computer to computer can be sometimes be oddly complicated, and in most cases, you need them to be right next to each other. With a USB flash drive, it’s as simple as dragging and dropping your files and folders to wherever you need them.
What does “Mbps” mean, and why is it important?
Mbps stands for “Megabits per second,” and simply means the speed at which your files will be transferred from your PC to a device—in this case, a USB flash drive. The speed can range from 30 or 50 Mpbs, to many hundreds. Generally, the larger your USB flash drive’s capacity, the quicker it will be able to transfer your files. This is because larger files need to be transferred faster.
The statistic itself is not particularly important. Most flash drives will have similar speeds for their capacity, and none of them will be so noticeably slow that you need to avoid it.
How much space do USB flash drives have on them?
Drives are almost exclusively available in the range of gigabytes these days. You used to be able to find 512MB versions, but due to lowered costs and increased transfer speeds, such a comparatively small capacity is largely outdated.
Sizes can range from 1 gigabyte to a massive 64 gigabytes, with a sliding price scale to go along with it. You can get the “smaller” capacity drives for as low as $20, and you can spend several hundred dollars on a 32 or 64 gigabyte USB flash drive.
How can USB flash drives be so small?
USB flash drives use solid state flash technology, which stores data without using moving parts, as most physically larger internal PC hard drives do.
How secure are USB flash drives?
If you’re storing important information about your job, or valuable copyrighted files if you are a creative person, many USB flash drives offer encryption features that will be able to protect your files from prying eyes. This is not a standard feature among USB flash drives, but they are available, and that can be invaluable to someone who might leave their drive on a busy train, or in a locker somewhere.
Physically speaking, USB flash drives are extremely robust. Without moving parts, and being so light, most flash drives can withstand being jostled around, dropped, or stepped on without sustaining internal damage. Most also come in a sturdy, rugged encasement that can withstand plenty of rough housing.
