USB Flash Drive

Overview

USB Flash drives are an effective way of moving files between computers or temporary storing documents to share them or have them handy.

• lightweight
• inexpensive media
• capacities of several GB
• better way to share large attachments than email

Warnings About Usage

Even most flash memory is a reliable way to store files, keep in mind that it is not the most secure way to backup. Flash memory tends to be erased with magnetic disturbance or a small charge of static electricity.

Also be aware that if you share a USB drive your information is insecure. This means that there is no permission protection feature inside the drive, and also a resourceful user can undelete previous documents from the drive and recover them.

It is your obligation to ensure that you have another copy of files that you store on the flash drive. It is better to copy a file from the flash drive to your machine, work on it, then move it back to your flash drive to help prevent total data loss.

Naming your memory - When you place your memory in a USB slot in your computer, you can name the device as you would rename any file using the Finder, selecting it (single click), pressing return, and typing a new name.

Size Limit - Your flash drive will have printed on it the number of MegaBytes (MB) or GigaBytes (GB) (for example - 1024 MB = 1 GB which equates to about 3000 text documents or ~300 picture files or many PowerPoint files (depending on how much media you use in the PPT)). When you delete files from your USB memory, you also need to empty the trash in order to free up that space. If you do not, the trash on the USB memory will continue to occupy valuable space (eventually filling your USB memory).

Strengths/weaknesses - Please see this link on wikipedia for a list of strengths and weaknesses.

Instructions for Using these Devices on a Mac

1. Insert the flash drive into the USB port. A white USB drive icon will appear on the desktop.
2. Find the files or folders you want to copy to the flash drive.
3. Select the files or folders you want to save to the flash drive by clicking on them. To select more than one, hold down the APPLE key while you click and select all of the files and folders you wish to save.
4. Drag and drop the selected files/folders to the white USB flash drive icon.
5. When you have finished copying, do not immediately remove the flash drive from the USB port. Instead, drag the white USB drive icon to the Trash Can, located on the Dock.

• Note: the Trash Can will change to the Eject Icon. The white USB drive icon will no longer be visible on your desktop. It is now safe to remove the flash drive from the USB port. If the USB icon continues to show, you may have to quit applications in order to eject the drive. Removing the USB drive without ejecting will eventually damage the drive.

Formatting a Flash Drive on a Mac

1. Go to Go > Applications > Utilities and Open Disk Utility.
2. Choose your flash drive from the left panel and then click Erase on the right hand side. Be sure not to select the Macintosh HD disk or you will erase your computer.
3. You can also specify a name here.
4. Choose Volume Format, MS-DOS File System will allow the drive to be read on Mac's and PC's and a name.
5. Click Erase.