Your daily dose of practical, easy to follow tech tips!
USB flash drives have made the process of transferring files between one PC and another the easiest that it has ever been. Simply plug the drive into one PC, copy the desired files to it, then plug it into the 2nd PC and copy the files to the hard drive. It’s a fast and easy process.
But this convenience comes at a high potential cost. Plug a thumb drive into a computer that’s infected with a virus and that virus can hitch a free ride right onto your own PC’s hard drive. [Read more…]
Question from Ken L.: Rick, I need help big time my friend. I accidentally deleted all the files from my USB pen drive and I REALLY need to get them back. I checked the Recycle Bin and they aren’t in there. Is there anything I can do to get them back?
Rick’s answer: There’s a good chance that you’ll be able to recover at least some of your lost files Ken, and maybe even all of them if luck is on your side. Here’s what you need to do: [Read more…]
Question from Gary M.: I have my photos and Lightroom catalog on my USB drive and move them from my laptop to desktop. It would make my life easier if it presented as the J: drive every time it’s plugged into either machine.
How can I force my external USB drive to present itself as the same drive letter every time it’s plugged in no matter which PC I plug it into?
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]
Most of us who are old enough to remember the days of the floppy disk have a special appreciation for modern USB flash drives. It used to take a large stack of “floppies” to hold just a few really large files, and those floppies were susceptible to all kinds of problems that are virtually unheard of nowadays.
The invention of the USB flash drive solved virtually all of the problems that plagued the floppy disk, including the big one: extremely limited storage capacity. In fact, I saw an ad just a short while ago for a USB flash drive that can store up to 512GB of data!
There are several companies that manufacture and sell flash memory devices, and one that I have always liked is Lexar. [Read more…]
Question from Steven D.: Rick, I recently bought a brand new Kingston 64GB USB flash drive off of eBay, but it will only format to 2GB.
I’ve tried every format option there is but the result is always the same. How can I tell if the drive is bad or if I’m doing something wrong?
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]