The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group USB Flash Disk George Skarbek gskarbek@melbpc.org.au |
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A pocket sized, USB device that holds a remarkable one gigabyte of data.
Have you ever had to copy several large files from one computer to another? Once the files become several times larger than a floppy drive this can be a problem. Sure, you can use WinZip and span multiple floppies but you need to have the floppies and time. You can e-mail them if they are less than the size of your mailbox but this takes even more time and both computers need Internet connections. You can burn a CD if a burner is available or use a Zip drive if you have one. You can use a cable and the Local Area Network assuming you have networking cards and cables. But often, when you are at a friend's home or in a client's office, most of these options will not be available.
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However, now there is one more method to transfer files and that is to use a USB drive. These are tiny
devices that can even fit on a key ring as shown in the photo. Typically they weigh about 15 grams
(or « oz) and can store 1 GB of data. Claimed data retention time is over ten years making this device
suitable as an off-site backup device that you can carry with you in your briefcase or handbag. With
falling prices they are becoming affordable. In January 2003 a 64 MB USB drive could be obtained for
just $60.
With Windows ME, 2000 and XP no software is required. Simply plug it into the USB port and you have an additional drive. Just like that. With Windows 98 you must install the supplied software. Windows 95 is not supported. |
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There are many models available and I purchased the USB Flash Disk as it had several features that may
be of use to me. Namely a write-protect switch, password protection to part or all of the drive, LED
indicating activity and the ability to make this a bootable drive (for Windows 98 only and if the
motherboard supports this). All makes and models can be hot swapped, that is, you can plug these in
and out without having to reboot your computer.
After purchasing one I just plugged it in, XP recognised it and within a few seconds I had an additional
drive. Windows assigned the next available letter but I altered it to drive U: (for USB) to make it easy
to distinguish/remember.
The claimed speed is 15 times that of the floppy or 1.1 MB/Sec reading and 700 KB/Sec writing. My tests
verified that for copying several large files the achieved rates were close to what was claimed. However
for copying lots of tiny files, 330 cookies totalling about 200 KB, it took over 2 minutes! The speed
was slower
than a floppy. Zipping and then copying these files took a total of 1.5 seconds.
To create a password protected section of the drive requires the installation of a small supplied program.
You then have the ability to assign a section of the drive to be private. This process is menu driven and easy to use, but like Fdisk it will wipe all existing data when you resize, but as you can copy any files beforehand, this is not a problem. Having created a 10 MB private section and copied files to both sections then I plugged this into my laptop. With a few seconds Windows XP recognised the new drive. Using Explorer I saw only one 54 MB drive and public files with no indication that there even existed another section on the USB drive. In order to see the hidden partition their software must be installed and then you must enter your password to see the protected files.
To write-protect this drive, there is a small slider switch on the side as shown in the photo.
Summary
Overall a useful product if you have the need to copy files between computers or even to back up files for
offsite, safe storage. The only drawback is if you are copying many small files the transfer rate is slow
and zipping is recommended as you could easily add WinZip onto the drive.
Reprinted from the February 2003 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
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