USB Flash Drives

USB flash drive have been with us since early 2000 and have become even more ubiquitous than the old floppy drive.

They combine flash memory with the USB connector in a durable small stylish package.

The earliest drives were 8MB which although it sounds small today it was considerably better than the humble floppy which it effectively replaced.
Today ( 2008) drives with a capacity of 256GB are available with 4GB drives being common and affordable.

Uses

There main use is for transferring data from one machine to another but other uses are:

• Computer repair- Contain
  repair and anti virus tools that can be used on the problem computer.
• Storing Music
• Audio Players- Effectively a
  USB flash drive with audio controls. (creative MUVU).
• Albums- Some bands have released albums on USB drives.
• Boot Drives- Some computers can boot from them

Main Advantages

Flash drive have many advantages over other portable media:

• They are supported by all modern operating systems
  without the need for additional drivers to be installed.
• Incredibly resistant to abuse. Some have survived a
  machine wash.
• Low power consumption.
• No moving parts
• Very high storage capacity and growing.
• Support encryption.
• High transfer rates.