What Does a Flash Drive

A Universal Service Bus (USB) flash drive has replaced the floppy drive while the portable data storage device of preference for all user segments. A flash drive can also be called as a USB drive, pen drive or thumb drive. A flash drive can be used to store, transfer, carry and right back up data, information along with other files. Manufacturers such as for example Kingston, PNY, SanDisk, Corsair, Transcend yet others manufacture reliable, high-speed, rugged and portable flash drives with capacities which range from 256 MB to 32 GB.

How it operates A flash drive uses electronic memory called flash memory which will be electrically erasable, doesn't have moving parts and is programmable. A flash chip contained in the flash drive stores the files. The plug and play options that come with a flash drive did away with the requirement to install additional device drivers. The operating-system of a PC detects the flash drive and the drivers and the flash drive takes the area of an external drive. If the computer does maybe not auto-run these devices, you are able to just click the drive denoting flash drive on "My Computer" and start your desired tasks. Transfer Files A flash drive could be attached to the USB slot or USB hub port of a desktop or laptop. Utilizing the drag and drop feature, files and documents stored on some type of computer could be transferred from the computer to the flash drive and saved in appropriate folders. These files may then be accessed any time on other workstations elsewhere. Similarly, select files saved on a flash drive could be used in some type of computer. Store Files Based on an individual's usage faculties, job profile and specific requirements, a flash drive can be used to store files. Mobile professionals along with other users may use low-capacity 4GB or 8GB flash drives to store word processing documents, spreadsheets, PDF files and basic PowerPoint presentations. Media, entertainment and creative industry professionals may use 32 GB high-speed flash drives to store music videos, music clips, graphics-rich documents and files, photos, entertainment episodes as well as movies. Back-up Devices New-age or latest generation flash drives have password encryption, high-speed interface, fingerprint authentication features along with other functions. These durable flash drives may be used to store personal files, medical histories, family files, photos along with other sensitive and painful data and information. These flash drives serve as solid and reliable back-up storage devices and in the event of computer hard disk drive failure or other PC-based problems could be easily used elsewhere or used to revive documents. Small enterprises, start-ups and several non-profit businesses also use these low priced flash drives as critical back-up data storage mediums. Marketing Tool Due their very form factor and portability, flash drives are emerging as very popular marketing and promotional tools. Marketing-oriented businesses are emblazoning or imprinting their corporate logos, visual imagery along with other branding stickers on these handy devices. These flash drives consist of sales literature, product fact sheets, corporate write-ups along with other marketing communication content by these enterprises and disseminated at trade fairs, industry marts, exhibitions, conferences and seminars.