OPINIONS!! (On Thumb Drives)

JDC · July 18, 2006, 02:44:21 PM

Yes, again Mitch,thank you for the little "you can do it" shove ! LOL. After I took the CAP off of the thumbdrive I was able to match up the end to the place on the left(front) of the computer. I had no idea that the clear "thing" on the end came off!!!Therefore I was looking for a SLOT to put it into. I think I need to amend my signature to include this: :stupid: :hysterical:

mitch · July 18, 2006, 03:07:18 PM

a lot of folks carry them in their pocket and get junk in the pins, so that's why the cover for when not in use ;-DDDD

and this is the first time you have used it so can't be stupid !!! just learning ;-D

Brynn · July 19, 2006, 04:26:12 AM

Well this is all just TOO COOL!!
Wow!
I have 4 usb ports, 2 in use, 2 available. And I could free up a 3rd, with the right adapter. They ARE in the back of the tower, hard to reach, so changing them in and out would be a pain. But then, I never use any other computers....just this one ;)

So can I ask a dumb question?
I was looking at the images of usb ports, to which Corrine posted a link. One of them was titled a "fire wire", but it looked just like the other usb...plugs?...oh, connectors?...the thing that goes into the port. So is a usb connector the same thing as a fire wire?

And I REALLY like the concept of using the thumb drive as a single backup media! Well, you'd probably want to backup the backup, but what I mean is no more switching out so many discs, every time you save/backup.

Good topic, thanks for posting it!

JDC · July 19, 2006, 05:21:29 AM

Quotejust learning ;-D

:flowers:Thank you Mitch!

QuoteGood topic, thanks for posting it!

I agree and thank you for the answers!

mitch · July 19, 2006, 02:07:29 PM

Brynn

nope firewire and usb are different critters !!!!

apple came out with firewire and it was fast
pc's came out with usb 1 and it was ok but slow

then a couple of years ago usb 2 came out, uses the same connectors and is fast !!!
you can interchange the two ( backwards compatable) but if you have a usb 1 device then that is the speed of the ports

so all the external drives with the usb2 are pretty quick but at usb1 speed they would be darn slow !
usb1 = 1 meg/sec
usb2 =40 meg/sec

now my usb plugs are in the back only, BUT you can get a usb extension cord ;-)
i have a 6 ft usb extension cord in the back and then i can plug in my card reader easly in front for photo edit and such ;-)

a word of caution. if you go to a office supply store for the cable they will want $30, but look around the discount stores and should be about $5 to $10

Brynn · July 24, 2006, 01:56:57 AM

Quote"now my usb plugs are in the back only, BUT you can get a usb extension cord"

TOO, TOO COOL!!!

Is the usb "extension cord" like regular electric extension cords, so that you could have multiple receptors on the end of a cord which plugs into a single usb port?

Something tells me 'no', but I HAD to ask, lol! :smash:

mitch · July 24, 2006, 04:35:44 AM

nope

one end will look like the end of your thumb drive
the other end will look like what is on your computer box

they make extensions but on most devices the one end that you plug into is smaller
so if you have a camera/scanner or something you will see it is a small plug, that is not what you want
see the above for description !!

JOSEPH · July 28, 2006, 02:45:45 AM

Thx for the feedback all...... :mitch:

Eric the Red · July 30, 2006, 06:54:34 AM

Guys,

I am pleased to see that you are having fun with these devices and I don't want to appear to be the Prophet of Doom but a word of warning:

These beasties can go wrong, exposure to dust, heat, strong magnetic fields - and sitting on them is not good!
They are surprisingly easy to lose, don't use them as a primary backup of your files or store anything that you don't want the rest of the world to see!

In the days of floppies you could only lose 1.44Mb of data, now you can lose Gigabytes!

:2cents:

JDC · July 30, 2006, 08:54:42 PM

Quotestrong magnetic fields

Can you give me an example of where that might be? I can only think of perhaps not having it near the microwave? I have mine sitting right here by the computer :confused:...is that bad? Thanks for posting this bit of info Eric the Red!

mitch · July 30, 2006, 10:21:12 PM

if you have a glass monitor that is a strong magnetic field ;-) (speakers also)

as he said they are great for temp storage and data exchange between computers, but i would not use it as a backup source ;-)

Eric the Red · July 31, 2006, 07:25:19 PM

I have received a query in respect of the following comment:

Quote from: Eric the Red on July 30, 2006, 06:54:34 AM

These beasties can go wrong, exposure to dust, heat, strong magnetic fields - and sitting on them is not good!

I take full responsibility for the confusion in that I was including all forms of small, portable "memory stick" type mass storage devices with an USB connector in the generic description of "thumb drives". I should make it clear that there are two types of device here, the smaller solid state "Flash" type drives and those that contain miniature hard disk drives.

The former should be immune from the effects of strong magnetic fields whilst the latter are not and the most common damage to those is by leaving them in close proximity magnetic fields associated with audio speakers (thanks for mentioning them mitch :thumbsup:). Miniature hard drives are also prone to damage by dropping them, etc.

If you do intend to use a flash type mass storage device firstly look for those that can be password protected or have fingerprint protection rather than be taken in by the storage capacity. In particular be wary of those devices with huge capacity that are advertised on some online auction sites, there are many reports of those devices failing after a few hours use.

Caveat emptor - in this field you get what you pay for. :muahaha:

Temmu · August 03, 2006, 05:41:50 PM

-= caution =-

when using usb flash drives, plug them into only the mother board mounted usb ports. usuall the ones on the back of the pc.

i've seen pc's reboot and or flash drives destroyed when plugging into the front usb port.
why?
it's probable that the ports are mis-wired.

the back ports are soldered at the factory to the motherboard.
the front ports have wires running to the motherboard. it's pretty easy to plug them in wrong.
remember, usb also supplies power, besides moving data.

mitch · August 03, 2006, 06:17:56 PM

Quotethe front ports have wires running to the motherboard. it's pretty easy to plug them in wrong.

humm?

the pins on the motherboard has one pin cut off and the plug has a plug in that pin so it can only go in one way on the systems i have worked on

Temmu · August 03, 2006, 10:46:06 PM

i've seen several home builts that had the front usb ports wired wrong...
i've had eough bad experiences to avoid 'em.
but that could be just me...