USB Flash Drives
[version 2016.11.3.a]
The object of this tutorial is to get comfortable with using USB Flash Drives to store data, and retrieve it.
It will also be useful for dealing with related devices, such as MP3 players.
Readings for USB Flash Drives
First, just what is this "USB" thing?
Read Universal Serial Bus -- only the first couple of paragraphs should be enough, unless you get truly fascinated.
USB ports may have the symbol 
and look like rectanges, about a half inch by an eighth of an inch.
USB ports may or may not be on the front of the computer. If they are present, they always have some on the back. For our work computers, a couple of these might be on the left side of the monitor. You can reach the ones in the back with extension cables.
BTW (By The Way): you may see a USB port on some printers, but with a symbol like two tadpoles passing each other. This is for a special USB connection to certain cameras that can print directly to printers without downloading to a computer. They are now showing up on sound systems elsewhere (cars, small stereos, etc.).
In 2006, the USB 2.0 standard allowed for the introduction of faster USB ports. Most USB 2.0 devices are backwards compatible with the older 1.x version ports, but will be slower in transferring data.
Older computers here may have only 1.0 ports. These usually give a warning when you plug in a USB drive that it would work faster if you plugged it into a 2.0 port (not that you have any). Just ignore it when on library computers.
Be sure that any USB-connected cables or devices which you buy now say at least USB 2.0 on them. You can still use them with older ports, but you will be able to use the higher speed 2.0 ports as well.
USB 3.0/3.1 is available. It should be backwards compatible with earlier versions.
ALSO -- there is a new USB plug which is called USB Type C, looks much like a micro-USB, but is reversible. That will take a while to have ports which work with it.
There are two basic types of USB extension cables. One kind has both versions of the standard USB plug, A and B (Male and female). The other kind has a long square plug on one end (with two slanted corners), that can only go directly into an accessory such as a printer; this type is useless for USB Flash Drives. Some cables/adapters have the smaller mini-USB plug on one end; these are used for a lot of tablets, phones, and chargers.
Read USB Flash Drive . Okay, you can just skim the history and technical stuff, if you prefer.
Do read the first paragraphs (above the Contents box) and then get down to the Common Uses and continue.
We will use "USB Flash Drive" or "USB drive" as the generic terms here. "Thumbdrive" is a proprietary term. "Keychain" drive is not very accurate -- there are no chains involved in the function of these drives (and they'd probably get caught in your clothes if they existed, anyway), although you could keep one on a keychain.
There are also USB-connected drives with memories which are not "Flash" memories. These are usually larger and often have spinning drives.
There are a lot of variations. Click for the Barbie version!
1. Learn basic use
* Borrow one of the Library's long-lost USB Flash Drives.
This is a usually a standard drive. The USB connector may be under the cap on the end. Some drives have other types of mechanisms to protect the cap, or have the cap swing out of the way. And then there are those people who have lost their caps....
A. The USB Connector and the USB port
* Plug the USB Flash Drive in. The USB connector goes into the USB port. It only goes in one way, so if it doesn't work the first time, turn it over and try the other side.
Some computers have multiple ports, for other types of memory (FireWire, camera memory cards, etc.). USB is usually one of the largest rectangular openings with square corners.
B. How the computer sees the USB Flash Drive
When the computer "feels" the drive plugged in, it should start checking it out. You'll usually get a "New Hardware" popup, and perhaps the computer will tell you it is "installing" the drive. You may also get a little sort of congratulatory popup saying it is installed.
Oh, it might give that little nag about the port being faster if you used a 2.0 port, if you're using an older computer. Ignore it.
Depending on your setup, you may get a popup with a list of choices about what to do with the files on the USB Flash drive. Look familiar? Right, it is very similar to the popup you often get when you load a CD. Same principle, although some of the choices may differ slightly, especially if there is software on the drive -- then one choice may be to run the software.
Some USB drives have password protection, or even fingerprint protection. The owner will have to handle that. Ours don't.
* Now, close that box for the time being and, at the desktop, open My Computer. See how the computer lists the USB Flash Drive. If it doesn't, then click on View and then on Refresh and it should appear.
Now, depending on the computer, the actual letter of the flash drive may differ considerably. On top of that, depending on how many drives you have, you might find the USB Flash drive is drive "E" on one computer and drive "L" on another. Don't let that throw you. It's the same thing, but the computer you are using at the moment may have other things assigned to the drives in between, and just gave the USB drive the next letter that came up.
Another quirk: you may appear to have 2 drives! For example, you might have an "L" and an "M" drive. The first one usually has some software that helps run the USB drive, while the second holds the data. Ignore the first and use the second, if you see this -- it will be the larger drive.
* You can copy to and from files on the USB drive just like you would a floppy or your hard drive. Try a sample file or two, and copy it to the drive, and then back to someplace else. A music file (mp3 or wma) would be a good example. Unlike CDs, you can alter these files while they are on the flash drive.
* Now look down in the lower right corner of the screen at your tray area (the place with the icons for stuff). See this one? 
This means that you are connected to hardware that you should remove (disconnect) from Windows BEFORE you unplug it. You do this by clicking on the icon and then selecting the drive (there may be several entries, just pick the top one) and clicking on CLOSE.
Did it work? Well...
When possible, try to disconnect from Windows first, before you pull the USB drive out. However, if Windows won't cooperate, don't worry. It's
not unusual for Windows to get sticky about this. Most people routinely just yank the USB drive out and ignore this step. It can, however, confuse
Windows, especially if you still have a window up showing stuff on the drive, so be sure to close everything dealing with the USB drive BEFORE you
pull it out. Also, ALWAYS wait for the light on the USB drive to stop blinking before you disconnect it. When the light is blinking, it is reading or writing something, and you don't want to mess that up.
2. Learn about U3 use
It is possible to run programs from USB drives, just like you can from a CD or floppy or hard drive.
In order to make this easier, some manufacturers created the U3 standard, which is a drive which is sold with basic software already included, such as a password protection, and a menu system. You can add more programs which work with the U3 standard and add them to the menu. Or, you can just use programs created for "portable drives" and put them on, but you might not be able to get them included on the menu.
U3 drives are quite likely to show up as 2 drives in My Computer with the U3 software on one, and the data on the other.
Since U3 drives are normally passworded, we won't use them in the library here, but you should know about them if a patron is using one.
Some libraries have computers which do not accept U3 drives, as the computer security setup won't allow the U3 software to run, even off the USB drive. You shouldn't have that problem on this campus, normally.
3. Software
Why bother carrying your software with you on a USB drive? Well, imagine you're in a place where you want to perform some task, and have to use an Internet cafe, or library computer, or borrow one. Oops -- the software you're used to isn't there! Just plug in your USB drive and use the version from there. OpenOffice, for example, is very similar to Microsoft Office, and there's a portable version of that.
Also, it lets you be more secure to use your own copy of Firefox, say, from your USB drive, instead of Internet Explorer on someone else's computer. (You can even get anti-virus software to run first from the USB drive, then run Firefox -- or just run the anti-virus if there is none on the computer, or it looks outdated.)
USB Flash drive software must be specially made for this purpose, but there is a growing list of titles. Some are portable versions of other programs, and some were created just for USB Flash drives. U3 software is a subgroup and is created especially for those drives. Here are some sources you can browse, just to get an idea.
Portable USB Apps a group of small versions of useful applications that can be copied to and used from a Flash drive. This is a "suite" which includes anti-virus, Firefox, OpenOffice, and other items, including a menu system (although not every program can be added to it).
PortableApps.com , EverythingUSB.com and PortableFreeware have software.
U3.com has U3 software.
Don't have a U3 drive? Then you can still run U3 applications by using Pegtop's PStart for non-U3 drives.
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