Flash Drives

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #20 on:** May 05, 2008, 03:00:12 AM

Quote

Now if only there was a way to write-protect them...

You can. Some flash drives have the little notch like floppy disks used to have or if you don't have one of those there are some programs that will protect your flash drive from being written to unless you enter a password (I'm not talking about the password encryption file system garbage).

NeptuneNavigator2001 · **Reply #21 on:** May 05, 2008, 03:12:20 AM

Wow... I'd love to get my hands on a reliable piece of software that would do that, then!

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #22 on:** May 05, 2008, 03:14:45 AM

I think it's called bitlocker or something. It's freeware but I must warn you that it is NOT user friendly. Took me forever to be able to encrypt my drive with write protection. It's a good thing I backed up all the data that was on it first though. I had to format the drive 8 times before I finally got it right. <_<

NeptuneNavigator2001 · **Reply #23 on:** May 05, 2008, 03:16:04 AM

Hmm; what file systems does it support?

And, will the encryption still be in effect if you were to, say access the drive in Linux?

Lillefot · **Reply #24 on:** May 05, 2008, 03:16:11 AM

They are a marvelous invention!
I use them everyday, I'm sure we all do, more or less.
Mine...is broken!

But I fixed it with my solder! :^.^:
It looks great now, without any plastic cover!

:

/Lillefot

NeptuneNavigator2001 · **Reply #25 on:** May 05, 2008, 03:18:58 AM

Wow, Lillefot... Good job! But, just be careful with it...

How did you manage to break it, anyway? Those are tough...

Lillefot · **Reply #26 on:** May 05, 2008, 03:30:28 AM

Quote from: NeptuneNavigator2001,May 5 2008 on 02:18 AM

Wow, Lillefot... Good job! But, just be careful with it...

How did you manage to break it, anyway? Those are tough...

HAHA! Well, it was plugged in to my PC out in my cottage, this kind of flash drive stick out like 3 cm when plugged in.
And as I was leaving the computer... I rose my leg and more or less "kicked" it!
It got broken in two, and I was like: n...no..NO!

I had many weeks work on that one! (I make backups often)
So, I brought some stuff, and thanked god that I know how to handle a solder!

:
Now it works again! Though the solding looks amateur! :^.^:

NeptuneNavigator2001 · **Reply #27 on:** May 05, 2008, 03:55:07 AM

Well, at least you got it working again!

Be thankful that you know how to handle a soldering iron!

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #28 on:** May 05, 2008, 04:00:41 AM

Soldering most things isn't too hard, but a flash drive would be. I've done the same thing before with my leg, but it just broke the plastic off. I now have a flash drive that's just a piece of metal. Pretty cool looking, but I've gotta keep it clean otherwise the data might get erased or the drive could become physically damaged.

Kor · **Reply #29 on:** May 05, 2008, 05:37:21 AM

They are very neat and handy things, and very small for something that hold so much data.

NeptuneNavigator2001 · **Reply #30 on:** May 05, 2008, 06:02:38 AM

Hmm, well, except for my LP-ripping computer, all of my computers are off the floor, on tables... (Actually, my other computer is sitting on my Pac-Man arcade machine, nonetheless... With no other place to put it, well...) So, I've never had that happen. And, when I did have my flash drive plugged into that computer - for transferring files - it was plugged into one of the two USB ports in the back of the computer, and the way I have it set up, I seriously doubt I would actually get near the back of the computer, and kick the flash drive...

:
BTW, landbeforetimelover, could you post a link to that write-protecting program? The freeware one? I can't seem to find anything about it online... And maybe some other people here would find it useful, too...

Kor · **Reply #31 on:** May 05, 2008, 05:30:43 PM

I like the idea of a solid state drive better then a hard drive, though obviously hard drives do have their advantages, one obvious one being price. The whole flash drives and media is a good idea of who ever thought it up, I'm glad they did and could develop it.

NeptuneNavigator2001 · **Reply #32 on:** May 05, 2008, 08:49:37 PM

Yeah, I know... It's a good concept...

action9000 · **Reply #33 on:** May 06, 2008, 02:46:47 PM

I'm just waiting for the day when solid-state drives are fast enough to start replacing mechanical hard drives (which fail way too easily). Flash drives are still painfully slow compared to normal hard drives.

Kor · **Reply #34 on:** May 06, 2008, 05:13:13 PM

That will be a good day, I"m waiting for that day as well. Hope it arrives sooner rather then later.

NeptuneNavigator2001 · **Reply #35 on:** May 06, 2008, 09:37:56 PM

I agree that hard drives tend to fail so easily... It's not a nice thing...!

Kor · **Reply #36 on:** May 07, 2008, 02:10:59 AM

True, I've had some that didn't last long, I"m glad the current ones have. That is one of the pluses of one of the small subnotebook pc's I"m thinking of getting. It has no harddrive but uses a solid state drive instead, though a small one.

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #37 on:** May 07, 2008, 02:59:47 AM

Hard drives are a joke. Just a few days ago, a client brought his computer back to me. I had replaced his little 80gig hd with a new 320gig hd only a little over a year ago and it had already failed. I tried to talk to the company about warranty but all they would do is repair it and I had to pay for shipping there and back! :angry: What a joke! The guy just bought another HD from me, this time a 500gb for only $119. It was worth it to him so he could get his computer working that DAY instead of a WEEK or two from then.

Petrie. · **Reply #38 on:** May 07, 2008, 08:13:04 AM

Guess I'm lucky then...my original desktop I bought back in '02 still has its original HD in it and that computer is almost on 24/7. Granted there are two other (larger) drives in it, but still. My external 250GB one is going on over two years now without a problem. I've had flash drives that don't connect to the computer so I can say quite the reverse for my experience.

Kor · **Reply #39 on:** May 07, 2008, 08:18:48 AM

I've read certain brands are better then others as far as flash drives are concerned.