Number 304 - September 2008

USB What Exactly Are These Devices, and For What Are We Using Them?
by Gregory West, Editor, Sarnia Computer Users Group, Sarnia, ON, Canada <http://www.scug.ca>
Many people think of USB being a small device that stores data. This is true, although there is much more to this creation. Your expensive digital camera, video or voice recorder, mp3 player, and the like utilize USB technology and thus need special care. If you are not careful you just may lose all that is stored on these devices or worse...    For Geeks Only: The acronym "USB" stands for Universal Serial Bus. Ok, I know, that still means zippo. What does USB stand for? "Universal" means that it is used for almost any type of storage and transfer of data. The "Serial" part is not disgestible, however it does allow you to transfer data one bit at a timein sequence keeping order to your data. The "Bus is a subsystem that transfers data between computer components or between computers" (wikipedia.org). Now, with that out of the way we can explore the many uses, care, and maintenance of your USB device. Some call them "memory sticks," "thumb drives," "memory bars," and so on; you can name yours whatever you wish. The main thing is a USB is an extra drive, the same as drives C, D, and others on your computer. Once you insert your USB drive into the slot on your computer you will be immediately notified that you have added a new drive (different operating systems give out different notifications). If you go to "My Computer" you will now see the new USB drive. Double click on it and you will be inside the USB drive.    If you are using an Apple computer such as MacBook and you pull out your USB drive without shutting it off (sending to the "Trash") you get a NASTY warning not to do it again. When you remove USB drives on most PCs you get no warning message; although you should. Why? The USB drive can be ruined over time. It is just like when you shut down your Windows program, you have a proper methodto shut it down properly. If you don't, well, you simply get a message later telling you the "Windows was not shut down properly...". On your tool bar, at the bottom right, near the clock icon,	you should see an icon for properly shutting down a USB drive - "Use it or lose it" as they say. The old saying: "Do not store all your eggs in one basket" goes very strong for USB drives. Some people are now using USB drives for their backups and you must remember that like any technology these drives do quit... Just as other hard drives and memory "sticks" and the like; they all only last for a certain amount of time...The better you look after these devices can expand their life spans.     Be careful for what type of USB drive you buy. I bought a nice one with a leather bound cover that had a T-shaped insert end. It worked great by itself, however when I tried putting another USB device beside it the connection was too wide and blocked any newcomers from joining in on the fun. So make sure all of your USB connections are the same width so they will all be able to work together, fitting into their respective slots at the same time. The leather bound USB still looks nice...I might give it away as a gift LOL. USB drives can be very large such as my backup drive at 250 GBs, however it requires electricity. But as little as 1 GB (I wouldn't buy any less these days), you can literally host an operating system now. Many people who travel are putting Skype (Internet phone program) on their USB drives so they can make calls from a computer that does not have Skype downloaded.     Whether in the comforts of home, or on the road, my USB drives save me from carrying a ton of CDs and also I don't have to worry about the CDs scratching, etc. I can see the death of CDs just like cassettes and VCRs. Backing up with USB drives simply makes good sense these days. I use my 1 to 4 GB USB drives to backup my data, photos, videos and text files while while traveling. At home I have my 250 GB USB drive with all my personal data. It is only turned on when I choose to do so, that way nobody has access to ANY of the files on that drive while I surf the Web worry free. And to be honest, concerning my USBs, I don't leave home without one.
Number 304 - September 2008