January 15, 2024 at 12:00 am
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Portable Data Storage
January 15, 2024 at 9:24 am
Bought USB memory stick due to having issues backing up important files on two home Windows 10 PCs that have both gained vhdmp.sys issues since the November updates. Very small, 64GB unit that slides out USB 3.1 Type-C variant one side and USB A if slid the other way. Very cheap at £12.99 UK from ARGOS. (https://www.argos.co.uk/product/7845251?clickSR=slp:term:64gb%20memory%20stick:3:76:1)
January 15, 2024 at 11:02 am
I shared Steve’s thoughts recently about removal storage. The only time I use removable storage is when I need to image a computer from bootable media. This is a big change from my early days in college back in the 90s when I would lug a SCSI Jaz disk drive in my backpack so I would access my files in computer labs. I still have those discs and every hard drive I’ve owned in computers since 1998 in a box because I’ve always been too scared to throw them out.
My biggest issue with removable media now is that most of my computers have USB-C ports and most of these old thumb drives are USB-2. So I have a handful of adapters for them. The second big issue is that many workplaces disable removable storage now so nearly no one can use a thumb drive. I have at least a dozen of these thumb drives that I’ve purchased at the highest price possible in a Walgreens because of some emergency situation that demanded them. I have one in my work backpack that hasn’t moved from its hook much since 2019 when I started working at home and who knows if it still works. I have a NAS at home that gets a fair amount of use that I would use when if I need to move files between computers and a wireless network built with commercial hardware (solid APs and router and switches) that makes this process painless, so I’m fairly free of removable media most of the time.
But when a thumb drive is needed, only a thumb drive will do.
January 15, 2024 at 11:29 am
I confess to having a RK07 and RM03 disks in the loft. (As used on DEC m/c removeable storage). (And a finger sized read/write head that was manufactured untested with one wire that did not reach the end).
January 15, 2024 at 1:57 pm
Good question, Steve. The last time I used a thumb drive was when I bought my latest desktop computer, in 2022. When I was setting it up it suggested that I made a recovery disk on a USB drive, so I did. I guess this doesn't exactly meet your specification, because once the recovery media was created, I disconnected it from my PC, then threw it into a drawer where it still sits.
Before that, I can't remember when I last used a thumb drive.
Rod
January 15, 2024 at 2:17 pm
I have a rotating set of thumb drives that I use to move mp3s from my music library between home and my car. But that's about all I use them for now.
I have an 18TB external drive that I picked up recently for <$300 that has backups of my laptop and Pro Tools DAW. Pro Tools sessions take a fair amount of space and I like to keep work in progress snapshots of recording / mixing sessions on the drive. I'll get around to building a NAS at some point to replace that but the portable drive was WAY cheaper that a NAS. It will do for now.
January 15, 2024 at 3:09 pm
Although cell cams are becoming more popular, most trail cams still use SD cards for data storage/transportation.
Aside from that, I still prefer to move storage from one laptop to another via USB flash drive. It feels faster and more efficient than moving them up the cloud and back.
Be still, and know that I am God - Psalm 46:10
January 15, 2024 at 8:44 pm
I guess I'm a luddite as I use flash drives or SD cards almost daily.
SD cards for transferring files to the 3D printers (not network enabled devices) or from any of the SLR cameras (not used nearly as much as they used to be). Each car has it's own thumb drive for music and I have an additional one for each car with holiday music for December. There are also a couple of thumb drives in my travel bag for transferring files when doing unexpected parental tech support. I also use large external spinning disk drives to back up the personal NAS for off site storage.
In general I'm not a fan of using cloud based storage and will avoid it whenever possible.
January 16, 2024 at 3:01 am
We keep a couple USB thumb drives around only because my wife uses them to transfer design files from her desktop to her digital embroidery machine that reads a digital design from it.
We've gone all back to ethernet network between all our systems and a 40tb NAS, and I keep a couple docking stations that handle both 2.5" and 3.5" hard drives and/or SSD drives. I can easily bring online any of the disks from old retired systems, both desktop and laptop. There are at least a dozen of these stored away for reference.
I also have a USB six-port adaptor stick connected to my main laptop and it connects several USB drives and two docking stations for bulk storage so I don't clutter my main laptop. I just plug in the USB cable and up to eight drives come online immediately. Then any of these can be moved easily to another system in our home office.
I also keep a USB CD/DVD reader and a USB CD/DVD RW in my desk drawer that can be used on any of our machines. There is a 200-disk CD/DVD storage case in the closet that contains all our install discs.
I even have a USB 3.5" floppy drive since until two winters ago there were some of those old disks around. These are all now wiped and destroyed, but the drive remains.
Net result: all our storage is pretty flexible. The only problem for this old guy is to remember what is where! I do have to keep fairly current directory lists for them all.
Rick
Disaster Recovery = Backup ( Backup ( Your Backup ) )
January 16, 2024 at 2:24 pm
I use a flash drive especially when I need to transfer something to someone else's computer. e.g. my wife who insists that I don't mess with her computer because she hates change. A flash drive is ideal for this. Typical use is a lot of pictures. I give her the flash drive. She knows how to use it.
January 16, 2024 at 2:53 pm
I have nightmares about losing a thumb drive. If you're going to do this, then use BitLocker or an encrypted .zip file.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
January 16, 2024 at 3:47 pm
What about printing? Occasionally I have to go down to the UPS store to print something. I use a USB flash drive for that.
However, I then learned that my Community College library offers an online printing service. So I have used that a couple of times now. The first time though, the system couldn't handle my "plus email address" that I used. And I said to myself, "Should have just used the USB drive."
January 16, 2024 at 3:48 pm
I've printed a few things at FedEX Kinkos, and I just emailed a doc from my phone to them to print. Kind of amazing.
January 16, 2024 at 5:48 pm
I've got several USB flash drives, one each in the two cars with music on them, one exclusively for our 3D printer (BTW, if anyone has a 4GB USB 1-1.1 flash drive that still works they want to dump?,) and a handful that will eventually get used. On top of that, my PC has a Dual layer DVD-RW drive that occasionally gets some use, I've got a NAS in the basement with ~12TB of spinning rust for storage.
My PC gets backed up to the NAS (when I think of it,) then the important stuff on the NAS gets backed up to an Azure Storage Blob through a VPN.
So there's still a use for removable, portable storage, sometimes it's easier than trying to get a random PC connected to your cloud storage, or if you'd rather avoid putting your login information on some random PC...
January 16, 2024 at 6:11 pm
Yes, printing at FedEx. Forgot about that.
Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 16 total)
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login to reply