Director's Report: Recent Efforts in Open Access Publishing
Fantastic Find: Fore-edge Gem at Galter
Improved User Services: Loan Periods and Photocopiers
Service Recognition for Galter Employee
Are you looking for a new way to transfer files from one computer to another? Have you recently created a file and tried to save it to a floppy but discovered the file you were saving was too big for a floppy? Do you have a file on a zip disk you want to edit but the computer you want to use does not have a zip drive? If you have answered yes to any or all of these questions you may want to consider trying a flash drive.
Flash drives, also known as USB hard drives, pen drives, key chain drives, pocket drives, jump drives, thumb drives, etc. are portable hard drives. They are great for people who usually work on more then one computer and need a dependable way to move the file from one computer to the other. You can use the flash drive as you would a zip or floppy disk but the flash drives are smaller, lighter, faster, and more durable. Flash drives are supported on computers that have USB connections and systems running Windows 98* and higher or Mac OS 9.x or higher. You can create folders, copy, paste, and delete files on a flash drive just like you would on any other disk.
Flash drives use plug-and-play technology which means you can just plug it into the computer and use it. No reboots are required for the device to be recognized by the computer. They are easy to use, just find the USB port on the computer, plug the flash drive into it, and wait for the computer to find the new hardware. Once the hardware is recognized find the flash drive. It can be found under My Computer on Windows machines or on the desktop on a Mac. Once you are done with the flash drive, eject the drive and then remove the drive from the USB port.
Flash drives can hold anywhere from 8 MB to 2 GB of data depending on the model you buy and they range in price from $30 to $400 or more. Flash drives are also available in a variety of styles. See the sidebar on the right for some examples.
Flash drives are now supported in the Learning Resource Center in the Galter Library.
* you will need to download a driver in order for the flash drive to work on a Windows 98 machine
Related Links:
Mega Storage to Go. PC World. http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,111110,00.asp
You can take it with you: 13 tiny USB flash drives. ZDNET. http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/USB_Flash_Drives/4520-3240_16-5128560.html
Iomega Micro Mini USB 2.0
Iomega Mini USB 2.0
Lexar Jump Drive 2.0
Meritline Pen Drive
