A USB flash drive is a type of plug and play portable storage devices that uses flash memory and is lightweight enough to attach to a key chain. USB flash drives also are called thumb drives, jump drives, pen drives, key drives, tokens, or simply USB drives.
A USB thumb drive is a type of data storage devices that includes flash memory with an integrated USB interface. USB pen drives are typically removable and rewritable, and physically much smaller than a floppy disk.
USB flash diskis often used for the same purposes for which floppy disks or CD-ROMs were used earlier. They are smaller, faster, have thousands of times more capacity, and are more durable and reliable because they have no moving parts. Until some years ago, most desktop and laptop computers were supplied with floppy disk drives, but floppy disk drives have been abandoned in favour of USB 2.0 or more recently with USB 3.0 ports.
USB drive use the USB mass storage standard, supported natively by modern operating systems such as Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, and other Unix-like systems, as well as many BIOS boot ROMs. USB drive with USB 2.0 support can store more data and transfer faster than much larger optical disc drives like CD-RW or DVD-RW drives and can be read by many other systems such as the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, DVD players and in some upcoming mobile smartphones.
Nothing moves mechanically in a flash drive; the term drive persists because computers read and write flash drive data using the same system commands as for a mechanical disk drive, with the storage appearing to the computer operating system and user interface as just another drive. Flash drives are very robust mechanically.
USB flash disk draw power from the computer through the USB connection. When the user plugs the device into the USB 2.0 or 3.0port, the computer's operating system recognizes the device as a removable drive and assigns it a drive letter.
Unlike most removable drives, a USB drive does not require rebooting after it's attached, does not require batteries or an external power supply, and is not platform dependent. Several manufacturers offer additional features such as password protection, and downloadable drivers that allow the device to be compatible with older systems that do not have USB 2.0 or 3.0 ports. USB thumb drive is available in varying capacities, depending on manufacturer, in varying price ranges
With a USB drive, data can be retained for long periods when the device is unplugged from the computer, or when the computer is powered down with the drive left in. This makes the USB drive convenient for transferring data between a desktop computer and a notebook computer, or for personal backup needs. Main Uses of USB Drive
Personal data transport, Secure storage of data, Backup, Application and software file carriers, Booting operating systems, Audio players, Brand and product promotion, Operating system installation media, etc.
Author Bio-
John Smith is an author of
Strontium Technology
is a global leader in PC and
flash memory cards
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