USB thumb drives.

On Thu, 17 May 2018 17:06:57 +0100, "NY" wrote:

"Doomsdrzej" wrote in message
.. .
The best ones I've used so far are the metal Kingston ones. They can
survive being on a keychain inside of your pocket without any kind of
issue. Using Bitlocker, you can also encrypt them for the additional
security you desire. There ARE military-grade ones which come with
encryption but you'll pay a lot more for them.

I've got a fairly cheap 4 GB thumb drive, dating from a time when 4 GB was
*huge*. And it still works perfectly although I keep it on my car keyring
(so I can never forget it if I visit anyone), so it lives most of the time
in my pocket next to all the keys on the keyring. The only modification I
had to make was when the mounting broke off soon after I got it and I had to
drill a hole through the case to thread the keyring through. That
modification, and the memory itself, has lasted probably about 10 years so
far. It gets written to and partly erased whenever an installation file for
a program gets updated (I carry around me all the free software that I
install for people - Firefox, AVG / Avast antvirus etc - to avoid having to
download it over their possibly very slow internet connection).

Every USB key I've ever owned has had that cheap plastic part which
allows you to keep it on a key chain break regardless of whether it
was on a key chain or not. Only this new metal Kingston one manages to
keep its shape. It's also a good 128GB and fast so I can't complain.
I'd recommend it to anyone.

"Peter Jason" wrote in message
...

Do these thumb drives last forever, or should
their contents be transferred to the latest USB
drives?

I've replaced a grand total of '1' since USB thumb drives became available.
- the failure rate wasn't age...fell out of my shirt pocket into a can of
paint.

Did have another one, an ancient Memorex 1GB drive where the drive assembly
detached from the plastic casing
- a few tiny drops of Gorilla glue applied with a toothpick and tiny C-clamp
for a few hours fixed(it).
*Still working as a USB for Acronis True Image 2017 Boot Media


--
....w¡ñ§±¤ñ
ms mvp windows 2007-2016, insider mvp 2016-2018

Doomsdrzej wrote:
On Thu, 17 May 2018 17:06:57 +0100, "NY" wrote:

"Doomsdrzej" wrote in message
.. .
The best ones I've used so far are the metal Kingston ones. They can
survive being on a keychain inside of your pocket without any kind of
issue. Using Bitlocker, you can also encrypt them for the additional
security you desire. There ARE military-grade ones which come with
encryption but you'll pay a lot more for them.

I've got a fairly cheap 4 GB thumb drive, dating from a time when 4 GB was
*huge*. And it still works perfectly although I keep it on my car keyring
(so I can never forget it if I visit anyone), so it lives most of the time
in my pocket next to all the keys on the keyring. The only modification I
had to make was when the mounting broke off soon after I got it and I had to
drill a hole through the case to thread the keyring through. That
modification, and the memory itself, has lasted probably about 10 years so
far. It gets written to and partly erased whenever an installation file for
a program gets updated (I carry around me all the free software that I
install for people - Firefox, AVG / Avast antvirus etc - to avoid having to
download it over their possibly very slow internet connection).

Every USB key I've ever owned has had that cheap plastic part which
allows you to keep it on a key chain break regardless of whether it
was on a key chain or not. Only this new metal Kingston one manages to
keep its shape. It's also a good 128GB and fast so I can't complain.
I'd recommend it to anyone.

Which model is that metal Kingston USB flash drive? I hate it when they
put on their cover caps! That's a stupid spot to put if the drive fall
out. Who cares about the caps. :P
--
Quote of the Week: "The fact that we can't easily foresee clues that
would betray an intelligence a million millennia farther down the road
suggests that we're like ants trying to discover humans. Ask yourself:
Would ants ever recognize houses, cars, or fire hydrants as the work of
advanced biology?" --Seth Shostak
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
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On Thu, 17 May 2018 15:02:52 -0500, (Ant) wrote:

Doomsdrzej wrote:
On Thu, 17 May 2018 17:06:57 +0100, "NY" wrote:

"Doomsdrzej" wrote in message
.. .
The best ones I've used so far are the metal Kingston ones. They can
survive being on a keychain inside of your pocket without any kind of
issue. Using Bitlocker, you can also encrypt them for the additional
security you desire. There ARE military-grade ones which come with
encryption but you'll pay a lot more for them.

I've got a fairly cheap 4 GB thumb drive, dating from a time when 4 GB was
*huge*. And it still works perfectly although I keep it on my car keyring
(so I can never forget it if I visit anyone), so it lives most of the time
in my pocket next to all the keys on the keyring. The only modification I
had to make was when the mounting broke off soon after I got it and I had to
drill a hole through the case to thread the keyring through. That
modification, and the memory itself, has lasted probably about 10 years so
far. It gets written to and partly erased whenever an installation file for
a program gets updated (I carry around me all the free software that I
install for people - Firefox, AVG / Avast antvirus etc - to avoid having to
download it over their possibly very slow internet connection).

Every USB key I've ever owned has had that cheap plastic part which
allows you to keep it on a key chain break regardless of whether it
was on a key chain or not. Only this new metal Kingston one manages to
keep its shape. It's also a good 128GB and fast so I can't complain.
I'd recommend it to anyone.

Which model is that metal Kingston USB flash drive? I hate it when they
put on their cover caps! That's a stupid spot to put if the drive fall
out. Who cares about the caps. :P

I don't know the model but its face says DTSE9 G2. Of course, the
writing is barely visible. It's a Kingston and it's a metal casing.

In article ,
lid says...
nothing lasts forever, but the good ones should last a very long time.
unfortunately, some are not particularly good, possibly counterfeit.

A friend and former colleague is a very experienced EE who
works independently as a software and circuit designer and
also writes technical articles on computer topics for
magazines that you and I probably read (and journal
articles we probably don't...). I have asked him the same
questions about these gadgets. His response: "To a first
approximation ALL such devices on eBay are counterfeit."

Be careful. Buy them from places like Newegg or Frys.

In article ,
Jason wrote:

nothing lasts forever, but the good ones should last a very long time.
unfortunately, some are not particularly good, possibly counterfeit.

A friend and former colleague is a very experienced EE who
works independently as a software and circuit designer and
also writes technical articles on computer topics for
magazines that you and I probably read (and journal
articles we probably don't...). I have asked him the same
questions about these gadgets. His response: "To a first
approximation ALL such devices on eBay are counterfeit."

he should stick to designing circuits rather than assuming everything
on ebay is fake. it's true that some are, but definitely not all.

Be careful. Buy them from places like Newegg or Frys.

newegg is ok, but frys is definitely not because they sell returned
merchandise as new, among other sleazy tactics. while it might not be
counterfeit, it is probably defective, likely why it was returned.

In article ,
lid says...
it's true that some are, but definitely not all.


"to a first approximation" - sure, some isn't but why
take the chance?

"Jason" wrote in message
...
In article ,
lid says...
nothing lasts forever, but the good ones should last a very long time.
unfortunately, some are not particularly good, possibly counterfeit.

A friend and former colleague is a very experienced EE who
works independently as a software and circuit designer and
also writes technical articles on computer topics for
magazines that you and I probably read (and journal
articles we probably don't...). I have asked him the same
questions about these gadgets. His response: "To a first
approximation ALL such devices on eBay are counterfeit."

Be careful. Buy them from places like Newegg or Frys.

I have a 1TB thumb drive, bought me as a present at a cost of £10 (13.5$).
Considering its price, I was dubious as to its capacity.
Windows shows it as 917GB with 489GB used & 428GB free space.
The 489GB was the most I could scrape together & took nearly a day to write
to the drive.

--
Regards
wasbit

"Ant" wrote in message
...
Which model is that metal Kingston USB flash drive? I hate it when they
put on their cover caps! That's a stupid spot to put if the drive fall
out. Who cares about the caps. :P

Yes, the part that should be attached to the keyring is the drive itself.
The drive should not be "attached" only by the force of the cap which is
click-fitted to the drive.

I've seen a few drives like than, and it's a very naive design, with such an
obvious weak point.

My drive doesn't have a cap: the whole circuit board and USB plug retracts
inside the outer housing which is attached to the keyring. Even better: you
can't lose the cap.

wasbit wrote:
"Jason" wrote in message
...
In article ,
lid says...
nothing lasts forever, but the good ones should last a very long time.
unfortunately, some are not particularly good, possibly counterfeit.

A friend and former colleague is a very experienced EE who
works independently as a software and circuit designer and
also writes technical articles on computer topics for
magazines that you and I probably read (and journal
articles we probably don't...). I have asked him the same
questions about these gadgets. His response: "To a first
approximation ALL such devices on eBay are counterfeit."

Be careful. Buy them from places like Newegg or Frys.

I have a 1TB thumb drive, bought me as a present at a cost of £10 (13.5$).
Considering its price, I was dubious as to its capacity.
Windows shows it as 917GB with 489GB used & 428GB free space.
The 489GB was the most I could scrape together & took nearly a day to
write to the drive.


You can use fsutil to make a test file on your source
drive for testing. Now, watch in amazement, how
(assuming this fits on the remaining space on C: ),
the file takes no time at all to create. If you
use the 7ZIP right-click CRC32 hash calculator,
you'll be able to read this file off your C: drive
at 800MB/sec (even though the storage device might
be capable of much less).

fsutil file createnew C:\users\wasbit\Downloads\big.bin 900000000000

The source drive should be NTFS for this. Once the file is created
on the source drive, *now*, use File Explorer to copy it to
the target device, and then the real testing
will begin.

This allows crafting precisely sized test files.

The source file (big.bin) is likely "sparse" and the file
is technically filled with zeros. This doesn't
matter to the destination drive though, which
will have to do the usual amount of work (as
Windows isn't smart enough to preserve a sparse
file during copy, and expands the fake contents
as needed). Sparse files can be made very quickly.
Sparse files take the normal amount of time to copy
(copy will be limited by the destination write rate).

*******

I would be interested in the brand and model number
of this mythically large (13.5$) storage devices. Was
the brand Godzilla or Mothra ? Did it come
from the ocean ? Was it angry ?

Paul

....w¡ñ§±¤ñ wrote:
"Peter Jason" wrote in message
...

Do these thumb drives last forever, or should
their contents be transferred to the latest USB
drives?

I've replaced a grand total of '1' since USB thumb drives became available.
- the failure rate wasn't age...fell out of my shirt pocket into a can of
paint.

0 failures here. Same for memory cards, mostly (Micro)SD, but also
some SmartMedia ones.

One SD card got - partially - rewritten every day for well over 10
years. got replaced because it became too small (only 1GB).

Did have another one, an ancient Memorex 1GB drive where the drive assembly
detached from the plastic casing
- a few tiny drops of Gorilla glue applied with a toothpick and tiny C-clamp
for a few hours fixed(it).
*Still working as a USB for Acronis True Image 2017 Boot Media

512MB USB thumb drive as Macrium Reflect (FREE) boot medium.

On 5/18/2018 8:52 AM, Wolf K wrote:
On 2018-05-17 22:59, Jason wrote:
In article ,
lid says...
Â* it's true that some are, but definitely not all.


"to a first approximation"

That's two significant figures...

-Â* sure, some isn't but why
take the chance?

Precisely (er, um, not ;-) )


I think depending completely on thumbdrives for back up is foolish,
however using a thumb drive as a temporary back up would be acceptable.
When considering the cost of a thumbdrive, the cost of a disk, and the
value of the data, there is no cost difference.

I have two computers and an external drive. The data on the two
computers is synced so both computers have the same information. In
addition the one computer is backed up using the Windows 10 File History
to an external disk.

When Travelling where I collecting a lot of data, I maintain back the
data up to an Card or thumbdrive. If I really have a lot of data, I
will back up the data to my computer, a thumbdrive and to a card.




--
2018: The year we learn to play the great game of Euchre

On Thu, 17 May 2018 09:12:54 -0400, Doomsdrzej wrote:

On Thu, 17 May 2018 07:49:55 +1000, Peter Jason wrote:

I have many USB2 & USB3 going back 10+ years, and
now some are "socket specific" on my 10 YO
computer motherboard (some USB3s will work on some
sockets; even USB2 sockets) and not others.

Do these thumb drives last forever, or should
their contents be transferred to the latest USB
drives?

Theoretically, they should last a long time but a lot can destroy them
like moisture and a seemingly miniscule amount of bending. I'd
transfer their contents to more recent, faster USB keys.

I have had two fail on me. If you store them in your pocket,
make sure that they are capped and that the cap can not easily come
off. Pocket lint and bits do not treat them well. That seems to be
have nailed one.

If you want to be very careful with them, try a pill bottle. I
have used the plastic, childproof-top variety to very good effect.
Attaching a lanyard to the bottle and a beltloop is also useful.

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

Doomsdrzej wrote:
On Thu, 17 May 2018 07:49:55 +1000, Peter Jason wrote:

I have many USB2 & USB3 going back 10+ years, and
now some are "socket specific" on my 10 YO
computer motherboard (some USB3s will work on some
sockets; even USB2 sockets) and not others.

Do these thumb drives last forever, or should
their contents be transferred to the latest USB
drives?

Theoretically, they should last a long time but a lot can destroy them
like moisture and a seemingly miniscule amount of bending. I'd
transfer their contents to more recent, faster USB keys.

They make USB devices for every occasion.

https://www.everythingusb.com/rugged-drives.html

https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Flash.../dp/B0136H5YUE

Paul

The best ones I've used so far are the metal Kingston ones. They can
survive being on a keychain inside of your pocket without any kind of
issue. Using Bitlocker, you can also encrypt them for the additional
security you desire. There ARE military-grade ones which come with
encryption but you'll pay a lot more for them.

I've got a fairly cheap 4 GB thumb drive, dating from a time when 4 GB was
*huge*. And it still works perfectly although I keep it on my car keyring
(so I can never forget it if I visit anyone), so it lives most of the time
in my pocket next to all the keys on the keyring. The only modification I
had to make was when the mounting broke off soon after I got it and I had to
drill a hole through the case to thread the keyring through. That
modification, and the memory itself, has lasted probably about 10 years so
far. It gets written to and partly erased whenever an installation file for
a program gets updated (I carry around me all the free software that I
install for people - Firefox, AVG / Avast antvirus etc - to avoid having to
download it over their possibly very slow internet connection).

Every USB key I've ever owned has had that cheap plastic part which
allows you to keep it on a key chain break regardless of whether it
was on a key chain or not. Only this new metal Kingston one manages to
keep its shape. It's also a good 128GB and fast so I can't complain.
I'd recommend it to anyone.

Which model is that metal Kingston USB flash drive? I hate it when they
put on their cover caps! That's a stupid spot to put if the drive fall
out. Who cares about the caps. :P

I don't know the model but its face says DTSE9 G2. Of course, the
writing is barely visible. It's a Kingston and it's a metal casing.

Ah, https://www.kingston.com/us/usb/pers...siness/dtse9g2 ... I had
a similiar one from SP brand like this
https://www.silicon-power.com/web/product-Mobile_C80 but a smaller size.
They got hot. Does Kingston get hot too after long usage?
--
Quote of the Week: "The fact that we can't easily foresee clues that
would betray an intelligence a million millennia farther down the road
suggests that we're like ants trying to discover humans. Ask yourself:
Would ants ever recognize houses, cars, or fire hydrants as the work of
advanced biology?" --Seth Shostak
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://antfarm.home.dhs.org
/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail privately. If credit-
| |o o| | ing, then please kindly use Ant nickname and URL/link.
\ _ /
( )