4 lesser-known issues I do with previous USB drives

I’ve quite a lot of previous USB drives mendacity round. A budget storage resolution is most well-known for being a simple strategy to retailer Phrase docs and PDFs, however they will achieve this rather more.

Do you know that with a USB drive you’ll be able to create an encrypted locker for your entire passwords? When you have an previous USB drive mendacity round, you’ll be able to simply upcycle it and get extra use out of it. Listed below are the 4 ways in which I wish to upcycle my previous USB drives.

1

Experiment with a conveyable OS

Study a brand new OS resembling Linux with a USB drive and persistence

Linux Mint

Putting in a bootable OS on a USB drive is a breeze. All you may have to do is obtain whichever ISO recordsdata from whichever OS you need, after which use a third-party device (I desire Rufus) to create a bootable drive. Should you’re utilizing a Home windows-based laptop, you may have to entry your laptop’s UEFI/BIOS, which may be finished by urgent the designated key (usually your F1 key, however verify your producer first) at startup. When you’re within the BIOS, search for a tab referred to as boot order, and choose the USB drive.

The method is definitely a bit less complicated on macOS, as you will not have to obtain Rufus or any third-party applications, and may do your complete course of, together with booting from the USB drive with the built-in macOS Disk Utility characteristic. You may nonetheless have to obtain the OS ISO recordsdata to your USB flash drive, after which plug the drive in and entry the Disk Utility software.

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2

Play your favourite video games

You may also retailer and run video games immediately on a USB drive

Nintendo

Along with storing and operating an OS from a USB drive, you are able to do the identical factor along with your favourite video games. It is a simple strategy to journey along with your favourite video games, and it means that you can run video games on a pc with out having to put in video games on a number of computer systems.

You may also simply transfer video games from Steam to your USB drive and play them immediately from there. Nevertheless, you may want a USB drive that’s each quick and has quite a lot of house. I like to recommend utilizing any drive that’s licensed USB 3.0 or larger for pace and to ensure you have sufficient house on your video games.

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3

Automate file backups

Do not lose important recordsdata

Google / Pocket-lint

There are extra methods than ever to again up essential recordsdata and folders that you may’t afford to lose. Nevertheless, one of many easiest methods to again up what’s most essential to you, is through the use of a USB drive as a backup location. One of many major advantages of utilizing a USB drive to again up recordsdata, is that you may then entry your most essential recordsdata from wherever, because of the compact portability of USB drives.

The best method to do that is to make use of a third-party backup program. I personally have been utilizing Arconis True Image to do that, however remember that Arconis isn’t free and can run you $50/yr.

On each Home windows and macOS, you’ll be able to at all times manually backup recordsdata by way of drag and drop from the file tree, however if you need the flexibility to rapidly and robotically backup recordsdata to a USB drive, you may need a third-party program.

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Create a conveyable media library with 1000’s of songs

Whereas there are quite a lot of high-tech methods to create a private media library — resembling making a NAS or Plex server — one of many easiest methods to create a conveyable media library is with a easy USB drive. Now that there are USB drives in the marketplace which are able to as much as 1TB or storage that you need to use for a variety of flicks, music, and e-books to take them wherever with you.

It is a good way to have the ability to entry your media from a number of computer systems, and it makes touring along with your favourite media straightforward. You do not have to fret about carrying further drives in your bag or fear about whether or not you may have web entry, as every thing you need to deliver may be saved regionally on the USB drive.