4 lesser-known issues I do with outdated USB drives

I’ve numerous outdated USB drives mendacity round. A budget storage answer is most well-known for being a straightforward strategy to retailer Phrase docs and PDFs, however they’ll accomplish that way more.

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 In case you have an outdated USB drive mendacity round, you’ll be able to simply upcycle it and get extra use out of it. Listed below are the 4 ways in which I prefer to upcycle my outdated USB drives.

1

Experiment with a transportable OS

Study a brand new OS similar to Linux with a USB drive and endurance

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 software (I want 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 (sometimes your F1 key, however examine your producer first) at startup. When you’re within the BIOS, search for a tab known 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 entire course of, together with booting from the USB drive with the built-in macOS Disk Utility function. 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 utility.

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2

Play your favourite video games

You can even 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 straightforward 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 can even simply transfer video games from Steam to your USB drive and play them immediately from there. Nonetheless, you may want a USB drive that’s each quick and has numerous house. I like to recommend utilizing any drive that’s licensed USB 3.0 or increased 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 necessary recordsdata and folders which you can’t afford to lose. Nonetheless, one of many easiest methods to again up what’s most necessary to you, is by utilizing a USB drive as a backup location. One of many major advantages of utilizing a USB drive to again up recordsdata, is which you can then entry your most necessary recordsdata from wherever, due to the compact portability of USB drives.

The simplest approach 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 just isn’t free and can run you $50/12 months.

On each Home windows and macOS, you’ll be able to all the time manually backup recordsdata through drag and drop from the file tree, however if you’d like the power to rapidly and robotically backup recordsdata to a USB drive, you may need a third-party program.

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Create a transportable media library with hundreds of songs

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

It is an effective way to have the ability to entry your media from a number of computer systems, and it makes touring along with your favourite media simple. 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 carry may be saved domestically on the USB drive.