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Storage capacity
Currently, flash drives (also referred to as "USB" or "keychain" drives) can store anywhere from 128 megabytes to 2 gigabytes of data. Depending on their capacity, flash drives are suitable for small or medium-scale backups.
Reliability
According to some manufacturer claims, USB flash drives can potentially retain their data for years. Unlike floppy or Zip disks, flash drives contain no moving parts and are therefore less prone to failure. However, recovery can be difficult when failure does occur, therefore we recommend that you make additional backups using other media.
Peforming backups
- Insert the flash drive into an available USB port on your computer. The flash drive will mount shortly after your operating system detects it. The drive letter will vary depending on other devices already present.
- Copy files to the floppy disk in one of two ways:
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- Highlight the files with your mouse and drag them to the A: drive.
- Right-click on the files and choose "Send to X:". ("X" will vary depending on which drive letter is assigned to the flash drive)
- Unplug the drive. If you are running Windows 2000, be aware that you will need to "stop" the drive before removing it. You can do this by right-clicking on the USB device in the system tray and choosing "Safely Remove Hardware". Select "Mass USB Storage Device" and click Stop.
Important note: do not unplug the flash drive until all files have finished copying. Doing so prematurely could cause data loss.
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