4 lesser-known issues I do with previous USB drives

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

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

1

Experiment with a transportable OS

Be taught a brand new OS equivalent to 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 want Rufus) to create a bootable drive. If you happen to’re utilizing a Home windows-based laptop, you may have to entry your laptop’s UEFI/BIOS, which may be executed by urgent the designated key (usually your F1 key, however test 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 easier 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 characteristic. You will 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 can too retailer and run video games straight on a USB drive

Nintendo

Along with storing and working 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 too simply transfer video games from Steam to your USB drive and play them straight from there. Nonetheless, you may want a USB drive that’s each quick and has a variety of area. I like to recommend utilizing any drive that’s licensed USB 3.0 or greater for velocity and to be sure to have sufficient area to your video games.

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3

Automate file backups

Do not lose essential recordsdata

Google / Pocket-lint

There are extra methods than ever to again up essential recordsdata and folders which you can’t afford to lose. Nonetheless, 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 which you can then entry your most essential recordsdata from wherever, because of the compact portability of USB drives.

The simplest means 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 bear in mind that Arconis just isn’t free and can run you $50/12 months.

On each Home windows and macOS, you may all the time manually backup recordsdata by way of drag and drop from the file tree, however if you would like the power to rapidly and mechanically backup recordsdata to a USB drive, you may desire a third-party program.

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Create a transportable media library with hundreds of songs

Whereas there are a variety of high-tech methods to create a private media library — equivalent 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 films, 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 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 all the things you wish to deliver may be saved domestically on the USB drive.