With wide deployment(s) of flash drives being used in various environments (secured or otherwise), the issue of data and information security remains important. The use of biometrics and encryption is becoming the norm with the need for increased security for data; on-the-fly encryption systems are particularly useful in this regard, as they can transparently encrypt large amounts of data. In some cases a secure USB drive may use a hardware-based encryption mechanism that uses a hardware module instead of software for strongly encrypting data. IEEE 1667 is an attempt to create a generic authentication platform for USB drives. It is supported in Windows 7 and Windows Vista (Service Pack 2 with a hotfix).[47]
Flash drives can be defragmented. There is a widespread opinion that defragmenting brings little advantage (as there is no mechanical head that moves from fragment to fragment), and that defragmenting shortens the life of the drive by making many unnecessary writes.[37] However, some sources claim[38] that defragmenting a flash drive can improve performance (mostly due to improved caching of the clustered data), and the additional wear on flash drives may not be significant.
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Motherboard firmware (including BIOS and UEFI) can be updated using USB flash drives. Usually, new firmware image is downloaded and placed onto a FAT16- or FAT32-formatted USB flash drive connected to a system which is to be updated, and path to the new firmware image is selected within the update component of system's firmware.[49] Some motherboard manufacturers are also allowing such updates to be performed without the need for entering system's firmware update component, making it possible to easily recover systems with corrupted firmware.[50]
You are eligible for a full refund if no ShippingPass-eligible orders have been placed. You cannot receive a refund if you have placed a ShippingPass-eligible order. In this case, the Customer Care team will remove your account from auto-renewal to ensure you are not charged for an additional year and you can continue to use the subscription until the end of your subscription term.
“The DataTraveler's tiny metal frame and prominent key ring make it easily portable,” our tester said of this flash drive. He added, “Downloading files off the drive itself is fast and easy, at over 100 MB/s, and it's also one of the cheapest USB 3.0 flash drives you can get.” The downside? “While read speeds were fine, the DataTraveler struggles to actually copy files onto the drive,” our reviewer explained. “Despite supporting USB 3.0, it barely tops write speeds of 10 MB/s, and lacks any other features.” The takeaway: “We'd only recommend this product as a cheap way for business professionals to pass out digital content to clients, or for networking,” he stated.
USB flash drives are portable and easy-to-use data storage devices. They're compatible with desktop computers and laptop computers as well as a broad range of game consoles and media devices. Use them to transfer data between systems, share files with friends and colleagues or create backups of critical information. Staples offers a complete selection of high-capacity thumb drives, including popular brands such as Lexar, PNY, Samsung, SanDisk and Verbatim.
