It can surprise the amount of functions that a pendrive offers us, in addition each one of them surpasses in quality to the previous one.
Greetings, friends!
Before knowing all its wonderful functions, let's start by knowing a little more about them.
What is a pendrive?
We could say that a pendrive is a small storage device in which we can transport information from one electronic device to another. It works like a portable hard drive, only with a little less capacity, but faster. This small storage device is mainly composed of a flash memory, which is accessible through a USB port.
What are the internal components of a pendrive?
Parts of a pendrive.
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A pendrive is mainly composed of a printed circuit, in which both the processor and the flash memory are found, as well as other small components such as the crystal oscillator that allow the correct operation of the device. This is covered by a normally plastic housing, although due to the small size of its circuit, manufacturers have found very original ways to protect them, with housing with very innovative shapes.
Finally we can find one of the ends of the device a USB type connector that allows to transmit the data with the other electronic devices.
Now that we know what it is, it would be good to know how it works, right?
This dog does know how it works: D, what an original!.
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Basically, its operation is like that of a hard disk, it allows the reading and writing of files, the big difference between a hard disk and this device is its flexibility and resistance, since being designed to transport information from one site to another , is capable of resisting falls, a feature that portable hard disks do not possess, since when they receive a blow, they may be damaged. Although the pendrive have more durability and resistance, they are not indestructible, since even though the risk of information loss is lower, it can still happen if the hit is very strong or directly on the chip.
But... with what electronic devices can I use my pendrive?.
Well practically with all, the truth is that thanks to its USB type connection is compatible with almost all new devices, ie computers, televisions, DVDs, audio equipment, phones, tables and any other device that has a USB connection.
My phone has no USB input How do I connect the flash drive?
USB to OTG adapter.
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This is achieved thanks to a USB to OTG adapter, which allows our device to be compatible with a pendrive or any other device with USB connector. To access these files we must have a file browser installed on our phone, which can be downloaded simply from the Play Store.
Using a USB device in our phone is very useful, because through this we can access very heavy files such as movies and view them from our device without having to occupy our internal memory. This option is the best when we want to entertain and we do not have too much internal memory in our phone. Another option is to save all the videos and heavy files of our phone on the pendrive, that way we will have our files always at hand, without having to occupy the memory of the phone.Useful, no?
How long can a pendrive last us?
If we want them to last for many years, we must take care of them.
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Well, everything depends on how we use it, because the more times we fall and the more we use, it will shorten its useful life. Normally they tend to last 10 years, with good care and moderate use, although everything depends on the brand itself, since some are Chinese brands, which are usually disposable and of very poor quality.
But what brands are reliable?
Currently there are many brands that offer quality pen drives, but those that are more recognized and have better reputation are: SanDisk, Kingston, HP, Toshiba, Samsung, Sony y Philips.
Do you know any other that has worked very well?.
How can we correctly choose a pendrive?
There are many brands, choose the best.
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When choosing these devices we must take into account what we want. If our intention is to use it only once, to pass some type of information and discard it, then we must choose one of the most economical, the so-called "Chinese". On the other hand if you want to use it constantly and have it always at hand with your information, you should think about it better.
First we will choose the brand, something extremely important, preferably among those already mentioned previously (SanDisk, Kingston, HP, Toshiba, Samsung, Sony and Philips), so we will ensure its durability. Then we will choose your storage capacity, the most commercial ones are:
The best pendrive I've seen!.
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- 1GB
- 2GB
- 4GB
- 8GB
- 16GB
- 32GB
- 64GB
- 128GB
- 256GB
- 512GB
It is said that there are memories that already exceed the capacity Terabyte, but they are not for sale to the public, they are used by large companies. Another very important point when choosing them is their speed, at present, much progress has been made in this matter and we have at our disposal the following data transmission speeds.
• USB 1.0 of speed up 1,5 Mbps
• USB 1.1 of speed up 12 Mbps
• USB 2.0 of speed up 480 Mbps
• USB 3.0 of speed up 4.8 Gbps
4.8 Gigabytes per second, an authentic madness! and to think that it is already talking about the 4.0, the technology advances very quickly. The most important thing to keep in mind when choosing a pendrive is for us to use it, because the more storage you have and the faster you transfer the data, the more expensive it will be.
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INTEL has already released its own pendrive computer. Impressive, no?
Now, to the most interesting!
Excellent uses that we can give to our pendrive
Lock them with password
This option is extremely useful, because through it we can protect our pendrive against data theft, or anyone who wants to delete something from it. This wonderful function can be done only by connecting our pendrive to a computer with Windows operating system and using the Bitlocker option. Do you want to know how it is done?, here I leave a video that shows you how to do it.
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Create a backup copy of the data stored in our pendrive
Sometimes we decide to leave our most important data in a pendrive, so losing them would be a disaster, for this reason it is very important to always have a copy of all our files, this is possible with this great program called USB Image Tools which allows us to create a backup copy of all our data in the form of an ISO image, as shown in this video.
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Have portable programs
There is the option to use portable programs directly from our pendrive, thanks to this option we can avoid having to carry a laptop from one place to another with our programs. By having them in our pendrive we can access them with just connect to any pc. Currently there are many programs that come with the ability to be portable and others that have been converted, so you can add to the pendrive many commonly used programs, using the techniques explained in the following video:
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Bring an operating system to any side
That's right, if our pendrive is of a good capacity we can carry a free operating system for all sides, that includes our programs and files along with it. By having this system installed on our pendrive, we can access it by simply connecting it to another PC. This option is normally used with any of the existing LINUX systems. The process is as shown in this video:
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Use our pendrive as a key to lock our computer
With the great Predator program we can block our pc, assigning our pendrive as the key, that way when removing the pendrive it will be blocked and when it is reconnected it will be unlocked. Excellent, is not it?, To know more about this system, I invite you to watch the following video.
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Create a portable antivirus
This is super useful when we must disinfect a computer, because in most cases of massive virus infection, it is almost impossible to install an antivirus to that computer, but with the help of an antivirus installed directly on our pendrive, we can do it No problem.
You want to know more about how to use our pendrive as an antivirus, watch this video:
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Accelerate the system with Readyboost
This trick is very useful when we have a low-resource computer, because through this program the pendrive starts saving the computer's cache memory, optimizing the reading and writing of data. You want to know how to use your pendrive in that way, then watch the next video.
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Create a recovery disc for our operating system
By having a pendrive we can use it to create a kind of backup of our current operating system, that way we will achieve in case of some system error, restore it easily. The process to create this recovery pendrive is the following:
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Surfing incognitos on the web
Would you like to navigate without leaving a trace?,This is possible thanks to the Tails Os program, which allows us to navigate with the peace of mind of leaving no trace. This is how this program is used:
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Record movies from a Smart TV
Likewise, when using a pendrive in a Smart TV we can record in video every movie that is transmitted, as if it were a DVD. Do you want to know how?, see the following video:
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Create a web server
Surprisingly through a program called Server2Go we can create our own web service, something that is certainly very useful. The process would be the following:
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Install our own operating system without the need for a CD
This option is wonderful, since it allows us to boot a pendrive to work as an installer of some operating system. The process to boot the pendrive is very simple, here the video.
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Create a music playlist
Thanks to the wonderful compatibility that USB ports offer, we can create our own music playlist and take it wherever we want. This is done:
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Create backup copies of almost everything
Thanks to its operation is like that of a hard drive, we can create backup copies of the different documents of our pc on our pendrive, something extremely useful for each one of us. Data backups are created as follows:
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Using a pendrive has many advantages, there we can save different programs and portable games, create backups and even use it as a key for our computer, the number of uses it has is impressive and thanks to how small it is, we can take it wherever we want. Having a pendrive at hand is a treasure that we must take care of, for that reason I will give you some tricks and tips for your correct care, because although they are resistant, they are not indestructible.
Do not let that happen, auch!.
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You should not wet it, much less wash it, because although a small droplet may not cause any damage, wetting it completely can damage its circuits.
Do not let them fall from very high, because although they are quite resistant to falls, one of them could fracture some of their circuits.
Do not subject it to high temperatures, as this could melt some circuit.
Do not throw the lid, this is because it protects them from dust and any other external factor that could damage them.
Do not remove it from a device without being sure that it finished the process completely, since it can cause data loss. In Windows it is advisable to remove it safely, before removing it from the port.
Do not force it when connecting it, as it can damage a circuit, it is also not advisable to move it.
Try not to plug and unplug them very often, as little by little you can damage some circuit or part of the material.
Be careful where you use it, since many computers are infected with viruses. Scan it constantly with your trusted antivirus.
Caring for a pendrive is our responsibility, because although they do not usually get damaged easily, sometimes the constant abuse can cause serious consequences. I hope my post has taught you something new about these wonderful devices.
