| One of the neatest innovations for portable storage | | | | presentation, images, video, and software--carrying all |
| devices is that tiny and oh-so-useful thumb drive. | | | | that data in your shirt pocket. No wonder, it's popular |
| Imagine, swapping information, music, images, computer | | | | among network and systems administrators for use in |
| programs, with this small, thumb-like device -so small | | | | troubleshooting and systems maintenance. The advent |
| you can easily carry it in your pocket or purse. Just | | | | of thumb drives has made floppies a thing of the past |
| plug it in a computer's USB drive and you're good to | | | | and almost obsolete. Virtually all new computers have |
| go: copy files from the computer or transfer files from | | | | USB drives, making it widely compatible (encompassing |
| the thumb drive. It's fast and "hot swappable" so you | | | | worldwide). |
| don't have to reboot the computer for it to be read. | | | | Fun with thumb drives There are various options for |
| With a thumb drive, you can store up to 8GB of | | | | thumb drives, ranging from a capacity of 100+MB to |
| information, big enough to be a reliable backup. | | | | 8GB. As you read this, thumb drives are probably |
| Phasing out floppies While thumb drives are not | | | | available in bigger capacities. There are also thumb |
| exactly as affordable as floppies or CDs and DVDs, | | | | drives available in quirky designs, just like keychains: |
| they are a lot more practical in more ways than one. | | | | sushi, animals, and cartoon characters among |
| Just like floppies, thumb drives can store data | | | | countless others. Be wary of thumb drives that are |
| separately until they fill up. You can store various data | | | | too bulky however as they may block other USB |
| in one thumb drive: music, document, audio, visual | | | | devices. |