A USB flash drive or pendirve is probably the best option for storing or transferring data as it’s the safest way to do it. Using USB drives is particularly recommended when you are physically transporting confidential business and school-related information. Besides being safe, these flash drives are also available in various storage capacities and transfer speeds. If you plan to buy a new USB drive, these two are the primary factors you will need to look for.

However, you can check the tips listed in this article to learn what other important factors you need to consider when choosing a durable and reliable drive. Read on.

Transfer Speed

There are two main types of USB flash drives compatible with all computers, USB 2.0 and USB 3.0. The latter is approximately 10 times faster than USB 2.0, which may not be too important if you need to transfer a couple of documents. However, when waiting for a larger data transfer such as media files, speed definitely matters.

If you have a newer version of a laptop or phone, the unit might support USB 3.1 or USB 3.2 ports as well. These are the latest versions in the market, and the type that is up to four times faster than USB 3.0.

Additionally, newer devices can be equipped with micro USB ports, which can also come in handy if your smartphone or tablet supports external memory reading.

As you can see, the USB type you need depends partially on the device you’re transferring data from, more accurately on its USB port. You can find out which port your device uses by opening the device manager and locating the USB options.

Keep in mind that USB 3.0 still works in the USB 2.0, but the writing speed will be that of the USB 2.0 port. In addition, having a USB 2.0 port means you mightn’t be able to use the entire capacity of your drive, which would be a waste of your money and time.

Storage Capacity

USB flash drive capacities typically range from 16 MB up to 4 TB, although you can rarely find anything under 16 GB anymore. Obviously, the amount of storage you need on your drive depends on how much data you want to store or transport.

If you plan to use the USB drive to transfer a few files from your computer, you should opt for one with a smaller capacity. For backing up all of your data files from any device, you will need a USB that can store at least 500 GB.

Before you do anything, check how much space all your files are taking up (see below). The file size you see should be the minimum you will need to count on and also for two reasons: one is because you want to save space for the files you might want to add in the future; and two, as with any other storage space, the actual capacity of a USB drive is smaller than what it’s officially stated.

The reduced storage capacity happens because when your USB flash drive is formatted, some of the storage capacity is allocated for the boot data and file system. You won’t lose too much storage space, but you will still have to count on it.

Design and Customization

Due to their small size, flash drives are always risky to carry around because you can lose them easily. It’s a good idea to use custom USB drives, which you can purchase here, so you can keep track of them.

Get your custom USB drives in a keychain or a bracelet form, and you will never lose them again. If you use USB drives for exchanging data with your clients, buying the drives in bulk in the form of business cards or pens can be a great way to advertise your business.

Security

In addition to getting the flash drives in any shape or size you want, with customization, you can also secure USBs with a built-in keypad for entering a PIN to use the drive. Having a PIN to use the drive is important especially if you are transferring files between multiple computers or are archiving confidential data to ensure the security of the stored files.

Sure, a built-in keypad will add to the cost of USBs, but the security feature will still cost you less than it would if your unprotected drive fell into the wrong hands. Or you can password protect all your files on the USB by using a feature most operating systems and some programs offer.

Using a password is surely a cheaper option, and you can still risk hacking from your computer or releasing malicious software onto it.

Quality of Components

You will probably find a lot of non-branded USB drives for very inexpensive prices. However, these low-priced drives are often made out of cheap materials, which are not as durable as some good quality ones.

Low-priced USB drives can be used only for 10000 writing/erasing cycles, while the ones made by good quality and reputed brands last up to 100000 cycles.

The difference in the writing/erasing cycle number means that opting for better quality products is always safer unless you want to jeopardize all your data.

Warranty

Whether you are purchasing USB devices online or in a physical gadget store, you don’t want to end up with a defective device. Or, in case you do, you’ll need the assurance of the availability of an after-purchase warranty. Ask the seller or the manufacturer directly about the warranty they offer for each product before purchasing any.

Quality products are usually warranted against defects in materials by the manufacturer for up to five years from the date of purchase.

The term depends on the respective product as USBs with larger capacities often have more extended warranty periods. Of course, an extended warranty period elevates the price of the product as well.

If you are looking for a more budget-friendly option, get a memory product with a warranty lasting two years. If the drive lasts that much, you can replace the item then with a newer version yourself.

Warranty is an important factor to consider when choosing a new USB drive.

How to check how much space all your files are taking up

To choose the right flash drive you will want to know how much space your files are currently taking up on your PC.

To do this, here are steps that show how to choose the size for your new flash drive.

Step 1: Open File Explorer (windows key + e).

Step 2: Right click Documents on the left hand side.

You might have to scroll down in the left hand window to see the ‘folder’ called Documents.

Step 3: Click at the bottom, Properties.

Step 4: Wait. The amount of time depends on available system resources and the total memory or file size taken by all of your documents, photos etc. It will usually take a while unless your PC is relatively new or you don’t have many files.

The properties of your Documents folder will show the size of all your files, and give you an idea how large to choose your new USB drive.

Step 5: Choose a USB drive with more capacity than you currently need. I’d suggest double, but ultimately it will be a guess as to what your future needs will be. In addition you can choose how much of your current (and future) files you might want to store on a flash drive.

Check the Speed of a Flash Drive

Once you have your new drive you can read how to check the speed of a USB drive.

Maybe you’ll want to compare the speed of your new flash drive against any old ones you have!

Summary

Although an increasing number of people use cloud services to store their data, USB drives still enjoy wide popularity because of their security. Whether you use USB drives for transfer, storage, or backup your data, you will need your drives to be reliable.

In case you weren’t familiar with the differences between various types of USB, now you have learned all about them. Hopefully, the article we present to you will be helpful enough to choose the one that suits your needs the best.

The post How to choose a USB Pendrive appeared first on TheTechMentor.com.

Side note – A Tool for IT Services management

If you are in IT (and I suspect you are because you are reading this page!) then you might be interested in something I found relevant at the moment.

It is called ATERA, and it would be great for anyone with a small IT services business.

If you’re interested or want to learn more about their any specials they might have, click here!

Now, on with using Print Migrator to export printer driver from one computer to another.

I understand this utility from Microsoft will allow users to backup printer drivers up to Windows 10.

Step 1: Download the Print Migrator Software Utility

The first step is to download the Microsoft Print Migrator utility.  This utility was actually designed to backup printers on print servers but also works on desktops.  It’s also a stand-alone app so it can be ran from anywhere including your flash drive.

You’ll see the printer migrator progress data during run-time shown in the bottom window.

Step 2: Run and Select Backup

Once you open the Print Migrator, click on the “File” menu and select “Backup.”  You will now choose a name and a location where you will backup your printers to. Click the “Open” button to begin the backup.

Once the printers are done backing up, you will see a message in the bottom window that says “Backup Complete.”

Step 3: Transfer Printer Driver Backup and Migrator to Other Computer

Now you are ready to restore the printers on another computer.

To restore them, just transfer the backup file and the Print Migrator utility to the other computer and open the Print Migrator.

Step 4: Restore Printer Driver Backup on Another Computer

Then click the “File” menu and select “Restore.”  Select the backup file that you created and click “Open.”

How to copy printer driver from one computer to another, now completed.

Once the printers have been restored you will see a message at the bottom that says “Restore Complete.”

You are now ready to use your printers copied from one computer to the other computer.

Summary of How to Back up Printer Drivers and Restore them on Another Computer

So you see how you can use the Ol’ MS Print Migrator software program to perform the backup and restore printer drivers from one computer to another computer. Not mentioned above is that it might only be required under certain circumstances these days. Thanks again to the user TheKoz who originally shared this utility.

The post How to Backup Printer Drivers and Restore Them on Another Computer appeared first on TheTechMentor.com.

Many people don’t realize that all USB flash drives are not created equal.  Depending on the type of memory they have, their speeds can vary greatly.  Being in IT, I have accumulated a small collection of these drives and have needed a way to test USB speed, so I could to see which ones are worth using.  I have found the recommendations below are great apps for doing this and I would like to share them with you.

The secrets of USB speed drive tests – you will be shocked.

I know, I know you’re thinking all these USBs are pretty much the same, well it’s time you found out that it’s not necessarily the case.

• Do you want to know the speed of your USB drive?
• Are you a buyer for a large company and want to get efficient fast USB drives for the whole business?
• Do you want to do your own USB drive speed tests?
• Do you wonder how can you be sure you are getting fast USB flash drives when you shop online?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then this article is for you.

“Winner winner chicken dinner!” Test USB speed with these Apps to find out which of your own USB’s is fastest! Maybe it will help you form a favorite brand.

As a computer tech no doubt your clients will come to you to ask you which USB is best for them to buy.

If your client asks you which are the fastest USB drives will you feel confident in giving them good advice when they are asking for a recommendation? In order to give them an answer you probably should test some of the USB drives available yourself.

I’ll show you how to test and know the speed of different USB flash drives, and give you some USB drive speed data further below, so you can be the Guru for your clients or your company.

Check Flash

Check Flash is an easy to use flash drive speed testing and error checking utility.  This utility will tell you the average read and write speeds of your flash drive.

Note Check Flash is by Mike (Cherkes Mihail) at Mikelab, he is in Kiev in the Ukraine. (How cool!) The real reason I mention this is so you don’t worry if you see Russian text when the page first opens. If so, just look to the top left and click on EN to get the English version of the page.

As you can see in the screen copy below, it shows some other useful and interesting things about your flash drive too (other than read write speed), like the drive map to the right.

This image is copyright of it’s owner at http://mikelab.kiev.ua

Just to (show off and) demonstrate that I’ve updated this article for you, I’ve got the more recent screen copy of check flash above and the old view of check flash from my original article years ago.

Check Flash screen copy of version 1.05 below:

This is the simplest (and therefore perhaps the easiest) way to test USB speed.

Crystal Disk Mark

Crystal Disk Mark is a disk benchmark utility that can not only be used on hard drives, but also flash drives.  It can perform sequential read/write tests, random 512KB read write tests, or random 4KB read/write tests.

It is now up to Mark 4.0 (but looks very similar to the screen copy below, so I haven’t run it to make a new screen copy). Things that have been upgraded are support for Windows 10 and more language support (eg. updated French and Spanish language files).

HD Tune

HD Tune is another disk benchmark utility that can also be used to test flash drive speeds.  Unfortunately the free version will only test read speeds.  However, they do have a more advanced pro version that will also test write speeds as well as other things.

If you are serious then you can get HD Tune Pro, now up to version 5.60 (again the original article screen copy remains below because it looks very similar).

In the table to be further below in time I will also provide information around capacity so with the two combined that is speed and USB capacity you can determine an overall rating for best USB drive.

What if your USB is not up to scratch?

Well, you could choose to get a new USB drive, which will surely be faster!

Summary of options to Test USB Speed

So there you have it, three of the best tools for testing USB drive speed. They are CheckFlash, Crystal Disk and HD Tune, the latter two of which are interesting inclusions because you can check USB drives not just HDDs with it. I guess that is the secret I hinted at above. Not all that shocking perhaps. What USB flash drive speed testing utilities do you recommend, if you have tried something other than one of the above? Feel free to answer in a comment below.

The post How to Check the Speed of a USB Flash Drive appeared first on TheTechMentor.com.

I have compiled and updated this new, more exhaustive list of the best 35 portable applications for techs. All of these apps run directly from your USB flash drive and require no installation.

Introduction to These Top USB-Portable Utilities

As you may know, I am a tech and I have found all of these portable apps to be very useful. I’ve expanded on this list over time so this list will jump-start you to your own collection of the best portable apps to carry on USB.

Don’t let the portability fool you. They belong in any computer technician’s software toolkit! Be sure to carry them with you.

A long time ago I wrote an article called 18 Portable Apps Every Tech Needs. Since then a lot has changed. I thought I would share this updated list with you. Feel free to add more in the comments to help others or share your own experiences.

This may be of Interest to Some Computer Techs

If you are in IT (and reading this page, there is a good chance you are!) then you might be interested in something I am interested in at the moment.

It is called Atera, and it would be great for anyone with a small to medium sized IT services business.

If you’re interested or want to learn more, See more information here!

So moving on, all of the computer technician software in this list can run directly from your USB flash drive. I hope you will find them useful too.

Archiver and Extractor

7-Zip Portable – An open source file archiver that supports 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2, TAR, RAR as well as others.

Auditing

SIW – A system analysis tool that gathers detailed information about your hardware and software.

WinAudit – Audits all of your hardware, software, licenses, and network settings.

CPU-Z – Gathers detailed information about your processor, motherboard, and memory.

Burning

Infra Recorder Portable – Portable CD/DVD burning software.

Disk Utilities

JkDefrag – Disk optimizer and defragmenter.

Document Viewers

OpenOffice.org Portable – A portable version of OpenOffice.org which includes a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation tool, drawing package and database. Can also open most Microsoft Office documents.

Foxit Reader – A portable PDF reader.

Internet

FileZilla Portable – One of the best open source FTP programs available. I use FileZilla, for example, to access the large volume and size of files this website when I want to download backups.

Firefox Portable – A portable version of Firefox. Very useful when working on a computer that has been overwhelmed with spyware.

PuTTY Portable – An open source Telnet/SSH client.

Launcher

PStart – A launcher utility that allows you to organize and launch all of your portable applications.

Malware Removal

ClamWin Portable – One of the best free antivius programs as a portable version.

Avast! Virus Cleaner – Scans the computer for a specific set of viruses and worms.

RootkitRevealer – An advanced rootkit detection utility.

HiJackThis – A hijacker detector and remover. Outputs information to a log file so you can share the results with others when needing help.

McAfee Stinger – A stand-alone utility that scans for and removes specific viruses.

Networking

Angry IP Scanner – Scans a range of IP addresses so you can see which ones are in use. Also tells you hostname, MAC address, open ports, computer name, workgroup, and logged in Windows users.

CurrPorts – Allows you to see detailed information about all of the TCP/IP and UDP ports being used on the computer including which program is using them. Also allows you to close out the port and kill the process that opened it.

Optimization

CCleaner Portable – An optimization utility that cleans the registry and removes unwanted files from the computer.

PC Decrapifier – Uninstalls trialware and annoyances from new computers. Makes cleaning up a new computer much easier and saves a lot of time.

Organization

TiddlyWiki – A self-contained wiki that is great for storing a lot of information in one place.

Recovery Apps

Restoration – Scans any drive for items that have been deleted and allows you to restore them. Can also wipe files beyond simple recovery.

Learn more by viewing How To Restore Deleted Files After Emptying The Recycle Bin.

Unstoppable Copier – Copies files from disks that have physical damage.

TestDisk – Data recovery software that can recover lost partitions or make drives bootable again.

Remote Control

PcHelpware – Remote support software that lets you control remote computers. Learn more by viewing How To Remote Control Computers Using PCHelpWare.

Top Security Apps

LockNote – A simple text file that allows you to store whatever you like using a password and 256bit encryption.

KeePass – Securely store all of your passwords in one place and access them with one master password.

TrueCrypt – Disk encrypting utility that can encrypt hard drives and storage devices including your flash drive.

System Portable Utilities

Process Explorer – View detailed information about the processes running on a computer.

WinKeyLite – Easily view and change Windows Product Keys without having to edit the registry. Learn more by viewing How To Find And Change A Windows Vista, XP, And 2003 Product Key.

Unknown Devices – Helps you find out what the unknown devices in your device manager are.

AutoRuns – Comprehensive information about all of the programs and processes that start up when you boot up the computer or log into Windows.

DriverBackup – Backs up all of your drivers. Most useful when needing to reload a computer or when needing to copy a driver from one computer to another.

PC Stress Testing Software

Prime95 – One of the best apps for CPU stress testing. The Blended test option can be useful for stress testing RAM. This one replaces the following as an update:

Stress Prime 2004 – A stress test for CPUs and Memory. [Sorry this site no longer seems to be responding, so we found that Prime95 is available at the above link -Ed.]

Bonus – reset a password and more

Some of you may know about Hiren’s Boot CD. Well you can install it on a USB too. You just need to download the right file. See my article on how to perform a Hirens boot cd password reset here. Use this method if you need to reset a Windows 10 password.

Your thoughts?

What portable apps do you like that aren’t on the list? Please feel free to share in the comments below.

Summary of my selection of the best Portable Apps for Techs

These USB portable utilities are very handy. Since one or two might be hard to find now, I have a bonus USB utility for you below.

The post 35 Portable Applications that Every Tech Needs appeared first on TheTechMentor.com.

I am a tech and I have found all of these portable apps to be very useful so I thought I would share them with you. All of them can run directly from your USB flash drive. I hope you will find them useful too.

Also for Computer Techs

If you are in IT (and reading this page, there is a good chance you are!) then you might be interested in something I am getting into at the moment.

It is called Atera, and it would be great for anyone with a small IT services business. Have you heard of them?

If you want to learn more about Atera Click Here!

All of the computer technician software in this list can run directly from your USB flash drive. Very portable! I hope you will find them useful too.

List of Portable Applications for Computer Technicians

1. Angry IP Scanner

Angry IP Scanner – Scan a range of IP addresses to see which ones are in use. Not sure why it’s Angry, but it is memorable. Also tells you the hostname, MAC address, open ports, computer name, workgroup, and logged in Windows users.

2. Follow-Me IP

Follow-Me IP – Utility for finding your external IP address quickly. [Editor’s note – this link to fmip.org times out, so not sure if it will be fixed]

3. Restoration

Restoration – Allows you to undelete files that have been accidentally deleted from the computer. I cover its use in more detail with step by step instructions in another article called How to Restore Files Deleted from the Recycle Bin.

4. ClamWin Portable

ClamWin Portable – One of the best free antivirus utilities and it is available in portable format.

5. LockNote

LockNote – A simple text file that allows you to store usernames, passwords, phone numbers, and more with 256bit password encryption.

6. Portable OpenOffice

Portable OpenOffice – An open source office suite that is compatible with Microsoft Office, Word Perfect, Lotus, and more in portable format.

7. Portable System Analysis Tool SIW

SIW – A system analysis tool that tells you almost everything you need to know about a computer. Useful for finding information about your hardware, Windows configuration, and settings.

8. WinAudit

WinAudit – Another analysis tool that is useful for finding out information about a computer (not sure if their tool is always working).

9. RockXP

RockXP – View and change product keys for installed Microsoft products including Windows very quickly. [Editor’s note: this now redirects elsewhere to a page that doesn’t work. If you know an alternative please add to the comments below.]

10. Server2Go

Server2Go – Allows you to install an apache webserver right on to your flash drive with no configuration.

11. FileZilla Portable

FileZilla Portable – I have always been a big fan of the FileZilla ftp client. Now FileZilla is in portable format.

12. Portable http file Server

HFS – An http file server that allows you to easily share files right from your USB drive.

13. Firefox Portable Browser for USB key

Firefox Portable – Bypass those spyware-infested browsers and use Firefox straight off of your USB drive.

14. Portable Opera

Portable Opera – Or if you would rather use Opera it is also available in portable format.

15. Portable BitTorrent uTorrent

uTorrent – A very powerful standalone BitTorrent client.

16. Wiki on a Stick

Wiki on a Stick – Useful for storing product keys, configurations notes and more.

17. Portable App to find CPU data CPU-Z

CPU-Z – Very detailed information about your processor and other components.

18. Menu for Your Portable Apps

PStart – A Start Menu like program that allows you to organize and quickly run your portable programs.

Conclusion

This concludes the list. If you have any that are useful to you please post them. I am interested in hearing what helps you on a daily basis. Because it was so popular, I’ve expanded the list of portable applications for Computer Techs.

You can view it with many more utilities added at 35 portable applications every tech needs

This article has some great portable utilities for computer techs and DIY buffs.

The post 18 Portable Apps that Every Tech Needs appeared first on TheTechMentor.com.