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Questions about memory sticks and USB


hazelnut

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A couple of questions about memory sticks, usbs and the like.

What does it mean (in plain English! ) if it is,

1 Hot-swoppable

2 has flash drive.

Thank you. :realmad:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hot-swappable means you can plug in or unplug a device without turning off the device or rebooting the computer. Such as a USB web camera or headset. Memory cards, jump drives, and most hand held cameras should NOT be hot -swapped.

Flash drive is a jump or thumb drive.

Flash memory is a type of memory that uses a intergrated circuit that will does not need a constant power supply to retain information. Like a memory card for a camera, you can pull the card out and will not lose your pics.

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To clarify, they are hot swappable in that you are allowed to plug them in and remove them without turning off the compuer, but you should hit XP's "Safely remove hardware" on jump drives/memory sticks/cameras to avoid data loss (it flushes any data waiting to be written and safely dismounts the mass storage device).

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Funnily enough I have only just read about this recently, you should wait for the light to stop flashing and then unplug it using the "Safely Remove Hardware" approach.

In my house a few usb devices have got f***** up by not taking the right approach.

The reason we don't do what is right is because it disconnects us from the internet for some reason.

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ive alwase heard (from my older brother) that in 2000, it was much more important to do the "safley remove hardware" thing. Now in XP, it controlls usb devices much better, so even though they give you the option, it wont affect it AS MUCH as it used to in 2000.

it only takes a second to right click the systray icon and unplug it right? not very long to me :realmad:

)corjello(

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ive alwase heard (from my older brother) that in 2000, it was much more important to do the "safley remove hardware" thing. Now in XP, it controlls usb devices much better, so even though they give you the option, it wont affect it AS MUCH as it used to in 2000.

it only takes a second to right click the systray icon and unplug it right? not very long to me  :realmad:

)corjello(

Or left click and choose the device.

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Thank you Sniper. :realmad:

Just to clearify something, what I call a memory stick, you call a jump drive?

Most mp3 players are not hot-swappable then, as I've just realised I always have mine off when putting music on it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah, like when ya'll call the a**-end of a car, the "boot" and we call it, the "Trunk". Here, a "memory stick" is a flash memory card that is used by Sony in cameras, PDAs, computers, etc. A "jump drive" is a portable, USB flash memory drive that can be plugged into a USB port on any computer and is used for moving/storing data. They are not interchangeable.

memory stick

post-49-1134614465_thumb.jpg

jump drive

post-49-1134614514_thumb.jpg

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How I wish I was on the same time zone as you lot. I post a question and when I next get to look at it you've all been and discussed it!!

Interesting to learn that what we call a memory stick, you call a jump drive.

Thank you all gentlemen for the info, I will use the -safely remove hardware -icon.

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Don't follow the "blinking light" method. Just because the drive has stopped writing does not mean there is not deferred data waiting to be written (and sometimes this data is a change to the filesystem structure itself). Pulling the drive out when the light has stopped blinking can have the same effect as pulling it out when it is in the middle of writing, if you are not lucky (yes, you have been lucky thus far). Just hit safely remove hardware, so that we don't have to see a thread later on titled "help, I've lost all of my data on my USB drive". It can, and will happen. I've seen it in person, and it's not usually possible to clean up the mayhem that it causes.

Windows 2000 and Windows XP's safely remove hardware are identical, except that XP gives you the option to optimize for quick removal or optimize for performance. If optimize for quick removal is chosen, deferred writes are written sooner (but writes do still get deferred, so you still have to 'safely remove' it). If optimize for performance is enabled, writes are deferred longer, giving the impression of files being copied to and from and deleted "instantly". Neither method will prevent corrupted data from not 'safely removing' it. Blinking light method = bad.

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