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Are thumb drives still a thing?

IronWing

IronWing

No Lifer
I tend to stick with what works until the ports disappear but I was thinking that maybe thumb drives have run their course and that other forms of file sharing have displaced them. What sayeth the bleeding edge of technology?

<== still carries a USB to serial port dongle.
 
I don't use them much anymore, unless you count my phone as a thumb drive(I do), but I keep a disassembled(for small size) drive in my wallet with Lubuntu, and some Windows utilities. I don't use it much, but it's nice to have bootable media if it's needed.
 
I carry around a couple of the tiny connector-sized ones as off-site backup in case my apartment building burns down.

I used normal-sized ones at least once or twice a week for file copies and (less often) installing OSs.
 
DaveSimmons said:
I used normal-sized ones at least once or twice a week for file copies and (less often) installing OSs.
Click to expand...
Oh, yeah, I forgot, I use a 4GB drive to watch stuff I record on my computer on my TV. I tried streaming, but the stupid streaming device I use drops the connection if there's even a slight WiFi glitch.
 
I carry one on my keychain with all of my passwords in plaintext, plus all of my best porn that I wouldn't want to be without in a pinch. Like if I'm out one night and I meet a nice lady and we go back to her place, maybe she wants to watch a bukkake video with 60 guys and one girl.

Actually, I keep a handful of smaller ones for OS installs. They're like $4 a piece now. And every once once in a blue moon I'll need to sneakernet some files between computers.
 
Thread reminds me I need to buy flash drives in bulk. I lose and give away more than a few over time. Usually I have one for a bunch of portable apps (mostly from PortableApps), one for live linux/install, a Windows 10 install, a few with encrypted cold storage wallets, one for document/file backup, and a few for transferring files.

I've never taken to using a flash drive on a keychain, but if anyone knows of a really nice USB 3.0/3.1 one that's nigh indestructible (the metal encased ones are decent otherwise) with 64GB+ let me know.
 
Hell yeah flash drives are still a thing! I have one on my keychain with my Keepass key file, and I use them all the time at work for transferring screen captures from scopes to my laptop. One of my older co-workers has a whole collection of the same exact drive for reasons I don't know; you can ask for a drive, he reaches in his pocket, and pulls out like four of them.

Crono, check out the Kingston DataTraveler. I think I bought the 8 or 16GB version SE9, but it looks like they have new SE9 G2 64GB and 128GB versions too (I think the original SE9 looks better). I've been using it for nearly a year without any problems.

https://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Dig...=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=kingston+datatraveler+se8
 
Flash drives for daily use have been replaced by Google drive for me. If I'm giving a presentation at a conference or to a client I will put it on a flash drive. I also use flash drives for some personal files such as resume or job search files. I generally have time drive automatically sync to my pc when I plug it in.
 
Wait, so, what to use as an initial boot device, if not a USB stick? I gave up on CDs several years ago for this purpose, is there something else now?
 
crashtech said:
Wait, so, what to use as an initial boot device, if not a USB stick? I gave up on CDs several years ago for this purpose, is there something else now?
Click to expand...

Well, boot over network (PXE) I guess, which I've never tried myself. But yeah, bootable USB is the defacto now for installation media.
 
Still use them regularly. One for documents, a few for repair utilities, a bootable Linux, a windows 10 installation, etc.
 
Why wouldn't thumb drive still be a thing? After all you'll need something to install OSes. for troubleshooting, and for transferring large amounts data/files around.
 
My Mazda CX-5 has a USB port connected to the entertainment/Nav system. I have a 128 GB drive in there full of my music. But I also use them to transfer files all the time. I also like to print pictures at Costco. Fill up a thumb drive and take it to one of their photo kiosks. I use them at work quite a bit. Our company blocks all cloud storage sites for security. (thumb drives have to be encrypted here as well)
 
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