Q-The USB MEMORY STICK is an amazing little thing,
and so handy! My question? I have copied and pasted
documents from My Documents without any problems.
But from everything I read, you should download
software in order to move this information from
the computer to the USB Drive. So how am
I doing it without software?
Ans: You may have been reading about Memory Sticks
put out by Sony. These devices aren't the same as a
USB flash drive, which are also sometimes referred
to as a memory stick. The Sony Memory Sticks are
commonly used in digital cameras, camcorders,
and cell phones for adding more storage.
Many computers do require software to be
downloaded for reading a specific type of
Memory Stick. There are multiple kinds that
Sony manufactures for different digital storage needs.
Once the proper software has been obtained and
downloaded onto your personal computer,
any images or audio files contained on the
Memory Stick can be transferred to your
computer and saved for later use. However,
if you have a VAIO laptop computer, this
software is already included. Since VAIO
is manufactured by Sony, they decided to
make it easily compatible with their
Memory Stick products.
When transferring data from a computer,
using a flash drive is the common method.
A USB memory stick, or flash drive as some
people refer to them, is simply an external
storage device that can be easily plugged into
a functional USB port on a computer. They
have taken the place of the floppy disk,
which was used to transfer data files from one
computer system to another. Memory sticks are
much smaller than floppy disks and less likely to
become damaged, due to their compact size.
They come in a range of storage options,
with as little as 128MB to well over 200GB.
The data transferring process is much faster
with flash drives as well. USB drives are mass
storage devices that are supported by many
of the popular operating systems today;
Linux, Mac OS X, Unix-like systems, and Windows.
Flash drives don't have any mechanical movement
that takes place inside, nor do they require
batteries to operate. However, despite a lack
of moving parts or batteries, memory sticks
don't last forever. The USB connector tends
to last for an average of 1,500 connect
and disconnect cycles.
There are also two different types of cell levels;
single and multiple. Single-level cells, or SLC flash
drives, have one bit of data contained in each cell.
This allows the drive to be able to write at a
fast speed, use little power, and have a higher
endurance. SLC memory sticks tend to last for
about 100,000 writes. The multi-level cells or
MLC memory sticks, only last for around 10,000
writes, due to multiple bits stored in each cell.
Having a denser storage system makes these
devices cheaper than the SLC drives, but they
also don't last as long as the single-level cell flash drives.
People who have an older version of Windows will
probably need to download a driver, in order for their
computer to read a USB memory stick.
Windows Vista, XP, 2000, and ME all have generic
drivers included in the operating system.
A few manufacturers of flash drives offer a
CD for users of Windows 98. This disc enables
a driver to be downloaded onto the computer,
making it possible for any USB drive to be read.
Besides flash drives, this disc also allows
computers with Windows 98 to read USB
hard drives, MP3 players, digital cameras
and camcorders, as well as Sony PSPs.
If the flash drive doesn't come with a CD for
downloading a driver compatible with
Windows 98, then the website of most larger
flash drive producing companies will have
downloads available on their homepage.
Even though additional software doesn't need
to be downloaded for newer operating systems,
some people run into other obstacles when
using a flash drive. Some older computers
only have one flash drive, which might be
occupied by a printer or another much
needed external device. There are hubs
that can be purchased for plugging in
multiple USB devices. These are plugged into
one USB port, thus providing a hub of at
least 4 additional USB ports for plugging
in all sorts of devices.
Due to the usage of the words Memory Stick
as a generic term, there is often much confusion
between a flash drive and the actual Memory Stick
products produced by Sony. In short,
most operating systems found in computers
allow the computer to easily transfer data
to and from a USB flash drive, without the
need for any additional downloads.
Hopefully, this has cleared up any confusion
you had about why your USB memory stick
was working so efficiently with your computer.
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