PDA

View Full Version : USB Flash Drive question

Michael24
12-10-2008, 08:50 PM
I picked up a 2GB Flash Drive today to replace my previous 128MB one. Both of them came pre-loaded with a compression program, I guess similar to WinZip, in order to more easily store larger files on the drive. However, I know I won't need to use them because most of the stuff I'm backing up is small in size. And because they take up a small amount of space on the flash drives, resulting in a tad less room than the advertised space, I was wondering if it's okay to just delete them? (On my first Flash Drive I thought it was software required to make the drive work, so I just marked the folder as "Hidden" so that I wouldn't see it and accidentally copy/move it to my PC at some point.)
Duelist
12-10-2008, 08:58 PM
You can safely delete any excess whatever that comes on your flash drive.
defunctzombie
12-10-2008, 11:02 PM
Mine came with some kind of operating system, and I trash canned it. A year later and it still works. ;)
Michael24
12-10-2008, 11:12 PM
Awesome. Thanks for the info, guys. :)

Out of curiosity, is it possible to create a Recycle Bin on the drive? That's the only problem, when you delete something from a Flash Drive, make sure you really don't need it anymore. Haha!! Though I've yet to accidentally delete anything I still needed or wasn't still on my PC.
defunctzombie
12-10-2008, 11:35 PM
I don't know if you can, but here's an article you can read in case you delete something by accident.

http://www.diskdoctors.net/recover-data-from-flash-drive.html
SirLemming
12-11-2008, 09:23 AM
You really shouldn't ever have something on your Flash drive that isn't stored somewhere else -- for more than a day, anyway. What if you lose it or it breaks? They're not 100% reliable.
Michael24
12-11-2008, 01:19 PM
The paper that came with my new Sony one does recommend still making a physical back-up on occasion, which I had planned to do anyway. But my first one I've had for over a year, and I've never worried about losing or damaging it. It's just for personal use, so I never take it out of the house, and they're pretty durable. (They've been known to even survive trips through the washer and dryer.) I've dropped mine while standing a few times and nothing ever happened.