YOUR AD HERE »

Jump start your files with a jump drive

CLICK AND HACK

We are probably all too familiar with the following scenario: You are running late, grab your floppy disk, get to work/school/big meeting only to find out that the disk will not work. As you feel the room spinning around, you wonder what you did wrong, what you did to deserve this?Not to worry; it isn’t your fault. Floppy disks fail, and for several reasons they will wear out or fall apart. Making matters worse, they often don’t hold all the data you need to transfer. The fact is, you often can not and do not want to depend on a floppy disk for important files.The good news is, the jump drive has arrived. This simple, portable and reliable gadget has the capacity of 1GB or more, is the size of a cigarette lighter and uses plug and play technology making your life easier. Jump drive, flash drive, key chain storage, memory sticks and whatever other names exist out there, jump drives are one of the newest and best ways to store files. They’re perfect for anyone needing a dependable way to transport data. Students can use their jump drive to transfer PowerPoint slides, images and documents to class. Simply plug it into the classroom computer, and you’re ready to go. For those who work on more than one computer, no need to email files to yourself or to burn CDs. In fact, you could consider the jump drive a form of portable hard drive. Simply save all files to the jump drive, pop it out and move on to the next computer.When picking a drive you may feel a bit like Goldilocks, with the smaller drives being too small, and the larger ones being too big and sometimes too expensive. For the average user, we recommend 256 to 512 MB drives, which will hold an amazing amount of data: pictures, hours of MP3s and hundreds of Microsoft or Apple files. Another great thing about these drives is that they will work with any PC containing a USB port, even older ones. Don’t worry if you are a Mac user, the drives will work for you as well (consider the iDuck). If you do have an older operating system (Windows ’98, or Mac OS 9), you will simply need to download the driver.As far as style goes, there is no shortage of colors, designs and shapes so you should be able to find one that suits you. If you’re not quite ready yet; don’t worry – the options keep getting better. Innovative companies are designing drives that are multipurpose and pretty cool. One such company, Meritline, has designed a drive that doubles as a pen, and if you want to feel a bit James Bondish, try one of Meritline’s two models contained within a wristwatch.With so many uses, options and variety (in several aspects), jump drives are not just for those in the IT office, but for anyone who transports files. Trust us, you won’t be sorry to leave those floppy disks behind. For more information and product reviews, visit http://reviews.cnet.com, or e-mail clickandhack@friscocomputerstore.com.


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

As a Summit Daily News reader, you make our work possible.

Summit Daily is embarking on a multiyear project to digitize its archives going back to 1989 and make them available to the public in partnership with the Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection. The full project is expected to cost about $165,000. All donations made in 2023 will go directly toward this project.

Every contribution, no matter the size, will make a difference.