7 intelligent methods to make use of your previous USB flash drives
When you’re like me, you’ve amassed a number of USB flash drives through the years, to the purpose the place most of them are sitting unused and in storage.
However just lately I’ve come to comprehend that an previous flash drive sitting round in a drawer gathering mud is a chance missed. What’s modified? I found a bunch of enjoyable and sensible makes use of for them. Beneath are a few of my favourite concepts.
When you’re seeking to buy USB flash drives you may also discover them in our PCWorld article: Greatest exterior drives: High picks in moveable storage.
1. Create a conveyable gaming console
With a number of easy steps you’ll be able to flip a USB flash drive into a conveyable retro gaming console which you can carry round with you in your pocket and plug into any PC that you just’re in entrance of. In our information we paired our USB console with the 8BitDo Professional controller and a wi-fi mini keyboard and all up the venture price us below $100.
2. Use it to unlock your PC
You’ve most likely heard of the product YubiKey, which acts as a safe login key on your pc, however should you don’t really feel like spending huge on a kind of, you’ll be able to create your individual bodily login key utilizing an previous USB flash drive. There are completely different applications you should utilize for this, however we accomplished the venture with a program known as USB Raptor utilizing a 16GB USB flash drive from Amazon.
Additional studying: I used to be a passkey sceptic. However now I’m a believer within the password-free future
3. Encrypt it and retailer delicate information
When you’ve acquired photos of delicate paperwork like your beginning certificates, driver’s license, or passport, it’s a good suggestion to encrypt that data. That may be completed on an previous USB flash drive. One instrument generally used to do that is TrueCrypt. Simply obtain the app and comply with the prompts to hold out your encryption. You should definitely keep in mind your password, as a result of with out it you gained’t have the ability to retrieve the info.
YubiKey
4. Create a PC survival equipment
A USB flash drive is the proper solution to carry with you a bunch of useful apps to assist your PC run higher. I’m speaking about instruments for Home windows tuning and system upkeep, graphics, imaging, and workplace purposes, {hardware} evaluation, and applications for community and web. We’ve written a complete information to doing this, so you’ll want to test it out if this feels like your jam.
5. Run a conveyable internet server
Sure a USB flash drive can be used to run an internet server. Working one in your USB drive as a substitute of a tough drive can prevent in case your arduous drive will get corrupted for any purpose. There are a bunch of various purposes that may do that for you. Take a look at Server2Go, which is likely one of the commonest and is free.
6. Create a bootable USB of Home windows 11
You’ll need one among these in case you’ll want to set up a contemporary copy of the working system on a brand new PC or a PC that wants a clear slate. In any other case, it’s very helpful to have one round to do repairs or troubleshoot points in case your primary set up is corrupted.
7. Create a digital library
You may create a library of music tracks to play in your automobile or stereo. Or else, eBooks don’t take up a number of house and even a USB flash drive with a modest 2GB capability can retailer tons of. There are a bunch of free sources for eBooks which you can make use of to create an in depth private library very quickly.
Pexels: Revac movie
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