255Gig Flash Drives

[Sparks]

I have obtained a 255gig usb flash drive. It only takes 25gig of data. I have already reformatted it to no avail. I am busy repartitioning it to see if that will work. At R150 it is still a bargain, but I would like to load 255gig on it though. Does anyone out there have one that works?

[Perform Computers]

Where did you purchase it?

[Sparks]

It comes from the UK. A friend is getting them from one of his friends who lives there now. He changed the NTFS format to FAT but that did not work so he asked me to change it back to NTFS. When formatted in FAT you only have access to the data until you remove the drive. When you plug it in again there is nothing on it. With the NTFS format you can remove the drive but still have access when you plug it in again.

[Perform Computers]

Sounds dodge. I'd get rid of it. last thing you want is your shiny new flash drive corrupting your data.

[Sparks]

I want to use it for storage. I have 6 hard drives and 3 are in the red. ! has 15gig and 1 has 41gig available. I just got my 6th one and am going to use ti for my new "C" drive which is the one with 15gig available. Only my programs are loaded on the "C" drive. All the program data and files are on other drives. At R150.00 it is still cheap even if it only takes 15gig.

[adrianh]

To me the idea of data storage is to be able to retrieve the data reliably at a later date. I agree with Andrew - that device seems dodgy - I've never heard of a device that fails to operate correctly in FAT32. Yes it may format smaller but it doesn't stop working reliably.

Buy a 2TB drive

[tec0]

That is doggy as hell my friend, you do not get 255Gb flash drives “not yet” biggest I know about is 32Gb and then you only get like 25gb out of it if you are lucky. NTFS is the better then FAT32 because if you have a 4.2GB single file like a DVD image it cannot be stored in FAT32. It is max out on 3.9Gb give or take on FAT32.

Rather invest in a 1Tb or something they are not that expensive. Even better start backing up to DVD, it is time consuming but if you don’t abuse the DVD’s keep them in good condition they are a safe medium for backup “that said use proper DVD’s” if you write on crap they will not last and you will lose in the end.

[AndyD]

You would need to run tools on the flash drive that can go in at low level. Maybe Acronis Disk manager or similar.

[Justloadit]

The USB flash sticks are memory FET cells which store the data, so they are prone to loose information or to fail. USB sticks are not recomended for long term data storage, but rather short term or moving data around type of storage. They are prone to fail due to plugging in and out, and are usually made on multilayer boards in whchi the USB connector is soldered on. Mechanical stresses can break the fragile board causing failure.

[Chrisjan B]

@Sparks - you've been had, just throw that thing away, it is not to be trusted with your data. 256GB flash drives is available and will cost in the region of R 7000-00.

As tec0 said - rather buy and external hard drive.

[Sparks]

My 2Tb is full so is the 1.5Tb as is the case with the 80G and 1 of my 120G drives. I have 15G and 41G available on 2x 120G drives. I have just acquired anoth 120G drive. I am already using the external drives for programs. I have made copies of all my software installation files which I keep, then there is a sh*t load of movies, another one of cartoons and then also all the plans I have drawn up including 3D displays of plans for quotes. All my quotes, acceptances and invoices and then to top it off my hobby is 3D which takes up a heck of a lot of space. I want to store my movies/cartoons on it because my TV takes a flash. That will free up more than 1 drive.

[tec0]

Right you need about two hundred and fourteen DVDs give or take to backup about nine hundred gigabytes of data. That would set you back a modest R350 and another R190 for a new DVD writer when you are done because it will be cooked. You can load share if you have two computers.

Now if you need to split files use something like 7zip and set it on “store only” and tell it to split on preset for DVD size. I used for my backups and never had a problem. But rather test it first.

Fact is you will not be able to watch all your movies all the time and plugging in a USB Flash of that size in your TV half of your movies will freeze anyway because they do. I tested it with a modest 16Gb Flash.

If you write 20 DVD’s a day you will be done in two weeks or less leaving close to 1Tb open. Repeat this once a month and you will have enough space on your computer And you will have backup of everything. And it is never a bad thing to have.

One last thing please don’t try and put as much data on a single DVD as possible. It cannot and will not work properly. Leave about 200mb or so open per DVD when it comes to data.

Yes for that money you can easily buy another 1.5Tb hard drive but trust me on this one the more hard-drives you have the worse off you will end up being because eventually your computer’s PSU can handle only so much and your USB will last for only so long and then the real cost start.

[Perform Computers]

*cough* Get a Blu-Ray drive & burn your stuff on there *cough*

[tec0]

Blu-Ray Is expensive, and the software can be improved that said if you have the money test it.

[Sparks]

I am almost a perfectionist. When it comes to my PC I am a hoarder. I cannot bring myself to delete obsolete software. I am running Win7, but I also have a Virtual machine with XP Pro and one with 2003. Someone just might be wanting something or have a neat program that I can utilise. I am also hoarding a stack of 3D models, from insects & plants to people. What I really need is a quad core with 5x 2Tb drives