Information for First Time User of a Flash Drive

Flash drives are a simple way to store data.

Jump drive, thumb drive, pen drive, flash drive. You may have only heard of a few of these, but they are all referring to the same device: a small USB stick used to store data. Flash drives come in various sizes, cases and colors, but all generally perform the same way and do the same task.

Locating the Port

Make sure your PC is on and ready. Locate the USB port on the computer. On newer desktops, they may be somewhere on the front of the PC, and laptops will have one on any of the sides, but typically on the back. It is a small, narrow and rectangular in shape.

New Hardware

If you have inserted the flash drive properly you will get a pop-up stating that new hardware has been detected and is being installed. Most flash drives will install automatically without any interaction from the user. If you are trying to use it on Windows 98, you will need to download the driver and install it manually.

New Window

A new window should appear on your screen asking you what you want to do with the flash drive. If this does not happen automatically, and the flash drive installed properly, you can also click on "My Computer" from the desktop and select your removable drive icon to open the folder structure.

Transferring Files

Your flash drive can hold all kinds of data. You can leave the flash drive window open and simply drag and drop items to and from the desired location until the flash drive reaches capacity.

Removing the Drive

The proper way to remove the flash drive is to right-click on the icon in the bottom-right corner of the desktop that looks like a little green arrow. Select your USB device. You will get a message that your device can now be safely removed. If you pull the flash drive out of the USB port without performing the safe removal first, it may cause data files to get corrupted or not transfer over.

References

• Glossary
• Using a Flash Drive