memory stick crash?

[Guest]

My parents computer recently crashed and they lost a lot of information.
What are the pros and cons of working with all files directly from a memory
stick instead of the hard drive? Using the hard drive only for programs.
Can a memory stick crash like a C: drive? I've read about the "safely
remove hardware" button. If it's not used could the stick be erased or just
cause problems with the files in transfer?

 

[Tim Slattery]

My parents computer recently crashed and they lost a lot of information.
What are the pros and cons of working with all files directly from a memory
stick instead of the hard drive?

Mostly, I'd guess, the memory stick is *much* slower than a hard
drive. It's also much smaller, and *much* more expensive per megabyte.

Can a memory stick crash like a C: drive?

I'm sure there are ways in which a memory stick can fail. These would
be different from how a hard drive fails (it can't stop spinning,
there are no read/write heads to crash onto a disk surface, etc, etc).
Since the memory stick is entirely electronic with no moving parts, I
would expect it to be less prone to failure than a hard drive.

I've read about the "safely
remove hardware" button. If it's not used could the stick be erased or just
cause problems with the files in transfer?

Using that button will make sure that nothing is being transferred
between the flash drive and the computer when you remove the flash
drive. Flash drives (AFAIK) are much less likely than other USB
devices to have trouble if you disconnect them without using the
"safely remove" function, but if you use that function you make
certain that everything is finalized before you remove it.

 

[Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)]

Dan

Install a second hard drive in the machine, and point the various programs
to save to the slave.. 'My Documents, mail and anything generated by MS
Office can be directed to a drive other than C..

One should also back up to removable media.. CD or DVD for example..

 

[Guest]

I have all my pictures, etc backed up on CD's but my parents are very
computer illiterate so I thought storing it on a memory stick would be an
easier way for them to save files rather than trying to teach them how to
burn a CD. Then I can eventually transfer their files to a CD.

 

[Guest]

Tim, please help me with the size issue. Isn't a 512 memory stick the same
size as my 512 hardrive?

 

[Bob I]

You are not likely to have a "512 harddrive" a 512 memory stick could be
called a 1/2 GB memory card, or a 512MB thumbdrive. But Harddrives of
500 MB were made about 10 years ago.

 

[Guest]

Thanks Bob I. I guess I have been confusing it with RAM space?

 

[Yves Leclerc]

Memory sticks (SD, SM, Memory Sticks, USB flash disks) are prone to be:

1) Mishandled (dropped, stepped on, Put in the wash etc....)
2) Can be "erased" by static electricity
3) Wiped clean by accident (erase, format, general USB unknown issues)
4) A hell more expensive than CD / DVD medias or hard drive

You can "script" a CD/DVD creation process (aka burning) with third party
utilities. I've done this with Nero before.

 

[Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)]

Dan

As stated, install a second drive and then point program saves to folders on
the slave drive..

 

[Tim Slattery]

Tim, please help me with the size issue. Isn't a 512 memory stick the same
size as my 512 hardrive?

512 what? There are 512MB flash drives, I'm not sure 512MB hard drives
are made anymore. You can get hard drives up to the 200GB area (maybe
bigger, I haven't looked recently) for just a couple of hundred
dollars. The largest flash drives are (I think) 4GB and cost about the
same.

 

[Bob I]

Yes, system RAM of 512 MB is quite common and a minimum preference for
running XP by many folks.