When you plug a Thumb Drive into a USB port a pop up should appear in the lower right of your screen. Click on it and pick what you want to do like open it to view the files on it etc. 151 people found this reply helpful. Linux Mint Cinnamon Operating System Install Bootable Boot Recovery Live USB Flash Thumb Drive - Just Like Windows, but Better! 3.7 out of 5 stars 64 $17.99 $ 17.
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Do you know when to buy an external hard drive or a flash drive? MiniTool shows you the differences between external hard drives and flash drives and explains the underlying causes. Just keep reading to get the related knowledge.
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Many people may be planning to buy an external hard drive or a flash drive for some purposes. However, they may just have a shallow understanding of external hard drive vs. flash drive. If you also don't know the differences between external hard drives and flash drives, this post will help you.
Brief Introduction to External Hard Drive and Flash Drive
A flash drive, also called thumb drive and pen drive, is a miniature high-capacity mobile storage product that does not require a physical drive and uses flash memory as its storage medium, while an external hard drive, also called mobile hard disk, is a hard disk storage product that emphasizes portability and realizes large-capacity data exchange between computers.
The flash drive is usually integrated with a USB Type-A or a USB Type-C interface. Thus, you can plug it directly into your computer to use. However, the external hard drive usually needs a matching cable to connect it to your computer. Of course, the cable uses USB Type-A or USB Type-C interface, too.
External Hard Drive vs. Flash Drive
Capacity
In general, the external hard drive has larger capacity comparing the flash drive. The main reason lies in the storage media. As we all know, the flash drive only uses flash memory as its storage medium, while the external hard drive has more options.
Liberty slots instant. The external hard drive can be divided into two types: external HDDs that use magnetic platters as storage media, and external SSDs that use flash memory as storage media. As we all know, the price of flash memory per GB is higher than that of magnetic platter per GB. Therefore, manufacturers usually like using magnetic platters to produce large-capacity storage device. Heavyocity media scoring guitars kontakt download free.
This post explains that HDDs still play an important role.
On the other hand, just comparing the external SSD and the flash drive, the former also usually has a larger capacity. I have searched on Amazon and seldom found a flash drive with 2TB capacity. However, I can easily find a 4TB external hard drive on it. There are two reasons.
The first reason is that external SSDs can be equipped up to 32 NAND flash memory chips while flash drives just have 1 or 2 flash memory chips. The more the flash memory chips, the larger the capacity.
Another possible reason is that they have different usages (this point will be explained later).
Performance
In general, the performance of external hard drives is better than that of flash drives. If comparing external HDDs and flash drives, as normal, external hard drives are much faster in bulk data transfer while USB flash drives may be faster when transferring small bits of data.
However, when it comes to the performance of flash drive vs. external hard drive SSD, flash drives have no advantages.
There are mainly 4 reasons as to why flash drives perform worse than external SSDs.
1. Transport protocols: If you search in Amazon, you'll find there are still many USB flash drives using USB 2.0 protocol, while most of external hard drives have switched to using USB 3.0 protocol. USB 2.0 has a maximum transmission bandwidth of 480 Mbps, namely 60 MB/s, while USB 3.0 has a maximum transmission bandwidth of up to 5.0 Gbps, namely 500 MB/s.
2. Master control: Like SSDs, external SSDs use master controls with excellent quality, while USB flash drives usually use master controls with bad quality.
In general, in order to improve read and write speed, SSDs and external SSDs usually adopt multi-channel mode, which allows master control to operate multiple flash memory chips in parallel through several channels (just like RAID 0).
SSD master control can allow SSDs to increase the number of parallel channels to 4 or up to 8. However, flash drive master control usually supports 1 or 2 channels.
On the other hand, the USB main control lacks some important technologies, which will affect USB performance and lifespan. These technologies include TRIM, wear leveling, etc. Without TRIM technology, the USB flash drive writing speed will become slower and slower.
3. Flash particles: As we all know, there are currently three main types of flash memory particles: SLC, MLC, and TLC. SLC means that each storage unit can store 1 bit of data; MLC means 2 bits; TLC means 3 bits.
On the one hand, storing more data in each unit allows manufacturers to create larger-capacity products with fewer flash memory chips; on the other hand, this will slow products' speed.
Flash drives usually use TLC, while external SSDs usually use MLC or even SLC.
4. Cache: Cache is actually a DRAM memory chip that is used to balance the speed differences between high-speed and low-speed devices, for example, memory and hard disk. It can temporarily store disk data that is accessed more frequently, thus reducing actual disk operation. In this way, users will feel that disk read and write speed is getting faster.
External hard drives, including external SSDs, are generally equipped with cache while flash drives are generally not.
If you are interested in the performance of external hard drive vs. flash drive and want to test them, you can get a detailed guide from the following post:
This article explains how to measure disk performance and how to interpret the disk performance test result. It touches upon terminology like IOPS, transfer rate, sequential reading/writing, random reading/writing, and queue number.
Lifespan
Generally speaking, flash drives have a shorter lifespan than external SSDs. If writing data slightly frequently, many flash drives may only be used for one or two years, but this phenomenon seldom appears on external hard drives. The reasons are as follows:
1. Some external hard drives are made of HDDs. For HDDs, as long as the mechanical parts do not go wrong, they can read and write data all the time. As for NAND flash, it has a limit on the number of writes. Once the number of writes reaches this limitation number, the USB flash drives or external SSDs will be worn out.
2. The flash drive master control does not have wear leveling technology. In NAND flash, some blocks are updated frequently, while others are not. This will make the frequently-updated blocks worn out more quickly and affect the service life of flash drives and external SSDs.
However, external SSDs have wear leveling technology while flash drives don't have. The wear leveling technology is an algorithm integrated into the firmware of the master controller, making each storage block used averagely to avoid some specific storage blocks from forming bad blocks due to overuse.
3. Flash drives have lower capacity than external SSDs. In general, the smaller the capacity, the faster the NAND flash will be overused. Color picker from image.
To understand the lifespan comparison between external hard drives and flash drives more thoroughly, you can refer to this post:
Thumb Drive Os
This post shows you how to check your SSD's lifespan and gives you advice on increasing SSD life and dealing with SSD failure.
Durability
In light of durability, USB flash drive wins definitely. The external HDDs have accurate mechanical parts that are easy to be damaged, while flash drives don't have. As for external SSDs, they perform much better than external HDDs in durability but still worse than flash drives.
Portability
Apparently, flash drives are more portable than external hard drives. The reasons lie in two factors: size and weight.
External hard drives can be divided into three types according to their sizes: 3.5-inch desktop hard drives, 2.5-inch notebook hard drives, and 1.8-inch mini hard drives. Their weight is also reduced in order.
But anyway, flash drives have smaller sizes and lighter weights than external hard drives. The flash drive is small and light enough to be put into a pocket like a key ring charm, or stringed on a neckline. Therefore, it's more portable.
Price
In general, the price of external hard drives is higher than flash drives due to its larger capacity, better performance, etc. However, there are some high-quality flash drives whose capacity and performance are comparable to external SSDs. Such flash drives are more expensive than external hard drives, including external SSDs.
Use
Due to the above characteristics of external hard drive vs. flash drive and the fact that external hard drives can be managed more flexibly in Disk Management than flash drives, they have different uses.
If you want a portable storage medium to transfer small files like documents, photos, etc., or you want to make a bootable disk, the USB flash drive will be a good choice. Adobe photoshop cs4 free download for mac full version.
To know more uses of flash drives, you can refer to this post:
This article tells you how to use a flash drive step by step. You can use it to store data, recover files, kill virus, install operating system, and update firmware.
If you want a storage device to back up your important data, you should choose external HDDs. Finally, if you want a portable storage device to storage games or want to create a portable operating system like Windows to go, I will recommend external SSDs to you.
To know more uses of external hard drives, you can refer to this post:
The guide on how to use an external hard drive is displayed in the post. An external hard drive is useful in many aspects such as files storage and data backup.
Some people may like to use a USB flash drive to create a portable operating system, but they may finally find that the portable operating system can't run or perform very bad. The reason is that the USB speed is very slow. Of course, if you have a high-quality USB flash drive, you can do that.
Manage Flash Drive and External Hard Drive Better with MiniTool Partition Wizard
Manage Flash Drive
If you plug a flash drive into your computer and open the Disk Management, you may find you can hardly manage it, except for formatting and deleting.
Open Disk Management and right-click the flash drive partition. Then you can get the following picture. In Disk Management, some options like Shrink Volume are grayed out.
However, MiniTool Partition Wizard, a professional partition management software, can offer more options to you.
Download MiniTool Partition Wizard and install it. Then, right-click the flash drive partition and you will get the following picture. In MiniTool Partition Wizard, you can still use Move/Resize feature to shrink or extend the flash drive partition. In addition, there are other useful features offered to you.
Back up Data with External Hard Drive
If you want to use an external hard drive to back up your computer or a huge number of files, MiniTool Partition Wizard can help you do that easily.
To clone computer, you can choose Copy Disk Wizard (This is not free when the disk is a system disk). To back up partition with a huge number files, you can choose Copy Partition Wizard.
External Hard Drive vs Flash Drive FAQ
Bottom Line
Do you have any confusion about external hard drive vs. flash drive? Do you have problems in managing external hard drives or flash drives? Please leave a comment below or email us at [email protected]. We will reply to you as soon as possible.
Dec 03, 2020 • Filed to: Take Data Backup • Proven solutions
'Just like any other computer user, I can also install Windows on my SSD or HDD. However, what should I do if I want to copy Windows OS to USB flash drive? Can you guys provide a suitable method to so?'
Perhaps, you want to transfer Windows 10 to USB or copy Windows 10 to USB. You are not sure how to go about this as you want to do it from a laptop. It is possible, and you can even perform this from a computer.
Most users can only think about a manual way. Unlike what many users believe (it is complicated or time-consuming to do so), this is not the case. It does not have to be manual even when Windows operating system is involved. To copy Windows 10 to USB without a hassle, use AOMEI Backupper (trusted software) or in-built tools.
Part 1: Why Do You Need to Copy Windows Operating System (OS) to USB Drive?
Why do users perform this copying task? It is because this approach has several benefits. It is imperative to understand why people copy Windows OS onto a USB flash. These are some of the things to understand before learning how to copy Windows 10 to USB.
1. It Helps Protect the Computer
Most computer users, if not all, store crucial information on their computers and laptops. It is easy to access it when needed. Having a backup is vital if an unfortunate event happens. Google drive for pc not installing. It ensures users that they will not have to lose the data when they have a backup.
A USB flash drive is multifunctional as it is used as a storage device and for transferring data. Thus, to enjoy these uses and to protect your PC, you should copy the Windows OS to a flash drive.
2. To Restore System Image
Restoring a Windows OS is not as complicated as having to reinstall it. That's because restoring takes less time since it is not necessary to install drivers and software. What makes reinstalling complicated is that application you need to install the software and hardware drivers once again. You need to do it after installing the OS. Without doing this, the computer will not operate optimally.
To back up your operating system, you should copy it to a USB drive. In case there is a need to restore the OS, you can do it without having to reinstall it. That will save you time, hard work, and the hassle of installing software and hardware drive.
3. Convenient and Flexible
One reason many users prefer to use USB flash drives is that they are flexible. It is a huge convenience for all users, even when travelling. You can be assured that you will have your operating system within reach anytime. All you need is to copy Windows 10 to USB. Once this is done, whenever you plug the stick in the computer, you will have access to your popular OS. It will make your work easier.
4. Others
System hard drive failure can cause your computer to crash, which will be a considerable inconvenience. You need to have a backup that you can use. That is the reason why every computer user should learn how to copy Windows 10 to USB. The USB stick will be your emergency bootable disk in such cases.
In short, it will not only save you valuable time, but it will also be convenient.
Part 2: Use Built-in Tools to Transfer Windows OS to USB Flash
Windows has taken care of its users with the system backup utilities that are in-built. There are several of them depending on the OS you are using. If you are using Windows 8, you have access to Windows 7 File Recovery. In Windows 7, you have Backup and Restore, whereas, in Windows 10, there is Windows 7 Backup and Restore. At times, users may need to backup and restore their files. When this is the case, they most prefer Windows 8 and 10 File History.
These utilities are used to store the system image in a USB flash. Despite it being possible, in some instances, an error could pop up. In most scenarios, you will get 'The drive is not a valid backup location' error. When this error comes up, you cannot proceed with the backup process. It is one reason to understand such errors and how to backup Windows 10 to USB.
As a user, this is an error that will bother you the most. After all, it is a restriction that was put in place when Windows created backup and restore features. They were not designed to support USB flash drives as backup storage locations.
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With the advanced features and advanced technology, this should never be a problem. Do not despair if the in-built tool will not allow you to backup. One thing that you need to keep in mind is that you should never use a USB with a small capacity. You must use one with more than 8 GB. If the USB is big enough, but you are still getting an error when you copy Windows 10 to USB, choose another solution.
Part 3: Use AOMEI Backupper to Copy Operating System to USB Flash Drive
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If the error happens and you are using a larger USB flash drive, then consider this workable option. When in-built tools fail to backup, why not opt for software? If it is a third-party one, it must be reliable and safe.
For Windows-based PCs, you can opt for AOMEI Backupper Professional. It works quite well on Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10, Windows XP, and Vista. You will not stress about how to backup Windows 10 to USB. Backing up your Windows operating system will be hassle-free. It is just like backing up to optional hard drives.
Regardless of the removable USB drive you have; you can comfortably use this solution. Whether it is thumb drive, USB 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, or even pen drive, this solution will work for you. It is one advantage of using this software. Perhaps, you need to back up for the long run or even just once. Then, it is possible too. You will be saving sufficient space on the USB with the differential and incremental backup. All users need as much space as they can get on their flash drives.
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Below are useful steps on how to use this software. They are easy guidelines on how to copy Windows 10 to USB.
Step 1. Download and Open the Software
Here, the very first step you should take is connecting the USB drive to the PC. Install AOMEI Backupper and launch it. Under the 'Backup' tab, select 'System Backup.'
Step 2. Choose the USB Flash Drive
When using AOMEI Backupper, you do not have to worry about how you will select the system drive. It is not done manually as this software does it automatically. Choosing the USB flash drive where the Windows operating system should be copied is what you do in this step.
Step 3. Choose Additional Options, if Required!
When you check on the lower-left corner, you will see three options. These are for customized configuration. Learn more about them below.
- Options: This will give you several options. It will provide you with different choices, such as compression, password protect the backup image, and split backup images.
- Schedule: There are different types of backups that you can choose from. You can even choose how often you want the backup to be done. Incremental, full, and differential backup are all possible. In addition to this, you can change the schedule of the backup to daily, weekly, or even monthly.
- Scheme: There is a value you set when doing this. The backup image amount can pass this value. On the Scheme option, old backups delete automatically. It will be convenient and timesaving.
Step 4. Start the Backup Process
Once you are done customizing your configuration, you can proceed to this step. Upon completion, go ahead and select the 'Start Backup' button.
In short, this software is ideal and reliable. Solving the error when copying Windows 10 to USB will be resolved quickly. It comes handy when the in-built tools in your computer are not sufficient and workable.
Besides allowing you to copy the operating system with ease, AOMEI Backupper gives you a chance to backup. You can back up your PC and files with so much comfort. Protecting your computers is also possible, and thus, you should get this software at the earliest.
Conclusion:
Copying Windows OS to USB flash drive is never complicated as many people see it. Well, it is a simple process when you follow the guidelines. One thing to remember is that you must be careful when doing it; otherwise, you might lose crucial data. It is not surprising to have issues when performing this task. In-built tools can fail sometimes, but this is not something to worry about. If this happens with your tools for any reason, you will need to use reliable third-party software.
AOMEI Backupper Professional will solve the problem when you need to copy Windows 10 to USB flash drive. After all, it is the most reliable backup manager that is readily available.
How To Access Thumb Drive Windows 10
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