Ask Readers: USB Storage Sticks

Christopher Penn, Financial Aid Podcast says on July 6th, 2006 at 7:58 am

iPod in Data Mode.

‘Nuff said.

Christopher S. Penn
Daily financial aid internet radio on demand, no iPod required
http://www.FinancialAidPodcast.com
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Ben D says on July 6th, 2006 at 8:09 am

As for the encryption question. I don’t have a full solution but looking into GPG might be the way to go. If anything is going to work cross platform that would. I know there is GPG Tools for the mac that well let you encrypt files (though not directories I don’t think). As well, there are some graphic front ends for Linux that well do file encryption. That only leaves windows to investigate but I’m sure something can be found.

Dcrad says on July 6th, 2006 at 8:25 am

I use my iPod in Disk mode, works a treat and I’m never scared of loosing it - I just wouldnt leave my iPod laying around.

I’d say carry on the search for Encryption software as from what you’ve said it would suit you better and would save you having to use those stupid lanyards.

David A says on July 6th, 2006 at 8:27 am

An alternative approach - my USB stick has a plain text file in the root (ThisUSBKeyBelongsTo.txt) with my address, and the offer of a cash reward to whoever posts it back to me.

I also use encryption (not cross-platform, unfortunately) for some things, but at least this way I have some chance of getting the stick back so I can stop worrying.

Tarique Naseem says on July 6th, 2006 at 8:33 am

If you have a memory card in your mobile, you could use that to store your data, assuming your mobile goes with you whereever you go!

At least then it’s one less thing to carry about. I’m contemplating using mine in this way (SPV C600 windows mobile phone), in which I’ve already installed a 1GB SD card.

Only downside is that you’d need to either carry the USB phone cable with you, or rely on a Bluetooth connection to get the data off… Oh and ActiveSync…

bonna says on July 6th, 2006 at 8:36 am

Buy a really small one (like the Cruzer Microdrives) and add it to your keychain.
Dunno if you can encrypt your data cross-platform though.

Another option is to buy a watch with a USB holder.

If you don’t like one of the above options then leave your USB key in the car when you go to the beach.

Clare says on July 6th, 2006 at 8:41 am

I did something similiar to the text file with the reward info — I named my stick my email address. I figured that might help it get back to me if it was lost.

Pascal Venier says on July 6th, 2006 at 8:44 am

Sorry for your loss! ;^)

I would like to suggest putting your memory stick at the end of a short rope and securing it to your belt loop with a small carabiner.

I no longer carry a USB memory stick around but store files on-line and retrieve them when necessary. You could try Box.net, Backpack, ContactOffice.com or Foldera.

Markus says on July 6th, 2006 at 8:51 am

I bought a 1GB PQI Intelligent Stick (http://www.pqi1st.com/products/istick.asp) that has worked great. It’s very small and comes with a credit card size case that I keep in my wallet with me.

Now I only have to worry about losing my wallet!

Norman says on July 6th, 2006 at 9:03 am

I don’t actually use my flashdrive that much, but I do store some important stuff there.

However, I have cornered off over 95% of the drive to a secure zone, and I left a little text file in the unsecure part that says something like this:
“If you’re reading this, you found my flash drive. Guess what? There’s only 5 mb of unencrypted space on this drive, so it is pretty much useless to you. Why don’t you give me a phone call at AAA-BBBB and you can give this thing back to me…”

I figure that might help if I lose it…

talesfromthecrypt says on July 6th, 2006 at 9:47 am

http://www.truecrypt.org/ Free open-source disk encryption software for Windows XP/2000/2003 and Linux.

Chris says on July 6th, 2006 at 9:48 am

For cross platform encryption, keep an eye on TrueCrypt (http://www.truecrypt.org). It’s open source and currently available on Windows and Linux. The first item on their upcoming features list is OSX support.

Mariann says on July 6th, 2006 at 9:51 am

Like you, I’ve lost several flash drives. One even went in the laundry… twice. As a result of that painful lesson, I’ve been looking for a better solution. I have a firewire drive for big files, but I also use my iPod. These are best for big files. Sometimes I use FTP or Gmail to store files when traveling, but I like the portability and ease of the flash drive.

The only flash drive that’s lasted is the one on my work keychain. I may misplace my keys from time to time, but hooking the gizmo to my keys has kept me from losing it or my sanity.

Jim says on July 6th, 2006 at 10:01 am

Another vote for TrueCrypt. It does sound like you need to make your storage bigger, so an ipod is probably the way to go.

Dave J. says on July 6th, 2006 at 10:09 am

Keychain.

Adam Blinkinsop says on July 6th, 2006 at 11:06 am

Keychain, absolutely.

Of course, you could always glue it to the back of your hand, but that might be a little much.

Jamie says on July 6th, 2006 at 11:29 am

Perhaps I am lucky in this, but I need to wear glasses when reading and working on the computer. I keep my usb drive, loaded with apps and documents, wrapped up in my lens cloth in my glasses case.

I’m currently using locknote and YadaDisk for some security, but just for a few files. My Portable Firefox does remember some of my passwords, but I’ve enabled the master password to control that. I haven’t needed to concern myself with multiple platforms yet.

Oh, and I have included a .txt file with return contact information. The drive has my telephone number as the title.

edward says on July 6th, 2006 at 11:39 am

First, I don’t put anything on my USB stick without which I could not survive. Everything is backed up somewhere. Second, if I put anything sensitive or damning, I encrypt it. I’m windows only so there are lots of portable options for either encrypting files or the whole drive. Third, I don’t carry my stick anywhere but in my big-ass backpack, about which I am pretty compulsive, and therefore, the stick would be difficult to lose accidentally.

“Stolen” is another matter. I don’t bother putting anything identifying on the stick because, like I said before, I don’t keep anything on it that I wouldn’t want broadcast on CNN. Sensitive stuff is encrypted. If somebody stole it, they’d have some meaningless spreadsheets, one or two to-do lists, and lots of files packed with ASCII gobbledygook.

My overarching philosophy is that I don’t put anything in it that, if stolen, would force me to perform seppuku.

Jed says on July 6th, 2006 at 1:06 pm

Openssl is available on Windows (via cygwin or as a windows binary from openssl.org), OSX, Linux, *BSD, etc., and can be used to encrypt files: http://www.madboa.com/geek/openssl/#encrypt-simple.

It isn’t the most elegant solution, but given your requirement to be platform independent, it is probably the quickest way to get it done.

–jed

The Cranky Product Manager says on July 6th, 2006 at 4:41 pm

You gentlemen should carry purses! I have my USB storage stick’s lanyard tied to the “key hook” inside my purse.

Ken Sheppardson says on July 6th, 2006 at 4:52 pm

Just last month I finally lost my Cruzer micro that had survived three trips through the laundry. Luckly I didn’t have anything but apps on it, as I’ve never really warmed up to carrying sensitive documents in my pocket in the same way I don’t carry anything with my Social Security number on it in my wallet.

When I do have to transfer documents, I do it either via my old nearly dead 10GB iPod which has been relegated to file transfers (although it seems to overheat after a few minutes and fail these days) or I use my Zen Micro Photo and a little retractable USB cable.

A year or so back a local CompUSA had a peg full of a neat device from mediaGear: it looks like a thumb drive, but it’s really an SD-to-USB adapter. Pop off the cover, stick in your SD card, and it’s a thumb drive.

http://www.mymediagear.com/cat.....ucts_id=70

It’s flimsy. The snap-on cover doesn’t seem as though it’ll stand up under daily use, but it allows me to carry some basic applications and docs on the SD card in my Treo 650 and have that availabe on a PC in a pinch.

Aidan says on July 6th, 2006 at 5:34 pm

Yet another vote for truecrypt, but there are simpler options.

For the drive itself I just got a 1 GB swivel style key, no cap just a frame that hinges over the plug so no seperate bit too loose. This attatched to keys to remind me.

Too many keys have the clip on the lid not the body of the key so you find your lanyard/keyring has a shiny lid on it & you’ve still lost the good bit.

Andy Booth says on July 6th, 2006 at 5:48 pm

Bcrypt is what you want, if you can grok command line tools:
http://bcrypt.sourceforge.net/

This is a very secure command line encryption tool for dos/windows/linux/osx. It’s also very small and simple to use. Unlike other options you don’t have to install it on a PC (my work PCs are locked down) - just run the command line from the dos prompt.

It’s also small enough to keep all the different OS versions on your USB key for convenience.

Nick Burns says on July 7th, 2006 at 12:44 am

I have a Sandisk Mini USB drive and yes, it came with a stupid lanyard. I wanted to keep it in my pocket but also needed to keep it from getting scratched up from keys/coins in my pocket.
On hackaday.com I saw this picture of a leatherpouch for a USB drive:
http://common.weblogsinc.com/c.....053285.JPG

Luckily I have a friend who is into leatherwork and I commissioned him to make me one for $7. I love it!

Chris Marsden says on July 7th, 2006 at 7:59 am

I carry a messenger bag with my laptop most of the time (otherwise a backpack). My thumb drive lanyard is looped over one of the straps and then the whole thing is shoved into a pocket. I generally only use it for file transfers, so it gets used, then immediately put back.

Daniel Kim says on July 7th, 2006 at 9:43 am

My USB drive has a short lanyard attached (about 2.5 inches), and I clip it to a carabiner on my belt. I also clip my keys to this carabiner via a short nylon strap with a ring. When these items are in my pocket, they do not actually reach the bottom of the pocket, which reduces wear and tear on the fabric. I find that the abrasion of keys, etc wears holes in my pockets very fast, and all the stuff bunched up there is uncomfortable.

I have developed a physical habit of holding the cap of the flash drive between two fingers when I use it for short sessions (at the library), so I remember to re-cap it and put it on its clip when I’m done. I dislike losing the caps.

I am considering the SanDisk UltraII Plus SD card with integrated USB connectors to replace my USB-Flash drive. The card would then normally live in my iPaq, which I carry with me all the time.

Regrettably, all the hardware on my belt (I have a nylon belt to hold all the gear, separate from the one that holds my pants up) makes me look extra-dorky. I’ts a very natural look for me, though

Kim says on July 7th, 2006 at 10:48 am

I have multiple solutions… One, attach your USB drive to your Keychain. While you might actually try to leave your USB drive behind, you are not going to get far without your Keys… Believe me. It works. Secondly, I have taken to the portable drive methodology. I have a portable drive that runs my newsreader, contains important files, has my pictures on it, etc… It is a little larger, but I have a photography bag I carry it in. If you are afraid to leave it, keep it in the bag and just run the cord from the bag to the computer.

Ernest Gunn says on July 7th, 2006 at 1:23 pm

Use the lanyard! But don’t wear it around your neck. (That does look dorky.) Wear it around your suspenders or belt and keep the stick in your pocket.

Pull the lanyard loop up between your pants and your belt so that you have about 6 inches (15 cm) of loop. Bring the rest of the lanyard (with your drive) up over your belt, then tuck it through the first loop that’s behind your belt. Pull tight by pulling on the drive part of the loop. Put the drive in your pocket. It’s hard to walk away!

Chris V says on July 11th, 2006 at 8:04 am

I’ve got a Lexar Jumpdrive Secure 1GB that came with an encryption program standard that works with both Mac and PC. I generally don’t use the secure portion of the drive (you can set it up as part secure, part public if you like) and I also don’t use Macs, but I know it’s on the drive if I ever need it. Also, the drive is a bit wider than most (1.25″), so it’s a little easier to keep track of. For more info, check out the lexar site: http://www.lexar.com/jumpdrive/jd_secure.html
(and no, I have no affiliation with lexar, but I generally like their products)

Daniel Kim says on July 11th, 2006 at 2:27 pm

I put my active project folders in a folder called “Current”. These are files that I am currently using, and so they change frequently. I have another folder on my Flash drive with the same name. I use SyncBack to keep the files synchronized. It’s useful to know that I generally have two up-to-date copies of my active work files, and SyncBack makes the process very easy.

benny says on August 28th, 2006 at 10:11 pm

Yes, encrypt, encrypt and oh yea encrypt. In my mind this is one of the most important things you should do when you take a USB drive anywhere. You also make sure that the encryption software you use is high quality as well. For me it’s StompSoft’s Portable Vault (http://www.stompsoft.com/portable-vault.html) though there are others that are also effective. What else, oh lanyards are dumb but nothing should discourage you from attaching these drives to your keys. I haven’t lost a single drive since I started doing that.

wouter says on March 8th, 2007 at 10:03 am

Use PGP/GPG. It is cross-platform, relatively easy to use, and definitely secure encryption-wise.

Tim says on October 25th, 2007 at 9:31 am

I hate keeping stuff in pockets, they usually wind up rupturing the pockets. I’m trying out a utility bag at the minute I’m sick of transferring my stuff from my jacket to my coat. There are so many important items in that little bag I don’t tend to forget it anymore. I used to leave it in my car or at home.