Monday, November 15, 2010

Memory Stick vs. Flash Drive

Q-The USB MEMORY STICK is an amazing little thing, 
and so handy! My question? I have copied and pasted 
documents from My Documents without any problems. 
But from everything I read, you should download 
software in order to move this information from 
the computer to the USB Drive. So how am 
I doing it without software?

Ans: You may have been reading about Memory Sticks 
put out by Sony. These devices aren't the same as a 
USB flash drive, which are also sometimes referred 
to as a memory stick. The Sony Memory Sticks are 
commonly used in digital cameras, camcorders, 
and cell phones for adding more storage. 
Many computers do require software to be 
downloaded for reading a specific type of 
Memory Stick. There are multiple kinds that 
Sony manufactures for different digital storage needs.
MAIL SENT BY SHAHAB AKHTAR
Once the proper software has been obtained and 
downloaded onto your personal computer, 
any images or audio files contained on the 
Memory Stick can be transferred to your 
computer and saved for later use. However, 
if you have a VAIO laptop computer, this
 software is already included. Since VAIO
 is manufactured by Sony, they decided to 
make it easily compatible with their 
Memory Stick products.



When transferring data from a computer, 
using a flash drive is the common method. 
A USB memory stick, or flash drive as some 
people refer to them, is simply an external
 storage device that can be easily plugged into
 a functional USB port on a computer. They 
have taken the place of the floppy disk,
 which was used to transfer data files from one 
computer system to another. Memory sticks are 
much smaller than floppy disks and less likely to 
become damaged, due to their compact size. 
They come in a range of storage options, 
with as little as 128MB to well over 200GB.

The data transferring process is much faster 
with flash drives as well. USB drives are mass 
storage devices that are supported by many 
of the popular operating systems today; 
Linux, Mac OS X, Unix-like systems, and Windows. 
Flash drives don't have any mechanical movement 
that takes place inside, nor do they require 
batteries to operate. However, despite a lack 
of moving parts or batteries, memory sticks 
don't last forever. The USB connector tends 
to last for an average of 1,500 connect
 and disconnect cycles.

There are also two different types of cell levels; 
single and multiple. Single-level cells, or SLC flash
 drives, have one bit of data contained in each cell. 
This allows the drive to be able to write at a 
fast speed, use little power, and have a higher 
endurance. SLC memory sticks tend to last for 
about 100,000 writes. The multi-level cells or 
MLC memory sticks, only last for around 10,000 
writes, due to multiple bits stored in each cell. 
Having a denser storage system makes these 
devices cheaper than the SLC drives, but they 
also don't last as long as the single-level cell flash drives.

People who have an older version of Windows will 
probably need to download a driver, in order for their 
computer to read a USB memory stick. 
Windows Vista, XP, 2000, and ME all have generic 
drivers included in the operating system. 
A few manufacturers of flash drives offer a 
CD for users of Windows 98. This disc enables 
a driver to be downloaded onto the computer, 
making it possible for any USB drive to be read. 
Besides flash drives, this disc also allows 
computers with Windows 98 to read USB 
hard drives, MP3 players, digital cameras 
and camcorders, as well as Sony PSPs.
MAIL SENT BY SHAHAB AKHTAR
If the flash drive doesn't come with a CD for 
downloading a driver compatible with 
Windows 98, then the website of most larger 
flash drive producing companies will have 
downloads available on their homepage.


Even though additional software doesn't need 
to be downloaded for newer operating systems, 
some people run into other obstacles when 
using a flash drive. Some older computers 
only have one flash drive, which might be 
occupied by a printer or another much 
needed external device. There are hubs 
that can be purchased for plugging in 
multiple USB devices. These are plugged into 
one USB port, thus providing a hub of at 
least 4 additional USB ports for plugging 
in all sorts of devices.

Due to the usage of the words Memory Stick 
as a generic term, there is often much confusion
 between a flash drive and the actual Memory Stick 
products produced by Sony. In short, 
most operating systems found in computers 
allow the computer to easily transfer data 
to and from a USB flash drive, without the 
need for any additional downloads.

Hopefully, this has cleared up any confusion 
you had about why your USB memory stick 
was working so efficiently with your computer.

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