USB flash drive: what it is, what it’s used for and how to set one up

A USB flash drive is a data storage device that, as the name suggests, combines flash memory with a built-in USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface.

If your flash drive is already showing signs of failure and the files matter, see our USB flash drive recovery service.

It has no battery of its own: it draws power from the device it is plugged into, usually a computer, through the USB port.

In this article, you will learn what USB flash drives are, what they are used for and how to prepare one for use.

01What is a USB flash drive?

A USB flash drive is a portable, plug-and-play storage device that uses flash memory and has largely replaced CDs and DVDs.

When you plug it into a USB port, the computer’s operating system recognizes it as a removable drive and, on Windows, assigns it a drive letter.

A USB flash drive can store important files and backups, carry your favorite settings or portable apps, run diagnostic tools to troubleshoot PC problems or start an operating system as a bootable USB drive.

USB flash drives work with Windows, macOS and the various Linux distributions, and most computers can boot from them through the BIOS or UEFI.

02What is the difference between a USB stick and a flash drive?

Essentially, they are the same thing. “Flash drive” can refer to any device that stores data on flash memory (a memory card, a USB flash drive and so on).

The difference is that a USB stick is specifically a flash drive that connects through a USB port, which is why it is also called a USB flash drive.

03How to set up a USB flash drive with DiskPart

To wipe a USB flash drive and prepare it from scratch, follow the steps below. Warning: this process erases everything on the drive, so copy any files you want to keep first.

1. Plug the USB flash drive into a computer that is turned on;
2. Open Command Prompt as an administrator;
3. Type diskpart and press Enter;
4. In the DiskPart window, type list disk and press Enter. This command lists all the disks connected to the computer;
5. Find the USB flash drive by its size and note its disk number (DiskPart uses numbers, not drive letters). Choosing the wrong disk will erase another drive;
6. Type select disk followed by the flash drive’s number (for example, select disk 2) and press Enter;
7. Type clean and press Enter (this command removes the partition table, and with it access to all the data on the USB flash drive). Then type create partition primary, format fs=exfat quick (or fs=fat32 for drives up to 32 GB) and assign, pressing Enter after each one, so the drive is ready to use again.

04Available sizes for USB flash drives

The most common USB flash drives range from 8 GB to 128 GB, but both smaller and larger capacities are available.

05Conclusion

A USB flash drive is a small solid-state storage device that plugs into a computer’s USB port.

With flash memory chips that can hold 1 terabyte of data or more, a USB flash drive has many uses, including working as a portable alternative to an external hard drive.

USB flash drives can be used for extra storage, for backups and for moving data between computers.

They can also hold an operating system and be used to boot a computer.

However, when you wipe and set up a USB flash drive this way, all the data previously stored on it is lost.

If you lost your data while preparing a USB flash drive, don’t worry: Bot can help. Stop using the drive and don’t save anything new to it, so the old data isn’t overwritten.

With experience in professional, secure data recovery, we can try to recover the files from your drive without putting them at further risk.

Our highly trained specialists work in a controlled laboratory environment, including a Class 100 (ISO 5) cleanroom for the cases that need one.

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