A thumb drive, also called a USB flash drive, pen drive or memory stick, is a compact removable storage device that contains flash memory and a USB connector. It appears as a drive when plugged in and has no moving parts.
Why it matters
Thumb drives are a simple way to move files, make a bootable installer or carry portable apps between machines. They are cheap, but also easy to lose and often unencrypted, so sensitive files can leak. They have limited write endurance and can fail without warning, so they are poor as the only copy of anything important.
Example
A drive sold as "64 GB" shows slightly less, around 58 GiB, in the operating system because of decimal versus binary units. It is often formatted as exFAT so it works on Windows and macOS and holds files larger than 4 GB. FAT32, the common default on small drives, cannot hold a single file bigger than 4 GB.
Common mistakes
- Removing the drive without using Safely Remove or Eject, which can corrupt the file system.
- Using it as the only copy of important data.
- Plugging in unknown found drives, a known way to spread malware.
Related
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यह पेज सामान्य जानकारी है, जिसे हमारी संपादकीय टीम ने लिखा है और दस्तावेज़ीकरण बदलने पर अपडेट किया जाता है। सर्वर और प्रदाता अलग-अलग होते हैं, इसलिए बदलाव पहले सुरक्षित तरीके से जाँचें। देखें: संपादकीय नीति और अस्वीकरण.