A USB flash drive is a small, external hard drive that can hold files, pictures and music depending on the size of the flash drive. It is called a flash drive because it is made up of flash memory which can easily be erased and reprogrammed. In other words, with a few clicks and drags, a flash drive can go from being completely full to completely empty and capable of carrying more information. Flash drives used to be expensive when they first came out, but it has become cheaper to create more space that it is not unimaginable to purchase a 16GB flash drive for $25 when in the past, that would have cost clear over $100.

How Do I Copy Files to a USB Flash Drive

The first step in copying files to a USB flash drive is to insert the flash drive into the computer. USB is a type of connector that has become common on all computers. These days, many mouses, keyboards as well as other components such as printers all come with a USB device because the USB can provide both power as well as a connection for data to be transferred.

Once the USB flash drive has been connected, your computer will try and recognize it. After about ten seconds, a folder will pop up that shows the contents of the USB drive. If you have anything on there, all the files will be visible. If it is clean, there will be nothing there. Typically, a flash drive is either a f drive or a g drive if you're looking at your Computer section of the Start menu.Copy Files to a USB Flash Drive

Open the folder that has the files you want to copy on your computer's hard drive. This might be a documents folder or some other folder. Click and drag over all the files that you want to copy over. This might be only one and this might be one hundred. The number of files doesn't matter so long as they don't add up to be more space than the flash drive can handle. Once all the files have been highlighted, copy and then paste them into the USB flash drive folder. A status window will pop up to show how progress is going.

Once all the files have been copied over, go down to the toolbar next to the clock and look for a small green arrow. Right click that and click stop. It'll prompt you to stop the flash drive and you want to hit yes. This will cut power to the USB drive so that it doesn't short when you pull it out. Remove the flash drive and then go to whatever computer you need to access the files on. They'll be there, available, on the USB flash drive.