ThumbDrive USB Storage Device

The ThumbDrive is a thumb-sized, removable storage device varying in capacities from 8MB to 512MB that requires no power or software outside of the one time device driver.

The Universal Serial Bus (USB) has begun to replace the old 9-pin serial port, and many new devices are now using it. The benefits of the USB port are its plug-and-play abilities and higher data transfer rates. (up to 12 Mbit/sec) The ThumbDrive takes an innovative approach to using the USB port by plugging directly into it. No connection cable is necessary. This works great on laptops and desktop computers that have placed a USB port in the front of the unit. Some PCs have placed the USB port in the back which may require a bit of fumbling around with cables.

One slightly misleading statement of this product is that "no software is required." Although it is true that no software is needed to operate the device, a device driver must be installed on any PC that will be using the ThumbDrive. The driver is small and easily available on the included floppy disk or the www.thumbdrive.com website.

Once the driver is installed, the ThumbDrive can be plugged in and out of computers while they are on, as long as it is not read or written to at the time. When plugged in, the ThumbDrive appears as a removable storage device in your My Computer folder. Files can then be copied to and from, or saved directly through an application using its assigned drive letter (i.e. E:). ThumbDrive Secure is another version of the product that provides password protection to access the files stored upon it. Currently, the only operating systems that can utilize the ThumbDrive are Windows 98, Windows 98SE, Windows ME, and Windows 2000.

The ThumbDrive is a cool little device that can be invaluable when needing to transfer files that are larger than a normal floppy disk. Easier than a ZIP drive and quicker than e-mailing files, the ThumbDrive can be used to back-up files, bring them home from work, or carry large presentation files in your pocket.