Tag: Removable

How Do You Reformat a USB Flash Drive?

March 02, 2009 by Jason

USB flash drives have become really handy in storing different files of various sizes including, backups, personal documents, music, pictures, portable applications and more. Flash drives turned out to be so convenient that people start pouring in files of any kind without sorting them.

Because of these habits, flash drives end up getting real messy quickly and it becomes difficult to figure out how to clear up disk space to accommodate more files.

Deleting unnecessary files is a good solution, but can be tough to do when files aren’t properly organized. If you want to clear up disk space the fastest way possible, the best problem solver to this is by formatting your USB flash drive directly.

The advantages of doing this is that your flash drive is wiped completely clean, removing all files regardless of their attributes (including hidden files). Here are the basic steps in reformatting your USB flash drive: Read More»

Hardware Restrictions In Vista

August 11, 2008 by Jason

Vista lets you place restrictions on hardware devices to protect against data theft. You can place restrictions on device installation, limit access to devices already installed and control Autoplay settings for removable devices.

Data theft can occur through the installation of hardware such as removable storage devices. For example, an attacker can install a removable device on your computer with the intent of copying your data to it.

Vista protects against this type of data theft through device installation restrictions. You can control the installation of devices through the local computer policy (or a group policy). You can find these settings in the following container:

Computer Configuration \ Administrative Templates \ System \ Device Installation \ Device Installation Restrictions.
Read More»

Increase Vista External USB Hard Drive Speed

July 07, 2008 by Jason

This tweak will increase the performance of your external hard drive (s) by turning write caching on as well as activating advanced performance.

In Windows Vista, write caching isn’t enabled by default because removable devices could lose data if removed too quickly. This is great for USB thumb drives that are frequently inserted and removed, but in the case where you have a large hard drive in an external enclosure that’s never disconnected from your computer, this feature can decrease performance. Read More»

Control Device Installation In Vista

June 08, 2008 by Jason

Another way that data theft can occur is through the installation of hardware such as removable storage devices. An attacker can install such a device on your computer with the intent of copying your data. Vista protects against this type of data theft through device installation restrictions.

You can control the installation of devices through the local computer policy (or a group policy if using Active Directory). Read More»

Easily Transfer Your Old Files to a New Vista PC

May 19, 2008 by Jason

The prospect of moving old files and settings to a new PC can be daunting and lost productivity that may occur can be stressful too. Yet, as you will see in the steps that follow, Windows Vista Ultimate greatly simplifies the process of transferring files and settings to a new Windows Vista-enabled PC.

Choosing the Right Transfer Method

This scenario assumes you are transferring files and settings from an old PC running either Windows XP Professional, Windows XP Home, Windows 2000 or Windows Vista to a new computer with Windows Vista installed. You can migrate files and settings using any of the following options:

• Network connection
• Removable media (such as a USB flash drive or external hard disk)
• CD or DVD
• USB Easy Transfer cable

Note that both computers must support the transfer method you choose. Read More»

Download Free Vista SP1 Windows NT Backup

March 29, 2008 by Jason

Microsoft has updated and re-released Windows NT Backup on March 27, 2008, making it available as a free download. The move comes as the utility needs to keep up the pace with the evolution of the latest Windows client and server operating systems. Microsoft released both Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2008 RTM/SP1 to manufacturing on February 4, 2008. Windows Server 2008 was launched officially at the end of the past month, while Vista SP1 was released to the general public on March 18.

Version 1.0 of Windows NT Backup dropped on March 27 is tailored to both Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008. The utility is designed to enable users of Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 to restore backups that were created on the previous versions of the operating systems, namely Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. In the move from XP and Windows Server 2003, Microsoft has evolved the backup infrastructure of the two platforms. Read More»