What USB Flash drive do you all use?

[unclemantis]

I currently have been using an 8 dollar SanDisk Cruzer Glide that I bought from Walmart and for some reason when I stick it in under normal operations all programs i have open are unresponcive. When I take it out things are back to normal.

When I have all my applications closed and use the drive, no problems. This is screwed up! My bitcoin wallet is on this drive along with Electrum.

Another funny thing is that Electrum doesn't connect to servers anymore but with the Linux version it does so I have to reboot into linux to make transactions.

yes I know I should do everything in linux. I probably should because 95 percent of my work I do in Virtual Box.

Just wonder what you all use for a USB drive that doesn't get corriupted.

I have been looking around and found this one http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?id=10501

Little pricey for my tastes and it looks kinda bulky. I ware my USB drive on a lanyard along with my Yubikey.

Before you ask, yes I have backups of everything but that is not the point. I need a USB drive that WORKS RIGHT EVERY TIME.

Thoughts?

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[casascius]

I use a CooKey from LaCie.com.  They are beautiful flash drives.  They are metal, thin, virtually unbreakable, and don't bulk up my keys.  With 32GB, I have all my important software everywhere I go.  I am appalled that most flash drives on the market don't look like this one.  (link: http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?id=10462 )

On top of that, I found that the website MemorySuppliers.com has a knock-off of this drive available for bulk purchase.  So I bought 500 of them and have been giving them away as gifts left and right.  Everyone loves them and puts them on their keychain the moment they get them, yet they cost me under $10 each, including the custom engraving.  I made sure I had them engrave the size on it too - 8 GB - as if someone's going to make a flash drive their "one and only", it better be big enough to hold their stuff.

That said, consumer grade flash drives often contain the worst flash memory in existence.  That's part of why they are so cheap.  Avoid using them for anything irreplaceable, or else, save your important stuff in two places.  When they fail, locking up your computer is generally the symptom, and then you're totally screwed.  It's not like you can open the thing and do surgery on it.

[unclemantis]

I use a CooKey from LaCie.com.  They are beautiful flash drives.  They are metal, thin, virtually unbreakable, and don't bulk up my keys.  With 32GB, I have all my important software everywhere I go.  I am appalled that most flash drives on the market don't look like this one.  (link: http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?id=10462 )

On top of that, I found that the website MemorySuppliers.com has a knock-off of this drive available for bulk purchase.  So I bought 500 of them and have been giving them away as gifts left and right.  Everyone loves them and puts them on their keychain the moment they get them, yet they cost me under $10 each, including the custom engraving.  I made sure I had them engrave the size on it too - 8 GB - as if someone's going to make a flash drive their "one and only", it better be big enough to hold their stuff.

That said, consumer grade flash drives often contain the worst flash memory in existence.  That's part of why they are so cheap.  Avoid using them for anything irreplaceable, or else, save your important stuff in two places.  When they fail, locking up your computer is generally the symptom, and then you're totally screwed.  It's not like you can open the thing and do surgery on it.

With that being said. Are the knockoffs the same quality or do they just look the same?

At $19.99 for 8GB it sounds like a deal considering my 8GB from Sandisk cost me under $10 including the tax. So now I have to replace it and spend double that or just eat the loss and invest in a LaCie

When it involves bitcoin and ANYTHING that needs to be encrypted and stored securely I need something that is reliable.

With the name of SanDisk, I figured I was getting quality too.

Funny thing is. It doesn't lock up at all in one of my computers but always locks up in another. Pisses me off!

[casascius]

I have not had any fail nor heard of any failing so far. Knock on wood. Never rely on any single media.

[myrkul]

Funny thing is. It doesn't lock up at all in one of my computers but always locks up in another. Pisses me off!

This implies issues with the computer, not the flash drive.

[check_status]

http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Mobility-Kit-microSDHC-Adapters/dp/B0028QWJTO
PNY also makes, or did, something similar.

The Sandisk Cruzer has U3 software that can be abused. You can remove it and eliminate those issues. Personally, I go out of my way to avoid U3 stuff.

[casascius]

Funny thing is. It doesn't lock up at all in one of my computers but always locks up in another. Pisses me off!

This implies issues with the computer, not the flash drive.

A bad flash drive will cause device drivers to have to handle unusual conditions/errors they don't normally encounter.  The robustness of the driver determines how vulnerable the computer is to being crashed by misbehaving hardware.  A crashing driver tends to destabilize a system quickly.

[unclemantis]

Funny thing is. It doesn't lock up at all in one of my computers but always locks up in another. Pisses me off!

This implies issues with the computer, not the flash drive.

A bad flash drive will cause device drivers to have to handle unusual conditions/errors they don't normally encounter.  The robustness of the driver determines how vulnerable the computer is to being crashed by misbehaving hardware.  A crashing driver tends to destabilize a system quickly.

Is there a way to fix this bad flash drive? It is brand new out of the box by only a couple of weeks.

Or can you just not fix a bad flash drive since maybe some hardware burned out?

[myrkul]

Funny thing is. It doesn't lock up at all in one of my computers but always locks up in another. Pisses me off!

This implies issues with the computer, not the flash drive.

A bad flash drive will cause device drivers to have to handle unusual conditions/errors they don't normally encounter.  The robustness of the driver determines how vulnerable the computer is to being crashed by misbehaving hardware.  A crashing driver tends to destabilize a system quickly.

Is there a way to fix this bad flash drive? It is brand new out of the box by only a couple of weeks.

Or can you just not fix a bad flash drive since maybe some hardware burned out?

If the drive is bad, it's because of a shitty flash memory chip, and no, there's no saving it. If it is brand new, though, you might be able to get a refund.

[unclemantis]

Funny thing is. It doesn't lock up at all in one of my computers but always locks up in another. Pisses me off!

This implies issues with the computer, not the flash drive.

A bad flash drive will cause device drivers to have to handle unusual conditions/errors they don't normally encounter.  The robustness of the driver determines how vulnerable the computer is to being crashed by misbehaving hardware.  A crashing driver tends to destabilize a system quickly.

Is there a way to fix this bad flash drive? It is brand new out of the box by only a couple of weeks.

Or can you just not fix a bad flash drive since maybe some hardware burned out?

If the drive is bad, it's because of a shitty flash memory chip, and no, there's no saving it. If it is brand new, though, you might be able to get a refund.

Need to find the receipt, yada yada yada. Maybe I should just count my losses and lesson learned.

If this is the way this SanDisk product lasted I wonder if their other products should be trusted. AKA their Memory Vault is to be trusted! http://www.sandisk.com/products/usb/memory-vault/

[check_status]

http://www.ehow.com/how_6882017_remove-u3-sandisk-cruzer-titanium.html

[rjk]

Never trust a solid state device (such as an SSD or thumb drive) with your only copy of some data. They can and will die, usually resulting in total loss of all data. I have had good luck with Corsair stuff.

Many people use USB sticks for backup... but they should never be used for primary storage unless you have another backup somwhere else.

[rudrigorc2]

Never trust a solid state device (such as an SSD or thumb drive) with your only copy of some data. They can and will die, usually resulting in total loss of all data. I have had good luck with Corsair stuff.

Many people use USB sticks for backup... but they should never be used for primary storage unless you have another backup somwhere else.

which ssd hd do you recommend?

[unclemantis]

Never trust a solid state device (such as an SSD or thumb drive) with your only copy of some data. They can and will die, usually resulting in total loss of all data. I have had good luck with Corsair stuff.

Many people use USB sticks for backup... but they should never be used for primary storage unless you have another backup somwhere else.

I use USB as my portable wallet. I do have backups.

[rjk]

Never trust a solid state device (such as an SSD or thumb drive) with your only copy of some data. They can and will die, usually resulting in total loss of all data. I have had good luck with Corsair stuff.

Many people use USB sticks for backup... but they should never be used for primary storage unless you have another backup somwhere else.

which ssd hd do you recommend?

I just recommend that you have multiple backups, that's all. OCZ and most SandForce drives have extremely high infant mortality, not because of the NAND flash, but because of the controller. If the controller dies, you lose everything.

I recently had a Crucial M4 have a NAND chip go bad, but after some repeated intensive scanning it revived itself and moved the bad data to another chip. The M4 is the best bang for buck right now especially with the big 512GB drives selling for $399 at Newegg. Most reliable is Intel, but for a HUGE premium. Fastest is OCZ Vertex 4, but it is new and I haven't tried it yet. It has a Micron controller like the M4, with Indilinx firmware like the original Barefoot-based drives.

[ladida]

I use a scandisk cruzer, 2 x 8GB to put in my DJ-CD spelers, and those USB sticks are super strong/cheap and have been going for 2 year.
I just love em