I have a Lexar also and in addition to the abuse Mike has mentioned, they also can survive washer and dryer cycles. My son ran mine through (when it was his) and when I mentioned it to a guy at church, his son had done the same with his (also a Lexar). While I don't recommend doing this deliberately, it does show how hardy they are. Try doing that with a floppy! Linda -----Original Message----- From: Mike Fairleigh [mailto:mike.fairleigh@sbcglobal.net] Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2005 4:53 PM To: PAF-5-USERS-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [PAF-5] What is a Flash Drive? It's really the greatest thing since beer (er, sliced bread). I have a 256MB one that I used for about a year before I replaced it with a 512MB one. They hold astonishing amounts of data. The ones that conform to the USB 2.0 standard are amazingly fast (assuming, of course, you plug it into a USB 2.0 port). They essentially work just like a hard drive that you can unplug and take with you. They require no additional software or drivers to work (unless you're using Win98), so they're completely self-contained and a no-brainer to use. Unless the USB ports on your PC are easy to access, it's a good idea to invest in a USB hub. Actually, I've found that between digital cameras, GPS's, iPods, iPaq's, external hard drives, scanners, printers, etc., that having a USB hub today is almost a necessity. Both my flash drives are Lexar Media brand, the model is "Jump Drive 2.0 Pro". Amazon sells them in all the various capacities (up to 1GB!) and has always had the best price when I've looked. I wear my 512MB drive on a clip on my belt all day long so it gets banged into door jambs, seat belt buckles, etc. I've never had the slightest problem with it or my 256MB unit. I'm pretty fastidious when it comes to having data backed up, so I created an executable script on my desktop PC so that when I have the JumpDrive plugged in, I can simply double-click an icon and it backs up the JumpDrive to a folder on my desktop. It only backs up files that have changed since the last time I ran the script, so this step only takes a few seconds (literally) to run. Then, every week or so I run a system backup to an external hard drive that backs up everything on the desktop. I'll be putting my 256MB unit on eBay one of these days soon, in case anyone's interested in a deal. It's in virtually brand-new condition. Mike ==== PAF-5-USERS Mailing List ==== PAF-5-USERS Mailing List Search http://searches2.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl?list=PAF-5-USERS