Easy Way to Eject USB Flash Drive in Windows

Mark McCrosky December 7, 2020 USB flash

It seems the Microsoft updates are endless for Windows 10. Here is an update to how USB flash drives are ejected. The information isn’t new, but could be a method you hadn’t noticed from a past update and worth a quick read. Ejecting a USB flash drive from the Windows operating system is still a best-practice routine. By using a safe eject process, the possibility of the USB drive getting corrupt or loss of data is minimal.

The eject feature in the Windows toolbar for quickly unmounting USB flash drives is right there, ready to use and easy to access.

How to quickly eject a USB flash drive in Windows:

In the bottom right of your computer screen look for the tool bar and up arrow carrot. Click the access arrow in that tool bar to get started.

Hover over the USB icon and click the USB icon.

Your list of connected devices will show up. Now, hover over the USB flash drive device you want to Eject and click it.

That’s it. Your USB flash drive is now ejected.

Write Protected Flash Drive Can Be Unlocked – New Twist On Familiar Technology

Mark McCrosky November 4, 2020 Solid State Memory, USB flash

Nexcopy turns the market on it’s head with the Lock License flash drive. A flash drive which is by default a read-only or write protected device. The device will accept a user password to unlock the drive through Nexcopy’s Lock License utility software. This new approach gives the power back to the user for when a USB is writable.

“The fundamental change towards how our flash drive works should draw attention for those looking for read-only USB flash drives” says Greg Morris, CEO of Nexcopy Inc. “What is unique about the Lock License approach is whenever power is cut to the device, for example disconnection, the USB is automatically write protected. This is the strongest first line defense against malicious software or virus jumping onto a flash drive without the user knowing. It is impossible to infect a USB drive if the device is write protected.”

Lock License flash drives require a password upon first use. This password is used to unlock the write protection and make the USB a read/write device. This feature provides a personalized solution for each business which uses the Lock License technology. There is no need to set the write protection after being unlocked because simply cutting power to the device will put the USB into its default state: A read-only device.

The Nexcopy Lock License write protect USB flash drive has the following features:

• Default state of drive is read-only, a.k.a write protected
• User assigned password to remove write protection
• No password is required to read from the drive, acts as normal WORM device
• Graphical User Interface (GUI) to set password and remove write protection
• Command line utility for custom integration to remove write protection
• No back door password or feature from Nexcopy to unlock the drive
• Available in USB 2.0 and 3.0 technology and ranging from 2GB through 128GB capacities

Stan McCrosky, head of Sales, comments, “System Control manufacturers for waterworks, electrical utility and petroleum companies need a solution like this. The ability to load software or firmware to a hardware based USB read-only device gives system control companies an incredible amount of security for in-field deployment via USB. More importantly, the command line utility gives the manufacturers a secure way to unlock the drive and update the content remotely without the worry of the drive remaining read/write. It’s simply impossible for the drive to remain writable.” McCrosky concludes.

The Lock License USB flash drive is simple to implement. Steps include:

• Connect USB to a Windows computer
• Open either GUI or command line utility to remove write protection
• Assign a password to be used when removing the write protection
• Data load the drive as needed
• Eject drive from computer once copy process is complete
• At this point the USB is write protected at the hardware controller level
• The Lock License drive can be read (used) by any device on any platform
• Password not required to read data from the drive
• Password is only used when removing write protection to make the USB read/write

Nexcopy Lock License media is available in USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 technology and range it capacity from 2GB through 128GB. Nexcopy offers six body styles for the Lock License media with a wide range of body colors available for each stye, all available for custom branding. The six body styles include Oxford; a capless swivel style drive. Newport; a classic rectangular shape with cap. Lexington; a classic rectangular style with rounded edges and cap. Augusta; a shorter style drive with large lanyard loop. Huntington and Geneva which uses an aluminum body for more durability and also better suited for laser etch branding.

The Oxford style swivel drive is the in stock media Nexcopy carries for same day printing and shipping. Nexcopy inventories USB 2.0 media of 2GB and 4GB capacity and in stock USB 3.0 media of 8GB, 16GB, 32Gb, 64GB and 128GB capacities. The in stock Oxford media is a black body with white swivel clip with full color printing via the Nexcopy Logo-EZ USB flash drive printer.

The Lock License utility is available for download off the Nexcopy support page. The utility requires a Nexcopy licensed USB flash drive. The Lock License USB write protection is not a universal solution for any thumb drive, a Nexcopy drive is required in order to take advantage of the increased security the technology offers.

Sharing Sensitive Documents With a Third Party

Mark McCrosky May 5, 2020 Flash Memory News, Solid State Memory, USB flash

You have a document, video or audio file with sensitive information on it and you need to send a copy to a third party. What options should you consider?

Three options come to mind: email, Dropbox or flash drive.

Sending an email is basically the same thing as sending a postcard. While there are efforts one can use to change this, email remains pretty wide open. This is true and scary; anyone who wants to read your email (not just the NSA) can read your email.

Most times you can send sensitive documents through email and nothing will happen. However; you are playing Russian roulette (almost literally, given the recent theft of 1.2 billion email account credentials by a Russian gang) with the security of that transmission. Remember, the topic of this post is about sharing sensitive data with a third party.

The next logical step would encrypting the email (or files) attached in the email. Encryption is a good option and certainly more secure than sending the email without encryption. You could run into a file size limitation though. Most videos will be larger than a 20MB, which is (generally) the maximum file size one could attached in an email. Encryption is a good next step, but there is a bigger issue at hand than file size. More about that in a few.

Dropbox is next on our list of most obvious options to share sensitive data with a third party. Dropbox is a great option when you have larger files. With Dropbox you could upload those big audio or video files and provide a download link for your recipient. Dropbox doesn’t encrypt your data by default so there is some exposure there. A quick and relatively safe method to encrypt your files using Windows would be compressing the video into a zip file and assigning it a password. Encrypting the data will provide that extra layer of security. As with an encrypted email, the encrypted Dropbox alternative also has a major flaw.

Ask yourself, “Do you trust the recipient?”

Home Office Mini USB Flash Drive Duplicator

Mark McCrosky April 16, 2020 Solid State Memory, USB flash

Today, more than ever, people are working from the home office. Working in a comfortable environment is nice and can be very productive. However; sometimes the home office doesn’t have the same computer equipment or gear to do the jobs needed. With many organizations who are practicing social distancing, or building a work community of remote offices, one will find certain items are still needed.

Let us look at a simple way to make USB copies at the home office. For example, let us think about an IT manager who needs to roll out restore installation packages, or a software developer who is required to deploy software updates to a group of remote users. This IT manager or software developer needs a quick, easy and inexpensive piece of equipment to do the job.

The mini-sized USB flash drive duplicator by Nexcopy is a great solution for this exact problem. The unit pictured below is 6″ long and 4″ wide. So it will fit into any briefcase (if those are used anymore) and light as a book.

The USB duplicator allocates one socket for the master device and four sockets for the target devices. The duplicator is a binary copier and will copy any file format or file system connected to it. The duplicator is powered through a USB cable and is ideal for any sized USB flash drive.

With a duplicator like this, making copies at the home office is very quick and very easy. The duplicator works with a single push of a single button. The mini duplicator may be configured to perform a binary copy or a binary copy and compare. The copy and compare function gives the user piece of mind that each copy is exactly the same as the master. So the USB flash drives can be delivered with the utmost confidence each copy is working and an exact digital copy of the master.

Flipping through the features of the duplicator, we have some other bullet points worth mentioning:

• Asynchronous copy mode, all the time
• Binary copier will copy any format; FAT, FAT32, exFAT, NTFS, HFS, Ext2,3,4, Proprietary
• Binary CRC verification algorithm
• Quick Erase and Full Erase for disk sanitization
• Four language modes in LCD menu
• USB speed benchmark utility
• Firmware upgradeable

So how much will this mini USB duplicator benefit a home office employee? The easiest way to determine this is asking ourselves how much time the duplicator will save. This mini system, called the Nexcopy USB104SA will copy one GB of data to each device in about one minute. That is ultra-fast. So if the IT manager or software engineer had to data load a 12 GB data set, it would take about twelve minutes to make four copies. There is now way Windows could copy data that fast to four sticks. When using the copy and compare mode it takes a bit longer… about 1.5 minutes per GB. So still incredibly quick.

There are a couple of features listed above one may not be familiar with, so let’s review. The quick erase or full erase is a scrub method to remove all data from the USB flash drive. This is a nice feature to guarantee data is removed from the USB with no chance of the data being recovered. Formatting a drive doesn’t remove data, but erase will. The quick erase will scrub certain portions of the drive so some data could remain, but most likely corrupted and unable to recover. The full erase function will randomly write binary zero and one data to the entire memory of the flash drive. By doing this random write sequence, it would be impossible for even the most sophisticated forensics recover software to restore data from the device.

The four language modes include English, Spanish, Portuguese and Simplified Chinese.

The USB benchmark speed is a great tool to figure out the quality of media one is using. This is particularly important when dealing with promotional quality media, as promo memory is very instable. The easiest way to determine the quality of memory is looking at the write speed. With the benchmark utility one can test the read and write speed of a drive. The USB duplicator will write about 20MBs of random data to determine the average read and write speed. If the USB memory has a write speed of 4MB/second or lower, it’s not good quality. If the write speed is above 8MB/second for USB 2.0 media and above 20MB/second write speed for USB 3.0 media, it is of better quality memory.

The CRC verification method is Cyclical Redundancy Check verification method and is most reliable for NAND memory. Probably best to search for CRC verification for a complete understanding of this protocol.

The USB duplicator made by Nexcopy is a backward compatible product and will copy to USB 1.0, USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 flash drives. The duplicator will write to the device as fast as it will allow. The best write times will result from the operator using USB 3.0 media.

The USB104SA has a manufacturer suggested retail price (MSRP) of $399 USD.

Source: GetUSB.info

The new iPad OS Supports Flash Drives and SD/microSD Cards

Mark McCrosky June 5, 2019 Memory Stick, MicroSD, Secure Digital, USB flash

Today Apple announced the new iPadOS will support USB thumb drives. The iPad has long been toughted a workers tablet from Apple, but the relaity is their iPad didn’t provide much functionality. In addition, the devices have limited storage.

With today’s announcement the above argument could get a little muted.

Update: We learned the iPad will allow other storage devices such as external hard drives and SD or microSD cards (with USB adapters). The USB port will also allow for HID devices, such as a USB mouse and keyboard. We are not sure if the iPad will support Bluetooth mouse and keyboard, but we’ve got to assume, right!

There is no word about the connection. The connection could be one of three; an adapter, USB-C socket size or the classic USB type A socket size.

Source: GetUSB.info News Site.

60 Amazing Custom Flash Drive Designs

Mark McCrosky February 5, 2019 Flash Memory News, USB flash

Flash Drive #1

Flash Drive #2

Flash Drive #3

Flash Drive #4

USB Duplicator by Nexcopy, Model USB600PC

Mark McCrosky February 4, 2019 USB flash

SlideShare – USB Duplicator, USB115SA by Nexcopy

Mark McCrosky December 6, 2018 Flash Memory News, Memory Stick, USB flash

USB Duplicator by Nexcopy, Model USB 115SA

The USB Duplicator USB115SA offer several benefits

Efficiency: USB duplicators allow users to quickly and efficiently copy data to multiple USB drives simultaneously. This eliminates the need for manual copying or using individual computers to duplicate data, saving time and resources, especially when duplicating large quantities of USB drives.

High-Speed Duplication: USB duplicators are capable of copying data at high speeds, depending on the model and specifications. This enables users to duplicate large amounts of data in a relatively short amount of time, improving productivity and workflow efficiency.

Batch Processing: USB duplicators support batch processing, allowing users to duplicate multiple USB drives in a single operation. This is particularly useful for tasks such as distributing software updates, promotional materials, training materials, or other content to a large number of USB drives simultaneously.

Plug-and-Play Operation: USB duplicators typically feature plug-and-play functionality, meaning they can be easily connected to a computer or network without the need for additional software installation or configuration. This makes them user-friendly and accessible to individuals with varying levels of technical expertise.

Versatility: USB duplicators support a wide range of USB drive types, including USB 2.0, USB 3.0, and USB-C, as well as various capacities and form factors. This versatility allows users to duplicate data onto different types of USB drives to suit their specific requirements.

Customization Options: Some USB duplicators offer customization options, allowing users to personalize the duplicated USB drives with custom branding, labels, or preloaded content. This can be beneficial for marketing campaigns, promotional giveaways, or distributing branded materials.

Data Security: USB duplicators often feature security features such as copy protection and write protection, which help prevent unauthorized access or duplication of sensitive data stored on the USB drives. This is particularly important for businesses, government agencies, and organizations that deal with confidential or proprietary information.

Cost-Effectiveness: In the long run, USB duplicators can be cost-effective solutions for duplicating data compared to manual copying or using individual computers for duplication. They help save labor costs, reduce downtime, and minimize the risk of errors or inconsistencies in the duplication process.

The SlideShare presentation is for duplication equipment by Nexcopy Inc.  This conforms to the USB-IF specification.

About Nexcopy

Nexcopy Inc. is a technology company based in Southern California that specializes in providing innovative solutions for digital media duplication and distribution. Founded in 2008, Nexcopy has established itself as a leading manufacturer of USB duplicators, SD card duplicators, and other data duplication equipment.

Product Portfolio: Nexcopy offers a diverse range of products designed to address the needs of various industries and applications. This includes USB duplicators capable of copying multiple USB drives simultaneously, SD card duplicators for copying Secure Digital media, microSD duplicators, and CF card duplicators. Their products cater to sectors such as education, government, corporate training, content distribution, and more.

Innovative Solutions: Nexcopy is known for its commitment to innovation and product development. They continuously introduce new features and technologies to enhance the performance, efficiency, and security of their duplication solutions. For example, their USB duplicators often feature advanced functions such as copy protection, write protection, and serialization capabilities.

Drive Manager Software: Nexcopy’s Drive Manager software is a proprietary application developed by the company to complement their duplication hardware. This software provides users with comprehensive control and management capabilities, allowing them to execute complex duplication tasks, monitor progress, and customize settings according to their requirements.

ocus on Security: Nexcopy places a strong emphasis on data security and protection. Many of their products incorporate features such as copy protection, which prevents unauthorized duplication or access to sensitive content stored on USB drives or SD cards. These security measures are particularly valuable for businesses and organizations that deal with confidential or proprietary information.

Customer Support: Nexcopy is known for its dedication to customer satisfaction and support. They offer technical assistance, troubleshooting guidance, and product training to help users maximize the capabilities of their duplication equipment. Additionally, their responsive customer service team is available to address inquiries and provide assistance as needed.

Global Presence: While headquartered in Southern California, Nexcopy serves customers worldwide through a network of authorized resellers and distributors. This global presence enables them to reach a diverse range of markets and industries, ensuring that their products are readily available to customers across different regions.

Nexcopy Inc. is a reputable technology company known for its innovative solutions, reliable products, and commitment to customer service. With a focus on digital media duplication and distribution, Nexcopy continues to meet the evolving needs of businesses, organizations, and individuals seeking efficient and secure data duplication solutions.

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