I Have Some Questions About USB Flash Drives And SD Cards

Jordan2 · ‎03-16-2010

So I started the thread about my Toshiba laptop that "bit the dust". You guys are so knowledgeable and not judgmental to those of us that are not tech savvy. I know a USB Flash Drive is for downloading files from an old computer so I could download the files I want to a newer laptop. How easy is this, can I pick and choose which files I want (some stuff I have I'm sure I don't need), and how do I know what size USB flash drive to buy? Also, if I decide to get a chromebook, to expand the storage on the chromebook, do I need an SD Card or will the flash drive work? Lastly, I noticed the flash drives come in 2.0 and 3.0, I think the 3.0 downloads at a faster speed, if I have a 7 year old Toshiba laptop will any USB flash drive work with it and would I be able to use it to download files to a MacBook Pro if I decide to go with it? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I am still oxox · ‎03-09-2010

In my understand USB flash drives are very small in GB size, you ,will most likely need a 300-500GB external drive to move the files. If you decide to get a Mac the Apple store will be able to successfully transfer the files with out the use of another drive

Stop being afraid of what could go wrong and start being positive what could go right.

hckynut · ‎03-10-2010

@Jordan2

What size flash drive?

Depends on how much you are going to transfer. Unless your old computer won't even boot up, you should be able to see how much of it's hard drive is being used. Then use that to decide what size to buy. Bigger is always better if you are not sure.

As for "picking what files to transfer".

Yes. With a flash drive you use the "drag and drop" method. Take the folder/file you want to move to the new device using this method taking only those you want to move.

Chromebook?

I know nothing about them, never used one or even seen one. I am still using Windows 7.

USB 2.0/USB 3.0 question.

All USB are backwards compatible. You can transfer from your 2.0 to 3.0, but it will not transfer as fast as 3.0 to 3.0 would move them. Maybe a little faster, but that's debatable. My USB 3.0 connections use a different cable and the ends have a blue(in lieu of white) when you look into the ends of the cable that plug devices together.

Macbook?

Never owned anything Apple so can't help you with that one.

hckynut(john)