All PC Tips

Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) or hand held computers are gaining more and more popularity these days. Using PDA you can gather and store information, maintain addresses, have to-do lists and reminder alerts and calendar.

Palm, Compaq, HP, IBM, Dell, O2, Dopod are some of the PDA manufacturers. Those who want a computer smaller than the laptop can buy a PDA. Since PDA and Desktop computer can be connected using serial or USB cables, you can transfer and synchronize data between these two.

Before you buy a PDA determine your objective. Do you want to just store your personal information? Do want to access email using PDA? Do you want to do networking using your PDA? Do you want a colour screen?

Keep all these questions in mind and read the following buying tips for PDAs

1. Size of PDAs

   PDAs come in many sizes. Size of a credit card, your palm size, cheque book size and other sizes are available. The smaller the PDA, the more difficult it is to type and read from the screen. The bigger the PDA size, the easier it is to type and read but it is difficult to carry a bigger PDA as it won’t fit in your pocket easily.

2. PDA Operating Systems

   Initially, it was Palm OS which was very popular. Later, Microsoft introduced Windows CE and then Pocket PC and more recently ‘Windows Mobile’ operating systems for PDAs and it the most popular now.

3. PDA Applications

   PDAs running on windows based Operating Systems such as Pocket PC and Windows Mobile have many applications. But since Palm OS was introduced earlier, there are more applications for Palm OS based PDAs.

4. Basic PDA applications

   Address book, Mail, Todo list, Memo pad, Appointment and Calendar are some basic PDA applications. So check whether the PDA comes with these basic applications.

5. Monitor / Screen

   Both colour and monochrome PDAs are available. It is better to choose the colour screen for your PDA. If you have to buy a monochrome then atleast get a 320×240 screen. If you buy the color PDA then choose the one ‘Active-Matrix’ display rather than the one with ‘Passive-Matrix’ display.

6. PDA Memory

   PDAs with 32MB to 512MB memory are available. Some PDAs come with the memory expansion slots. You can use the Compact Flash or PCMCIA card memory to increase your PDA’s memory.

7. PDA Ports

   Only if you connect your PDA to your desktop computer you can transfer data between the two. There are PDAs with serial port or USB or Infrared transreceiver or Bluetooth facilities. If you buy the PDA with bluetooth and Infrared then it is a bit expensive but it is worth the money since you can connect wirelessly to other devices.

8. Battery

   Some PDAs use AAA size alkaline batteries. Some PDAs use Nickel Cadmium (ni-cad), Nickel Metal Hybrid (nimh) or lithium ion batteries.

9. Keypad

   Bigger PDAs have bigger keypads. Some smaller PDAs comes with the optional kepad accessory that can be attached as and when necessary. Some PDAs have handwriting recognition capability.

10. Internet Software

    Your PDA should have internet connectivity capability so that you can check your emails wirelessly from your PDA. Some PDAs come with Wi-Fiinbuilt, so that you can connect to wireless lan APs and access the internet.

When you ask someone about their computer configuration, they will normally tell you about the CPU speed, RAM memory size, Hard disk size etc. What most computer users do not care much about is the Motherboard. Most don’t even know what is a motherboard.

The heart of the computer is the Motherboard. Motherboard is as important to a computer as a foundation is important for a building. Even though you have high capacity hardware for the computer, if the motherboard is not efficient, then those hardware will also not function to their full capacity.

Therefore when you buy a computer or when you upgrade your computer it becomes very important that you get a correct motherboard. Here are the buying tips for a motherboard:

1. It is important to know, how much speed of CPU the motherboard can support. For example if you are going to buy a CPU of 2.4 GHz speed then you should buy a motherboard that supports at least 3.06 GHz speed. The reason is, if you want to upgrade later, then you can just upgrade your CPU and reuse the existing motherboard. Therefore try to buy a motherboard that supports greater speed than your CPU speed.
2. Take note of the CPU socket in the motherboard. The socket depends on the CPU. Socket 462 and Socket 478 are some examples.
3. The chipset which controls all the hardware is very important. SIS, VIA, INTEL are some of the companies that manufacture chipsets. Intel 845E, VIA, KM 266 are some of the popular chipsets.
4. Another important thing to note is to check how much RAM memory can be inserted into motherboard. Even if you are going to buy a smaller RAM size, make sure you have free slots for inserting RAM for later upgrade if needed. There are motherboards that can take upto 4GM RAM. Also see which type of RAM is supported. For instance there are SDR RAM and DDR RAM. Some costlier motherboards support both SDR and DDR RAM.
5. In many motherboards the video cards are integrated. This is referred to as ‘Integrated Video’ or ‘Onboard Video’. If you buy a motherboard with this integrated video card then you do not have to buy another video card. So you can play games using these cards. However some higher end games and some software like CAD cannot be used with this video card. Therefore, if you are a game addict or you use video a lot, then make sure that your motherboard comes with a AGP slot, so that in future if you need a more powerful video card then you can buy and insert it here.
6. Many motherboards also come with integrated sound cards. If you buy a motherboard with ‘Integrated bchannel’ audio then you can save cost on buying another sound card.
7. You can also save cost by buying motherboards with Ethernet, USB 2.0 and FireWire integrated, so that you don’t need to buy them separately.
8. Some motherboards also come with RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Devices) support. If you are buying a server then you should go for this. If you are a home user then normally it is not necessary.
9. Motherboards that support bluetooth are available. If you use many wireless devices then you should go for bluetooth supported motherboards.
10. The number of PCI slots also vary in different motherboards. The number of PCI slots vary from 2 to 6. It is better to buy a motherboard with more PCI slots so that you can insert any external devices as and when required.
11. The Font Side Bus (FSB) speed of motherboard ranges from 133MHz to 533MHz. It is obvious that the FSM speed should be high. The motherboard Chipset should be able to handle your CPU speed and the FSB speed of your motherboard. This is called Form Factor. Now, Micro ATX form factor is quire popular.
12. Also note that there should be adequate space around the CPU. This will enable more air flow to the CPU while functioning. If required buy an additional fan.
13. Check that your motherboard comes with the User manual, Driver CDs, Required connection cables etc.
14. The price of the motherboard usually ranges between $60 to $300. You can choose a cheaper motherboard with more features.
15. Some of the popular motherboard manufacturers are Krypton, Asus, Msi, Mercury, Gigabyte and Intel. Choose the one with long warranty period.

The heart of the computer is the hard disk. Operating System, Software, files created using these software, audio files, video files everything is stored in the hard disk. If the hard disk is corrupted then your computer is useless. Now a days hard disks with high capacity is available in the market. If you are considering to upgrade your hard disk or you have planned to buy a new hard disk then hear are some of the buying tips for hard disk.

1. Get hard disks with high storage capacity. You can buy 40GB, 80GB, 120GB or higher hard disks. If you are one of those who download many mp3 songs from internet to your computer or transfer photos from your digital camera or transfer video from your camcorder then it is advisable to go for more than 80GB harddisks. If you are a gaming addict and install many games from CDs then you can go for even higher capacity.
2. You should get a harddisk with a faster interface. For example and IDE/ATA interface is available at 100 MHz or 133 MHz speed. These hard disks are named Ultra ATA/100 and Ultra ATA/133 respectively based on the speed of their interface.
3. Buy a hard disk with a suitable interface. Between SCSI and IDE/ATA, SCSI interface is faster and better. But SCSI hard disks are expensive. If you buy a SCSI hard disk then you also need a SCSI host adapter.
4. See that the hard disk has high RPM (Rotation Per Minute). There are hard disks with 5400, 7200 and 10,000 RPM. Higher the RPM the better. 7200 RPM hard disks are OK for general home use.
5. Check the form factor of the hard disk. 3.5 form factor is suitable for desktop computer and d2.5 form factor is suitable for notebook computer.
6. Check and see that ‘Seek Time’ is very low. Seek time is the time taken to read and write to the hard disk. This is measured in milli seconds.
7. ‘Access time’ should be shorter.
8. Also check the support and warranty provided before choosing the brand.
9. ‘Cache buffer’ should be high. It is better to buy a hard disk with at least 2MB cache buffer.
10. Check and see whether the hard disk comes with ‘Quiet Drive Technology’ and ‘Shock Protection’ features. These features fill increase the life of the hard disk.
11. If you are price sensitive then buy the IDE interface hard disks. If price is not an issue then it is better to get a hard disk with SCSI.
12. ‘Data buffer size’ should be at least 2MB.

Some tips on maintaining your computer

1. If you install or remove the hard disk, never touch the PCB portion of the hard disk
2. When you fix the hard disk to your computer, use all the screws provided and secure it tightly. Do not use long screws.
3. When your computer is ON, do not move or shake your computer. If you need to move then shut down your computer before moving.
4. Do not OFF and ON your computer frequently. It is Ok to keep your computer ON for long hours. Shut down only if you are not going to use it for a long time.
5. If you do not have a UPS, buy UPS immediately.
6. If you suspect that your hard disk is faulty, then do not open it yourself, call your support engineer.

We all use many devices and equipments that run on electricity. Some of these equipments are also electronic devices. For all these to function properly they need uniform power supply. The electric supply in many countries is not uniform. Therefore to make it uniform there is a need for a device. There are many such devices available in the market today. For example UPS (Uninterrupted power supply), Voltage Stabilizer, Constant Voltage Transformer are such devices available today. What is the use of these devices. How to they work? Which of these devices is suitable for you? You will get answer to all these questions in this tutorial.

What is power conditioning?

We can never guarantee that we will get constant power supply. The power supply always has fluctuations. Spikes, Surges, Brownouts, Blackouts and Noise can damage your electrical appliances especially your computer. To prevent this from happening you need a device that does power conditioning.

What is the meaning of Spikes and Surges?

Electricity has to be uninterrupted. If the voltage is higher than the specified level then it is ‘Over Voltage. If the voltage is lower than the specified level then it is ‘Under Voltage’.

Both Spike and Surge come under ‘Over Voltage’ category. But there is a small difference between spike and surge. If there is very high voltage for an instant but comes back to normal immediately then it is called ‘Spike’. This is also referred as ‘Impulse’. If there is very high voltage for a slightly longer period (eg. 1/20 th of a second) then it is called ‘Surge’.

What is Brownout, blackout, Sags and Line Noises?

If the voltage is dangerously reduced to very low within a short period of time then it is called ‘Brownout’. This is also referred as ‘Sags’. When this happens, the computers can be seriously damaged.

If the power supply is totally cut then it is called ‘Blackout’. Noises can mix with electromagnetic or radio waves or any signals. This is called ‘Line Noises’. This may also reduce the voltage level to very low within a short period of time.

What do you need to do Power conditioning.

There are many devices such as Surge Supressors, Spike Busters, Isolation Transformers, Servo Stabiliser, Constant Voltage Transformers or Uninterruptible Power Supply System. We can choose the most suitable power conditioning device based on the equipment we are going to use and based on the quality of our electrical power supply.

Which power conditioning device is best?

The best power conditioning device is the UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply). This is capable of handling Spikes, Surges, Brownouts, Blackouts etc.

How can UPS provide power supply when electrical supply is cut?

Many have this doubt. UPS has an internal battery. With this battery charger and an Inverter is also present in an UPS. The inverter converts the ‘Direct current’ supplied by the battery to ‘Alternatinc current’ as required by the computer. When there is electrical supply the battery charger charges the internal battery. When there is a power cut, the battery supplies DC which is converted to AC by the inverter and power is supplied to computer.

What if the battery loses its power?

When there is power cut, the required power is taken from the battery. Therefore the battery keeps losing its capacity. If the power supply comes back before the battery is fully flat then the battery charger will start recharging the drained battery.

But if the power supply doesn’t come back then the battery keeps supplying until it totally drains out. When the battery drains below a certain level the UPS sounds an alarm for your to shut down your computer and turn off the power and turn off UPS.

How long can an UPS supply power when there is no power?

This depends on the backup time of your UPS. If your UPS has 30 minutes backup then your UPS can supply power for 30 minutes of the power is cut. The higher the backup time of UPS the more expensive.

What other tips for buying UPS?

The backup time of your UPS is the most important you need to consider. Other than that, you should know how many KVA (Kilo Volt Ampere) your UPS has. A computer needs atleast 0.5 KVA to function. If you are planning to connect more than one computer to a single UPS then you need to get an UPS with higher KVA.

What type of battery is used in an UPS?

UPS uses ‘SMF’ batteries (Sealed Maintenance Free). These type of batteries can be used for 5 to 7 years continuously.

What are the different types of UPS?

There are three types of UPS namely Online, Offline and Line Interactive. ‘Offline UPS’ directly supplies the electrical supply to the computer without any changes. Only if there is a power cut, the ‘Offline UPS’ takes over. But ‘Online UPS’ even if there is power supply it will always supply power from the battery and the power supply is used to continously recharge the battery. ‘Interactive UPS’ always supplies uniform current by using Ferroresonat Transformer.

Which UPS is cheaper?

Obviously, offline UPS is the cheapest. Online UPS is very expensive. Interactive UPS is between the offline and online.

Can I connect printer to UPS?

It depends on the UPS capacity and the type of printer. Generally laser printer should not be connected to the UPS. Other printers can be connected. But you should have a higer KVA UPS to support.

Every PC user spends atleast 5 hours looking at the monitor every day. If the picture is not clear enough then there is a high possibility that the eyes get damaged. There are many different sizes of monitors available ranging from 15″ to 17″ or even higher. The sharpness of the image in a monitor is dependent on the Graphics card. Nevertheless the quality of the monitors play an important role. Here are some of the tips that you should know before buying a monitor.

1. There are two types of monitors namely CRT and LCD. The monitor that looks like a small TV is a CRT monitor. In TV as well as CRT monitors there is a Cathode Ray Tube. An LCD monitor is smaller in width and consumes less power.
2. The 15″,17″ or 19″ TVs represent the diagonal length of the screen. Therefore if you buy a 15″ inch screen , the actual length is just 13 1/2 or 14 inches only.
3. CRT monitor is heavier than LCD monitor. LCD monitor is very lightweight.
4. The distance between two adjacent pixels in a monitor is called ‘dot pitch‘. This is measured in millimeters (mm). Smaller the dot pitch the clearer the picture quality. Usually there are monitors with dot pitch varying between 0.20 mm to 0.27mm. Some manufacturers use diagonal dot pitch while most of them use horizontal dotpitch. The diagonal dot pitch is always longer than the horizontal dot pitch
5. Resolution of a monitor has to be considered with care. Most of the monitors have resolution of 800×600 and 1024×768. The more expensive monitors have 1280×1024 and 1600×1200 resolutions. When the resolution is higher the images and text will appear smaller. But you can see more text and bigger pictures in the monitor with high resolution.
6. Another thing to note is the ‘Refresh rate‘. This rate is usually 73 Hz, 75 Hz, 85 Hz. Refresh rate of 85 Hz means the picture on the monitor is refreshed 85 times within a second.
7. The brightness and contrast can be adjusted using buttons. Some monitors come with the software to adjust these settings.

Documents and pictures can be converted into digital images using scanners. The price of scanners have tremendously fallen and is now affordable for any household. Therefore many would like to know about buying a scanner. MFD (Multi Function Device) are also available which integrates scanning, faxing and printing facilities all in one device. This report is about the scanner and its features.

Scanners are ranging from $100 to $1000. There are many models available both for office use as well as for home use.

How much resolution is needed for my scanner?

1. If you just need to scan documents or images occasionally and you are not too much concerned about high quality then a cheap low resolution scanner such as 600 dpi(dots per inch) can be selected.
2. If you need to scan documents from many different media and you are going to use it commercially and need many additional features then a scanner with medium resolution such as 1200 dpi will be suitable for you.
3. If you have to scan things like ‘negative’s or you would like to use the OCR feature then you have to buy a high resolution scanner such as 2400 dpi

Some tips to buy the right scanner

1. The price of the scanner is directly proportional to the optical resolution of the scanner. For example a scanner with 1200×600 resolution will be cheaper than 1200×2400 and so on.
2. Also check the ‘color depth’ of the scanner. A 36 bit color depth scanners are now obsolete. 42 bit and 48 bit scanners are mostly available. It is better to choose a scanner with 48 bit color depth.
3. Check which PORT the scanner supports. Most of the modern scanners use USB. Some scanners have SCSI interface. So before you buy the scanner check whether your computer has USB port to connect the scanner.
4. Check that the scanner comes with all the required cables to connect to the computer
5. Check whether ‘onsite support’ is provided. If not you may have to carry the scanner to the dealer if it doesn’t work.
6. If your main intention of buying a scanner is to scan from books (big) then check whether the top cover can be detached or there is a provision to lift the cover to 3 inches atleast.
7. If you would like to scan a document, import it to MS Word and then edit the document then you need the OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software. So check whether the scanner comes with the OCR software CD. Some scanners do not come with this software. If you would like to have this then choose a scanner that does come with the CD.
8. If you would like to scan ‘negatives’ then you need to buy a ‘Transparence Adapter’. See whether you can connect this to the scanner.
9. If you would like to scan a large collection of documents automatically without manual intervention then you need to buy the ‘Automatic Document Feeder’ (ADF). See that the scanner you choose supports this so that the ADF can be connected to your scanner.

Control buttons in a scanner

There are many buttons in a scanner. FAX, Print/COpy, Email, OCR, CD an Web are some of the buttons. Your scanner may or maynot hav all of these buttons. Let us see what are these buttons for.

1. If you would like to scan a document and at the same time FAX the document to a FAX number then ‘Scan to FAX’ can be used. You need not have a separate FAX machine.
2. If you need to scan and at the same time print the document or save a copy of the document as a file in your computer then the ‘Scan to Print/Copy’ button can be used.
3. ‘Scan to email’ is used to scan and send the document to any email address. On pressing this button your favourite email client such as ‘outlook’ will start and the scanned document will be attached to the email. You just need to enter the email address and send.
4. ‘Scan to OCR’ is used to scan the document and open it in your OCR software to edit.
5. The same goes for ‘scan to cd’ to write the scanned document to a CD and ‘Scan to Web’ is used to publish to a website after scanning.

What is a sound card?

Any software that uses sound needs a sound card. Listening to MP3 songs, playing computer games, watching movies from vcd, listening to songs from audio cds etc, requires a sound card. In a sound card the following components and features are usually found.

Components of a sound card

• Digital signal processor (DSP) this is an essential chip in the sound card
• Digtal to Analog Converter (DAC) This converter converts the digital music from cds etc to analog form, which the speakers can understand
• Analog to Ditial (ADC). This converter converts the analog signals from a microphone to a digital format that can be stored or transmitted by the computer.
• Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) This is a connecter used to connect the sound card to external MIDI devices such as a synthesizer, musical instruments.
• Game Port. This game port is integrated in the sound card to connect games related external devices such as Gamepad or Joystick.
• Line In or Line Out. These are used to connect devices such as speakers, head sets, microphones etc.

Buying tips for sound card

In todays computers, the sound cards are not external. Most of them are integrated within the motherboard. These are called Integrated motherboards. An external sound card ususally can be fitted to a PCI slot. They are Full Duplex type. Which means the sound card is capable of sending and receiving audio simultaneously. Therefore if you are buying external sound cards, do not buy the half duplex sound cards. These half duplex cards can only send or receive audio at a time. Many computer games requires DirectSound 3d. Therefore ask your dealer whether your sound card supports these before buying. Instead of buying 16 bit sound cards buy 24 bit or higher bit sound cards.

Gone are the days when people used different devices as printer, scanner, copier and FAX. Now more and more people are shifting to Multi Function Device (MFD). Though these type of devices where available in the past only recently they are becoming popular.

Many companies sell different models. Due to competition the prices are getting cheaper and cheaper.

Why MFD is so popular?

The main advantage of MFD is that it saves space. Instead of having separate devices for Pritner, Scanner, Copier and FAX if you buy a multi functional device which incorporated all these functions in a single device then you can save the space.

The next reason is its price. If you buy all these devices separately it will cost four times higher. But the MFD will cost four times less.

The usage and maintenance cost of MFD is also cheaper. If you used four separate devices you will have to buy toners, papers, ink and current separately.

There are two types of MFD. One based on Inkjet printing and the other one based on laser printing. The cost of laser printing based MFD is expensive.

MFD (Multi Functional Devices) buying tips

1. The resolution of the printer should be high. Similarly the resolution of the scanner, fax and the copier should be high.
2. The MFD should be able to handle devices of different paper sizes like letter, legal, executive, A4, A5, A6, B5 and B6. It should be able to print post card sized papers.
3. Find out how many copies can be printed in a single cartridge.
4. The color depth of the scanner should be high. Generally the color depth comes in 24, 36 or 48 bits.
5. Check the speed of the FAX modem in the MFD. Usually the speed is 33.6 KBPS.
6. Check also whether color FAX can be sent out.
7. The buffer size of FAX should be high. This will enable keeping many pages in memory for sending FAX. Usually 100 to 500 pages can be kept in FAX memory.
8. Check if the software that comes with the MFD can monitor, control and clean the device. In the FAX, the speed dial, sound volume control, address book, ability to change contrast should be there.
9. The copier should have features like increasing number if print copies, increase decrease contrast, to select the paper size and to zoom.
10. It is better to have additional facilities such as duplex printing, duplex scanning, network support, Flash memory reader etc.
11. The MFD should have more memory. for example 16 MB, 32 MB, 96 MB and 128 MB memory is available.
12. How many paper can be left in the Intray of the MFD and how many papers can be left in the Outtray.
13. Most of the MFDs have USM interface. Check if there is also a parallel connection.
14. Check what software they give. OCR software is a definite plus. Read Iris and Omni Page are some of the OCR software. Other than OCR, Image editing, to make photo albums are good software.

The use of Video projector in Offices, Companies and Universities are getting more and more popular. The projector which is also referred to as the ‘LCD Projector‘ and ‘VGA Projector‘ are getting cheaper and cheaper.

Projectors are used to show important programs and presentations. Teachers like projectors as projectors are very useful in teaching. Easy to carry portable projectors are also available in the market.

Here are the buying tips for choosing a good projector

1. There are two types of projectors based on the technology they use. The ‘Liquid Crystal Display’ (LCD) and the ‘Digital Light Processing’ (DLP) based projectors. The LCD projectors are very cheap compared to the DLP projectors
2. The weight of the LCD projector is very high compared to the weight of the DLP projectors. Therefore those want to carry the projectors easily then you should buy a DLP projector.
3. If the size of the projector is small then there will be minimum connections available in the projector. Therefore if you go for more features and do not care about the size then you should choose a bigger projector.
4. If you want to be able to connect VCR, VCD or camcorder to the projector then you should check whether these connectors ara available.
5. You should check the light brightness of the projector. This is measured in lumens. Different projectors have 1000, 1500, 2000 or 3000 lumens. If you are going to use the projector in a small room then 1000 to 1500 lumens is enough. If you are planning to use your projector in big halls, auditoriums then choose the 3000 or higher lumens projector.
6. Also remember that the resolution is very important. If you need sharp and clear pictures then you should choose the projector with high resolution. Projectors are available at 800×600, 1024×728, 1280×1024 resolutions. The price of the projector will increase with the increase in resolution. Also note that the computer monitor’s resolution and the projector’s resolution should match when you give presentations.
7. Also check the contrast ratio of the projector. The ratio should be high for example between 400:1 projector and 2000:1 projector the latter is better.
8. See if the VGA, SVideo, Composite Video connectors are available. Similarly check if the ‘Audio In’ connector is available.
9. Check the ‘tilt mechanism‘ provided in the projector. This is used to tilt your projector, upwards or downwards based on your requirement. Usually the projector will rest on four screws which are adjustable. Some brands come with two screws behind and one screw in the center front. You can adjust these screws to adjust the projection to fit the screen.
10. Check the life of the ‘bulb’ in the projector. Check the price of the bulb in case you need to change it.
11. See the menu options provided in the projector and whether it is easy to operate using the remote control and whether it is easy to connect to the computer.
12. See if the laser pointer comes with the remote control or given separately. The laser pointer with the remote control is better.
13. See if the projector can be locked using a password. This is very useful if you do not want unauthorized use.
14. Also check if there is a ‘control panel lock‘. This will prevent the use of projectors without the remote control. So only those who have the remote at hand can operate it.

Is it possible to store 2GB to 4GB of data in a device half the size of your pen? If you asked this question a few years back the answer is NO. But now it is very much possible. These are called USB drives or THUMB drives.

Those drives like pen drive or thumb drive that can be inserted to your USB (Universal Serial Bus) port in your computer is an USB drive.

Floppy drives and hard drives are secured to your computer using screws. Therefore they are permanently fixed to your computer. To disconnect and install it in another computer is not an easy task. Moreover these drives need power cables and data cables separately to function. But an USB drive is entirely different.

It is very easy to use an USB drive. You just have to insert the USB drive into your computer’s USB port. You need not open the computer’s cabinet for this. There is not data cable or power cable in USB drives.

As soon as you insert the USB drive into your USB port you can start using it. You need not install any software to use this. Reason: The newer Operating Systems such as Windows XP and most of the linux distros know how to detect these USB drives automatically. Immediately the OS will mount the USB drive to your computer and assign a drive letter such as E: or F: and will be available in your usual file explorer such as windows explorer.

If your Operating System is old (such as Windows 98) then you may have to install the appropriate driver software for your USB drive. The driver comes in the CD together with the drive or you can download the driver from the manufacturer’s website.

What is bootable USB drive?

Just like the bootable floppy disk or a bootable CD you can also boot the computer using a bootable USB drive. But your computer’s BIOS should support this facility.

Buying tips for USB drive (Thumb drive, pen drive, jump drive etc)

1. Storage size of USB drive
   
   USB drives are also called as Pen drive, Thumb drive, Jump drive, Key chain drive etc. These drives come in various storage capacities. USB drives are available from 16MB to 4.4GB.
2. Speed of USB drives
   
   Currently the USB2.0 is the standard widely in use. The speed of USB 2.0 is 480 MBPS. You may think that USB 2.0 based USB drives will have this 480 Mbps speed. But in reality there are three types of speed in USB drives.

   They are Low speed, Full speed and High speed. Low speed refers to a mere 1.5 Mbps speed. Do not get misled by the ‘Full speed’ term. Full Speed USB drives have 12 Mbps speed. Only ‘High speed’ or ‘hispeed’ USB drives have 480Mbps speed. Remember to buy USB drives that are faster to read and write.

   So do not just see whether it is USB 2.0 but also see the speed.

3. Write Protected USB drives
   
   See if the USB drive has a write protect switch. Because if you do not want to accidentally delete the files or do not want to accidentally write to it then this switch will be useful.