More than Just Storage: 8 Ways To Repurpose Your Old USB Flash Drive
Smart ways to turn forgotten storage into something useful
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Remember the days when USB flash drives were the greatest thing since CD-ROMs? Those were obviously many days ago, but when thumb drives hit the shelves of, um, RadioShack, they were pretty revolutionary. Saving and sharing files for school or work became significantly easier than file sharing with floppy disks — as long as your files weren’t too big. But eventually those stick drives got bigger. 1GB, 4GB, 10GB. They got so big they became external hard drives.
And then the equivalent of an extinction event for flash drives hit. The cloud was born, and it was endless. Now we could upload unlimited docs, photos and videos of any size to the ether for pretty cheap. Predictably, USBs went the way of Maxwell floppy discs.
Post-cloud, most of our USB drives ended up in boxes and desk drawers next to our iPods, firewires and dial-up modems. However, unlike much of our museum-ready tech, you can actually use your old flash drives and portable hard drives for some pretty neat projects. They may even save you money and earn you a little more privacy.
Make Yourself a NAS (Network Attached Storage) Device
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At some point in the past few years, Sonos, the wireless home audio system, stopped allowing users to point their speakers to music folders on their computers and external hard drives. Instead, Sonos users now had to share their music folder over their local network. This didn’t mean you couldn’t keep your library on the same old hard drive anymore. It simply meant your hard drive was functioning more like a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device, because the library was served over your network. The only downside was your computer had to be on to play your music. Normally, NAS drives don’t have to be. But the idea itself sparked a few ideas.
Imagine if you plugged that same old hard drive directly into your router. As long as your family was on the same network, it would now show up on everyone’s devices. You could share whatever you wanted this way. Pics, recipes, to-do lists, books, movies — anything really. It would be like your private family cloud. No need to imagine, actually. It’s very easy to set up. Here’s how.
Plug your external drive into your router’s USB port, if you have one. Fire up your browser and open up your router settings. Check that file sharing is on. That’s basically it. That drive should now show up on all your local devices like any other network volume or drive. If you’re concerned about the steps you can take to improve online safety, as you should be, you can hand-pick the devices on your local area network (LAN) that can access your NAS. LAN, as opposed to WAN, is the network of devices that use your router to communicate with each other, which is important because only people on your network can access your files this way.
Create a Slideshow Without Google Photos
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Okay, so you’ve turned your beat-up Seagate into a functioning NAS device running off your router. Anyone on your network can access those files now. But let’s say you want to share pics when you’re somewhere else without direct access to your network. You can do that too, with a little more elbow grease.
First, download and install the latest version (3.2.1 or later) of an application called HFS, short for “HTTP File Server,” on your home computer. HFS works with Windows machines and Macs, and, best of all, it’s free. In both cases, since you’ve already set up your NAS, your home computer should already recognize your USB device as a volume or drive. Copy the network path name or drag and drop the volume into your open HFS window. Now you’re ready to share your files — with two important caveats.
One, HFS will need to be up and running for this to work, so your home computer will need to be on. Two, opening up local folders to the internet at large can get messy, to say the least. Especially if it isn’t a photo of your Corgi you want to share, but an electricity bill or a copy of your driver’s license. To secure your home file server, you’ll want to grab a free program called ngrok. It requires the command line, but after you install ngrok and set it up, you shouldn’t have to do anything.
Ngrok is critical because it gives you a secure web link you can access remotely. Have that link handy when you’re ready to share your files and you’re good to go. As with HFS, ngrok will need to be running on your home computer in order for you to share your photos.
Mission Impossible Your Windows Device with a Physical Login
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Do you really think Tom Cruise uses a measly login to open his laptop? Ha! If Tom Cruise opens his laptop at all — that is to say, if Tom Cruise doesn’t open his Chromebook using his mind alone — he definitely uses a USB pen drive for extra security. Now you can, too.
If you’re running Windows, install a program like USB Raptor on the computer you want to log in to. Stick in your thumb drive. This will serve as your key. USB Raptor will lead you through the configuration process and add a tiny encrypted unlock file to your drive. When the USB drive is inserted, your computer unlocks. As soon as you remove it, it locks.
Another option is Rohos, which works on both Windows devices and Macs. The results are the same. Just keep in mind that USB Raptor is free and open source; Rohos requires a paid subscription.
The advantage of this approach is that no one without that key can get onto your device, not even Tom Cruise. Also, you don’t have to remember a master password or risk using a weak one. On the other hand, carrying a flash drive around in your pocket isn’t exactly 2026.
If you don’t mind carrying around a second physical device to open your device, you may want to try Google Titan or YubiKey instead. These, or any other FIDO2 security keys, use a virtually unassailable cryptographic key to lock down computers, which may offer tighter security than an old USB thumb drive serving as a physical token. That said, a USB login is a step-up from the login setups most of us already have, and it’s free if you’re recycling an old thumb drive. Security keys will set you back at least $25 a pop.
Cure Your Sick Devices with a Portable Antivirus
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Bad viruses are nasty. They can lock you out of your operating system (OS) so you can’t get inside to root them out. Like bed bugs, evil malware can be very persistent. It can deactivate your native antivirus or meddle with essential system processes. It can even reinstall itself if you manage to find it and delete it. In the worst cases — ransomware being one of the worst and on the rise — it can lock your files down.
Typically, with invasive malware, a lot of us would just throw in the towel and take our device to a professional to clean it up. But you don’t necessarily have to. Here’s where your grungy old Verbatim 1GB might be able to help.
For Windows users, load a portable antivirus like ESET SysRescue Live or Kaspersky Rescue Disk onto your flash drive. Start your computer and boot up the antivirus. The antivirus will run independently of your OS and find the malicious code, which won’t even realize you’re there. You may be able to clean up your machine that way. If you’re on
Source: www.engadget.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.