
USB 1.0 low-speed: Provides a data transfer rate of 1.5 megabits per second ( Mbps).There have also been several prereleases and various updates in addition to these three versions. Each specification publication allows for faster data transfer rates than the previous version. There are three main USB specifications that USB flash drives can connect through: 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0.

The more users delete and write new data on the device, the more likely it will degrade. How a USB flash drive is used also affects its life expectancy. However, some drives are designed with single-level cell ( SLC) memory that supports approximately 100,000 writes. The memory within most USB flash drives is multi-level cell ( MLC), which is good for 3,000 to 5,000 program-erase cycles. Drives now come in capacities ranging between 8 gigabytes (GB) and 1 terabyte (TB), depending on manufacturer, and future capacity levels are expected to reach 2 TB. The first USB flash drive came on the market in 2000 with a storage capacity of 8 megabytes (MB). The drives support Microsoft Windows, Linux, MacOS, different flavors of Linux and many BIOS boot ROMs. When a user plugs the flash memory device into the USB port, the computer's operating system ( OS) recognizes the device as a removable drive and assigns it a drive letter.Ī USB flash drive can store important files and data backups, carry favorite settings or applications, run diagnostics to troubleshoot computer problems or launch an OS from a bootable USB.

A USB flash drive can be used in place of a compact disc.
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A USB flash drive - also known as a USB stick, USB thumb drive or pen drive - is a plug-and-play portable storage device that uses flash memory and is lightweight enough to attach to a keychain.
