Files & Folders:
Using Removable Media

 Title: Jan's Illustrated Computer Literacy 101

There are many kinds of removable media these days, including:

  • USB drives with a variety of names and shapes
  • Media cards that cameras, laptops, and phones use, in various sizes with various names

When connected to your computer, these types will usually show in your My Computer/Computer window as a separate drive. Occasionally a removable drive displays as an additional hard disk.

We will walk through some basic steps in how to use such removable media.


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USB Flash Drives

Several differnet USB flash drives, with caps onThere are many different names, shapes, and capacities for USB flash drives. Each company calls it something different, including flash drive, flash pen, jump drive, thumb drive, key drive, and mini-USB drive. The illustration shows several types, beside an ordinary house door key to see the sizes.

All have the same kind of rectangular connector under the cap. This connector can only plug in one way. Do not force it!

USB connector for a flash drive

All USB drives are small, about the size of your thumb or a large car key, and plug into a USB port on the computer. No drivers are needed for Win7, Windows Vista, XP, 2000, or Me.  Plug one in and the computer reports a new drive! Older versions of Windows need to have drivers installed.

Such physically small flash drives can have large storage capacities, from 8 MB to 128 GB (like the one on the far right in the illustration) and more!

Write-protect switch on USB flash driveSome flash drives have a tiny, hard-to-see switch that you can use to prevent writing to the drive.

Some flash drives include password protection, encryption, and the ability to run software right off the USB drive. So cool!

Icon: WarningSome flash drives have a chain or loop or clip to hang it from your keychain etc. Don't use that feature if the cap is the part that stays on your keychain! Caps get loose quickly. You might soon find yourself with a lost flash drive and only a cap to remember it by!

Memory Cards

Digital cameras and some phones and other electronic devices use a small removable card to store images and other data. Many computers and photo printers come with slots for reading and writing several kinds of memory cards. You can also purchase a card reader device that plugs into a USB port.

Memory card: SDMemory card: Compact FlashMemory card: SmartMediaMemory card: Memory Stick (front and back)

Examples of memory cards: SD card, Compact Flash, SmartMedia, Memory Stick
(not to the same scale)

Memory card slots on a computer

Slots on a computer for various types of memory cards

Icon Step-by-Step 

Step-by-Step: Using a Removable Disk

  Icon Step-by-Step
What you will learn: to insert & eject a USB flash drive
to view the contents
to respond correctly to an error message
to rename a drive

These lessons will use the floppy disk icon Blank floppy disk to mark steps where you need to save to whatever removable media you are using. Yes, floppy disks are just about extinct, but programs still use that kind of icon for their Save commands.

Insert & Stop/Eject USB Flash Drive

Start with Desktop, Icon: USB, and no removable media inserted.

If you are not currently using a USB device to store your documents, read through this part anyway! You will be using such devices in the future.

  1. USB ports on front of computerUSB ports on back of computerLocate the USB ports on your computer. There may be ports on the front, on the back, on the monitor base or edge, or even on the keyboard. (Keyboard ports may not carry enough power for your device.)

     
  2. USB devices with cap offRemove the cap from your USB flash drive, if your device has one. The cap may fit onto the other end. If it will, put it there! It's easy to lose these little caps.
     
  3. Insert the USB flash drive into the USB port. Be careful not to force it in the wrong way!
    Windows recognizes that you have connected a USB device.

    Dialog: What do you want Windows to do? (Win7)Dialog: what to do with a USB deviceAny of several events may happen:
    • a notification sound plays
    • a popup message appears, notifying you of that a new device has been found
    • a message tells you that drivers are being installed.
    • a search progress bar appears as Windows looks for an AutoPlay command (for music or videos)
    • a dialog offers you several choices of what to do next, including Open folder to view files using Windows Explorer and No Action.
    • new icon Icon: Safely Remove Hardware Icon: Removable disk (Win7) appears in the notification area of the Taskbar
    • a new window displays the drive's contents

       
  4. If you do not have the new iconIcon: Safely Remove Hardware Icon: Removable disk (Win7) in the tray of the Taskbar, skip to alternate method.
     
  5. Menu: Safely Remove Hardware list (Win7)Menu: Safely Remove Hardware - list of devicesIf you have the new icon Icon: Safely Remove Hardware Icon: Removable disk (Win7) in the tray of the Task Bar, left click it. A menu appears that lists USB devices that are currently connected, such as scanners, wireless network adapters, card reader, some printers.

    Icon: Win7Win7 helpfully shows the name you have given to the device, if you did that. You can rename these devices in the folder tree just like you can folders and files. We will see how to do that shortly.

    TipA printer that is connected to the computer with a USB cable may not show in this list. It probably will if it can read files directly from a camera or if it has a port for inserting the storage card from a camera.
     

  6. Message: Safe to Remove Hardware (Win7)Message: It is safe to remove hardwareClick on your USB Mass Storage Device.
    A popup message tells you when you can safely remove the device. The light on the drive turns off for some drives. The message does NOT repeat the name of the device. Surely your memory will hold on to what you are doing long enough to disconnect the correct device!

    Icon: TroubleProblem: Message - Cannot remove the device
    If a file on the device is in use, you can not and should not remove the USB device yet.
    Solution: Close any open documents that are on the removable disk and close any Compute/Explorer windows that display the contents of the drive. Then try again.

    Dialog: Stop a Hardware deviceIcon: TroubleProblem: Icon: Windows VistaYou don't know which USB device to choose.
    Solution: Right click on Icon: Safely Remove Hardware the Safely Remove Hardware icon. A popup menu appears with only one command, Safely Remove Hardware. Click on it. A dialog appears that lists the USB devices. Choose one and click on Stop. Another dialog appears with several names for the same device. Now you should be able to tell if this is the device that you want to stop. If not, Cancel this dialog and choose another device in the previous dialog until you find the right one. Then you can click the Stop button. <Whew!>
     
  7. Check to see if the drive light is off. Some devices turn off the light when it is OK to remove it, and some don't. Confusing! Now you know how your device behaves.
     
  8. Remove the USB drive by pulling it out of the port.  Put the cap back on, if it has one.
     

Alternate methods to safely remove USB flash drive:

Method 1: Open a window that shows the drives on the computer (My Computer/Computer/Explorer) but do not select the USB drive. Right click the drive and select Safely Remove, if it is available, or Eject. Wait for your drive's light to go off, if it will. Then remove the device.

Method 2: Log off the computer. Verify that the device's light is off, if your device does that. Then remove the device.

WarningWhy go through these steps? What not just pull a USB flash drive out of its port?

  • If the device is in the process of writing, you can corrupt your file and even damage the device permanently.
  • The computer may not recognize the next device you plug into that port. Rebooting the computer clears up this issue but logging off and back on again does not.
  • The computer may not let go of the drive letter it assigned to the USB drive. There are only so many letters available! Rebooting does not usually clear up this issue. It can be tricky to fix.

View Contents of USB drive

Start with Desktop, Icon: USB, and no removable media inserted.

  1. Without inserting your removable media yet, open a My Computer or Computer window by either method below:
    Double click Double-click on Icon for My Computer Icon: Computer (Vista) the My Computer or Computer icon on your desktop.
    OR
    Icon: Left click Start menu > My Computer or Computer
    A window opens that shows icons for each drive on the computer and for certain special folders.
     
  2. Look for an icon for your removable media drive. If you are using a permanently attached drive like a Zip drive, you will see an icon for it. Since you have not connected your USB flash drive, you will not see it in the list yet.

    My Computer showing all hard drive and removable storage drives that are connected Computer window with no removable drives (Win7)

    The two illustrations show disks that aren't completely there.

    In the illustration on the left, drive H: is a zip drive that is installed in the computer case but which did not actually have a zip disk in it. Drives J:, K:, and L: are slots on a USB device that has slots for three different kinds of memory cards. Again, there were no cards in place when the screen shot was taken.

    In the illustration on the right, the floppy disk drive A: is not actually installed on the computer, but the motherboard apparently thinks it is.

    There are no USB flash drives are showing because no USB drives are currently connected.

  3. Insert your removable media. An icon appears with a drive letter that depends on how many other drives you have. A USB drive can have a letter assigned permanently.
     
    You should hear a sound that indicates that Windows has found a new device. AutoPlay will look for an AutoRun command. In some situations, a window will open to show the contents of the drive.

    My Computer showing drives, including a USB drive Computer window showing removable drives (Win7)

    The window now shows a USB drive in the Removable Storage section.

    In the second illustration, four USB flash devices were connected. USB drive E: showed up as an additional hard disk! This is unexpected! The drive name J: has not been given a name yet but the device JansTravel K: clearly has. Drives L: and M: are actually the same device! This kind of USB drive has been formatted to make it easier to play music, drive L:, but it can also hold data as drive M:. 

    Icon: TroubleProblem: Message - The drive needs to be formatted
    This message may be sent because there is a serious problem with your disk, but the problem might be with what you connect it to or insert it into.

  • Physical problem: 
        Parts are dirty or broken or bent.

What you do: 
Clean the parts of the disk and of the drive or port of all dust or particles, try to carefully straighten a bent connector, and try again.

  • Data problem:
        A magnetic or electrical event has scrambled or erased the data on the drive without doing physical damage. This is much harder to do to a USB Flash drive or Zip disk than to a floppy disk, but it can still happen. 

  • Computer confusion: If a previous user (certainly not you!) removed a USB drive improperly, the computer may not realize that the drive is no longer there.

    What you do:
    Reboot the computer. That's the fastest, easiest way to fix this issue. BUT... you need to save your work to the hard disk somewhere first! Once the computer recognizes your USB drive, then you can move your file to the removable drive. Whew!

WarningReformatting a flash drive is not recommended unless absolutely necessary.

WarningSometimes a flash drive is not readable in one computer but can be read by another computer. Be SURE your drive is dead before trying to reformat. Remember also, if a flash drive was removed incorrectly (not with Safely Remove Hardware), the computer may fail to see a new device on that connector until after the computer has been rebooted.

Name the USB Device

If you would like to name your device now:

  1. Icon: Right clickRight click on its name in the Computer window.
  2. Icon: Left clickSelect the command Rename.
  3. Type a name with 11 or fewer characters, including spaces.
  4. Press the Enter key. Your device has a name!

Memory Cards

We will not practice working with memory cards. You will have to check the instructions for your own device on how to remove and insert the cards or how to connect your device to your computer.

If your computer has slots for memory cards, look for labels that tell what format each slot can handle.

WarningRead your device's instructions carefully! Never force a memory card or connector into a slot that is not quite the right size!! You can damage the card and the slot. A too-small card can get lost in there! The slot won't read a card with the wrong formatting anyway.

Reminders on care of removable media

  • Label it with your name! If the device is too small to write on, put a file on the device at the top of the folder tree that tells whose device it is. Be careful about what contact info you put on the device. You never know who might find it.
  • Name the device with a helpful short name that will show up in the Computer window.
  • Keep away from heat.
  • Keep away from magnets, even small ones!
  • Keep away from smoke, dust, crumbs and dirt.
  • Don't bend or put heavy weights on it.
  • Don't spill anything on it.

Warning It's not a good idea to carry removable media loose in your purse or in your pocket. It's too easy to damage one this way. Even a USB drive with a cap can catch dust and crumbs inside the connector.