Memory http://www.computersight.com/Hardware/Memory/index.1195 New posts in Memory 10 Fascinating USB Drives for the Computer Geek http://www.computersight.com/Hardware/Memory/10-Fascinating-USB-Drives-for-the-Computer-Geek.201041 Every few years we find a new, more effective way to save our computer data. At first it was the floppy discs, then it turned to Cds, and more recently, for practical use when transporting we use USB drives. Only a half inch portion of the actual drive goes into the computer, and the rest of the device is open for creativity. Here are 10 of the most unique modded USB drives out there.

The Thumb Drive

Another name for the USB flash drive is the thumb drive. That is probably the reasoning behind this thumb designed flash drive.

The Teddy Bear Drive

This is a modded drive that you probably won't find for sale. The either gutted the drive and inserter the contents where the head should be, or they just stuck the casing and all in place. It's not exactly portable, and would almost make a portable hard drive more practical, but it would still be good for a few laughs at work or school.

The Swiss Army Knife USB

This new Swiss Army Knife USB has to be one of my favorites. While it would not be acceptable for minors to be carrying around, it would be a nice USB drive for those who actually carry a Swiss Army Knife anyways. These come with storage capacities of 64mb to 1gb and are sold online.

The USB Watch

Nothing like carrying and displaying your USB drive on your wrist wherever you go. You probably won't forget this at home, but it would be very strange to be walking around with a USB on your watch.

The Lego Brick

This was one of the original modded USBs that got people thinking, but I believe you can now purchase them online for about the same price as a normal USB. What can a Lego brick not do or make?

The NES Controller USB Drive

These controllers are used more for geek oriented mods than they are for gaming at the current time. This is just one of the many USB styled drives made from a NES controlled. If you mod it correctly you can even still use the controller.

Backspace USB

Another common modded drive would be with old keyboard keys. They give it a real computer styled look. If you have a friend who isn't computer savvy you can use the enter key with the arrow pointing to the side you stick into the computer to pick a joke at their inexperience with computers.

Chapstick USB

A common item you'd find in your pockets was turned into a USB. It was a custom mod that you may need to order a special sized USB to get it to fit. It's not the front part that would be cutting it close, rather the insides of your USB.

Chewing Gum USB

Rather easily done, but unique to say the least. There are several different gum and mint containers that are easily transformed into a new USB case. Simply cut a hole for the front to stick out, and secure your USB with glue or tape.

Disposable Lighter USB

Do you have a bunch of these disposable lighters lying around that don't work anymore? You can turn them into a cool looking USB drive with little work. Just gut the insides and cut the hole and you're finished.

Every week people are creating more unique variations of the USB. There are two ways to mod a current USB to create one to your style. You can simply secure it in its current casing, or remove it from the casing completely for the tighter fits. Experiment with different casings until you find one to match your style. Who knows, maybe if you put a picture of it up on the internet you'll see it going viral on the tech blogs.

]]> Fri, 08 Aug 2008 05:36:42 PST Flash-Drive Customizing http://www.computersight.com/Hardware/Memory/Flash-Drive-Customizing.53537 First you need to see if your flash-drive already has a .inf file hidden. Now you need to click on START>Control Panel>Folder Options>View. Scroll down until you find “Hidden Files And Folders”, then check “Show hidden files and folders”.

Now that you can view hidden files/folders open your flash-drive's drive. For me it's “F:”( F = drive letter). When you open it you should have a file named Autorun.inf (sort of greyed out a little bit), or no greyed out files. Delete the file named Autorun.inf because you will be remaking another.

Here's a listed instruction

  1. Right click on the folder and go to New>Text Document
  2. Rename the New Text Document.txt - Autorun.inf
  3. Now right click on Autorun.inf and click Open
  4. It should come up in notepad on the first line type “[Autorun]” (no_quotations)
  5. Next line type Open=“$”
  6. Next line type Icon=“$”
  7. Next line type Label=“whatever you want the drive to be name”

It should look like this.

(NO_QUOTATIONS)

Now then you are probably wondering what the $ stands for. Well that's the icon file path. You can find icon all over the Internet. Just find one and put it on the flash-drive.

Now then let's hide the Autorun.inf and your icon file, if you got one. Right click on the Autorun.inf and click Properties then check the Hidden box at the bottom. If you got a icon do the same. Hit apply and you're done.

If you want to take the show hidden back off. Go to Control Panel>Folder Options>View and check the “Do not show hidden files or folders”. Well your Done.

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