Thread: What to look for when buying a pen drive?

I want to install the OS onto the pen drive so that I can carry it around, and boot the computer from it, and this should effectively kill keyloggers, as I won't be running the OS from the computer's hard disk which might be infected (in a cyber cafe for example).

At present, I don't have any pen drive. What I'd like to know is what all stuff you have to look for when you are buying a pen drive. Is there a limited number of times you can read / write to a pen drive?

Second, if there is malware in a computer, and you do not boot from the pen drive but just connect it to an already running computer, will the pen drive immediately get infected or is there some sort of protection so that nothing can be written to the pen drive without permission?

And there are external hard disks available these days; anyone on the forum has any? What do they cost and would they be a better option given the need to install an OS? I just want to install the OS and antivirus, and check mails, that's all - not download stuff and all.

Thanks.

1. Booting from pendrive :

Installing and booting OS from pen drive is OK for ocassional system recovery or emergency but not for use in cyber cafe coz( assuming u hav linux/ Windows PE)

Becoz n/w settings have to configured everytime u run the os and it may differ from one shop to another.

Usually owners will not agree to this coz they have softwares which enforce time restrictions.


IF you run Win PE as your OS u can have traditonal antivirus s/w or other portable av's.

If you run linux from pen drive you don't have any issues with viruses.

2. Choosing a pendrive :

You are looking for a pen drive which has good read/ write speed. Another important factor is the durablity of the casing which determines how carefullt you have to handle it.

Yes, all kinds of flash memory have limited read/write cycles but the life of pen drives can be over 5 yrs based on moderate usage.

Originally Posted by HydraHeaded

Second, if there is malware in a computer, and you do not boot from the pen drive but just connect it to an already running computer, will the pen drive immediately get infected or is there some sort of protection so that nothing can be written to the pen drive without permission?

Either install linux or look for a pen drive which has write protect latch (costly & rare).

3. External disk ?

For your purpose a pend drive will do..

Thanks. By the way, suppose you don't boot from the pen drive, but go to a cyber cafe and plug it in and open a portable browser from the pen drive, and that browser has your username and password saved in itself, then no keyloggers on the cyber cafe computer would detect anything, isn't it?

Originally Posted by HydraHeaded

Thanks. By the way, suppose you don't boot from the pen drive, but go to a cyber cafe and plug it in and open a portable browser from the pen drive, and that browser has your username and password saved in itself, then no keyloggers on the cyber cafe computer would detect anything, isn't it?

Ya thats true...

be sure to buy an original Pen Drive with the bill bcoz my brother got a PD of 32 GB without a bill and it have no serial no. and nothing on it.....and now he cant claim for it........so plz by a geniune one.....my preference is of Kingeston.....

Go for high read and write speeds...u are booting an os from it...i recommend the ducati series from transcemd..crazy transfer speeds too!

Originally Posted by amitkool21

be sure to buy an original Pen Drive with the bill bcoz my brother got a PD of 32 GB without a bill and it have no serial no. and nothing on it.....and now he cant claim for it........so plz by a geniune one.....my preference is of Kingeston.....

Mine too. But as far as I know most of them have slower transfer rates, but good durablity. And the ones by transcend are exact opposite

generally pds with 8gb or more have good speeds (above 20mBps).
there are also verisons of xp and vista that can be carried on a pd.

Originally Posted by HydraHeaded

Second, if there is malware in a computer, and you do not boot from the pen drive but just connect it to an already running computer, will the pen drive immediately get infected or is there some sort of protection so that nothing can be written to the pen drive without permission?

And there are external hard disks available these days; anyone on the forum has any? What do they cost and would they be a better option given the need to install an OS? I just want to install the OS and antivirus, and check mails, that's all - not download stuff and all.

Thanks.

Yes if you connect to a computer with malware in it , it ll be transferred to your pen drive . Pen Drives are notorious at spreading malwares .

Make a habit of scanning your pen drive with an anti-virus right after u plug it in ........

Yeah i use an External HDD ...But for your needs i feel a pen drive will serve your purpose .... Pen drives are more economical in the sense that You can get [standard] pen drives for as low as Rs500 or lesser [4GB] ....You can never get any hard drives for that cost .

I recommend

Transcend
Kingston
as far as flash memories are considered they are the leaders of the pack

cumon guys!! 8gb kingston's available for 450!!!
160gb external wd hd for 2700.

o_O where in the devil do you get it for that dirt cheap of a price...i mean shop ?

you wont believe how prices of pds fall.when i bought my first 2gb pd,it cost me 700!! now for 700 u could get 16gig pd.

DID u buy it from Nehru Palace ??

sorry!
i meant 250gb.160 gb is around 2100.

ha from np.
even dc in janakpuri and wazirpur have such wolesale markets.wazirpur is the best after np.

u r talkin bout the DC in janakpuri near the uttam nagar metro station........i never heard bout any wholesale market at this place........nd no idea for wazirpur

i have never seen anything there either.i have heard that computer accessories are pretty cheap there.

wazirpur is also pretty much lyk np.lots of shops.so naturally more competition and lower prices.

if u have seen np,you wont like wazirpur.np is like the heaven for every computer-junkie!!

Originally Posted by ag_prasun

if u have seen np,you wont like wazirpur.np is like the heaven for every computer-junkie!!

ya i also think so but whats the big deal just to check over there.........

hello now dear lets stop our discussion here coz we r going too much offtopic............we'll talk bout it on some other time on our messengers.........

yeah u r ryt!
pm me where u r from in delhi.

One feature of Vista is that it allows some of the removable media to fuction as addl. RAM
so if you are using Vista, then also check if the pen drive can support such functions. Would be a great asset to boost RAM for any specific memory hungry application.

Of course this would reduce the life of the pen drive to certain extent. But by the time u would have every higher capacity drives. I remember I bought my first 128 MB pendrive for Rs. 1800 in 2004. Now for that u may even get a 32 GB one.

Originally Posted by panchabhut

One feature of Vista is that it allows some of the removable media to fuction as addl. RAM
so if you are using Vista, then also check if the pen drive can support such functions. Would be a great asset to boost RAM for any specific memory hungry application.

Ya its called Ready Boost.But only some drives support it.

For me..speed matters the most.
All the drives I've used from different manufacturers have been quite reliable in terms of data stability.
Looks are not important obviously, I don't even mind the cap if its fast.

Originally Posted by powerdoc

Ya its called Ready Boost.But only some drives support it.

For me..speed matters the most.
All the drives I've used from different manufacturers have been quite reliable in terms of data stability.
Looks are not important obviously, I don't even mind the cap if its fast.

what was that raedy boost thing never heard bout that can anyone provide dome more info......i was planning to install the vista ultimate.......

Originally Posted by amitkool21

what was that raedy boost thing never heard bout that can anyone provide dome more info......i was planning to install the vista ultimate.......

All the info you'll need
hxxp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ready_boost

Cost wise...
Kingston < Transcend < San Disk < Corsair

Originally Posted by powerdoc

Cost wise...
Kingston < Transcend < San Disk < Corsair

i found transcend and san disk are lesser than kingston in delhi,mumbai and in jaipur.......i tried in all these 3 cities....