My new site will launch in

20 November 2009

Cool Tricks with a USB Thumb Drive


» Set a program to run automatically (autorun):
Using autorun, you can set a program to start up automatically when you connect the drive to a computer. You can also use the same script for a data CD-ROM. Note that some computers have autorun disabled for security purposes.
Open up notepad and paste the following script:

[autorun]
ShellExecute=filename
Label=description
UseAutoPlay=1

Make sure you replace filename with the full path to the file. For example, a file called program.exe in a folder called “programs” on the thumb drive would be /programs/program.exe
Replace description with a short description of the program, for example, My Jukebox or Mozilla Firefox.
Save the file as autorun.inf, making sure you select “All Programs” from the save menu, not “Text document”!

» Portable jukebox
Don’t just carry the music with you, also carry the player! You can install audio programs such as WinAmp and CoolPlayer+ on your thumb drive. Just unextract the ZIP folders to the USB drive.
If you want the jukebox to start up automatically when you connect the memory stick to the computer, use the autorun feature and point it to the exe of your audio player.
» Encrypt your data
If you carry any sensitive indormation on your USB memory stick, a good idea is to encrypt it. Hardware-level encryption will help, but it will cost extra. You can get a free program to encrypt your data just as securely. For this I recommend TrueCrypt, but most others will also do.
You will need admin access on the computer you want to use your encrypted thumb drive on, so this it’s usability a little.
» Take your programs with you
We all know how frustrating it is when we take your files to another computer just to discover that the software required to read the files is not installed.
Here’s the simplest solution – take your programs with you – on your USB thumb drive. Here’s how to do it with Portable Apps:
1. Go to the Portable Apps website and download the installer, choosing the software you want to carry along.
2. Run the installer and install the software to the root of your USB thumb drive.
And you’re done! As soon as you connect your thumb drive into a computer, Portable Apps will open up automatically.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Softwares | How to's | Web design | Tips | Tech

About Me

Powered by Blogger.

Blog Archive