If you’re like me, you’ve accumulated a lot of USB flash drives over the years, to the point where most of them are sitting unused and in storage.
But recently I’ve come to realize that an old flash drive sitting around in a drawer gathering dust is an opportunity missed. What’s changed? I discovered a bunch of fun and practical uses for them. Below are some of my favorite ideas.
If you’re looking to purchase USB flash drives you can also find them in our PCWorld article: Best external drives: Top picks in portable storage.
1. Create a portable gaming console
With a few simple steps you can turn a USB flash drive into a portable retro gaming console that you can carry around with you in your pocket and plug into any PC that you’re in front of. In our guide we paired our USB console with the 8BitDo Pro controller and a wireless mini keyboard and all up the project cost us under $100.
2. Use it to unlock your PC
You’ve probably heard of the product YubiKey, which acts as a secure login key for your computer, but if you don’t feel like spending big on one of those, you can create your own physical login key using an old USB flash drive. There are different programs you can use for this, but we completed the project with a program called USB Raptor using a 16GB USB flash drive from Amazon.
Further reading: I was a passkey sceptic. But now I’m a believer in the password-free future
3. Encrypt it and store sensitive data
If you’ve got images of sensitive documents like your birth certificate, driver’s license, or passport, it’s a good idea to encrypt that information. That can be done on an old USB flash drive. One tool commonly used to do this is TrueCrypt. Just download the app and follow the prompts to carry out your encryption. Be sure to remember your password, because without it you won’t be able to retrieve the data.
YubiKey
4. Create a PC survival kit
A USB flash drive is the perfect way to carry with you a bunch of helpful apps to help your PC run better. I’m talking about tools for Windows tuning and system maintenance, graphics, imaging, and office applications, hardware analysis, and programs for network and internet. We’ve written a comprehensive guide to doing this, so be sure to check it out if this sounds like your jam.
5. Run a portable web server
Yes a USB flash drive can also be used to run a web server. Running one on your USB drive instead of a hard drive can save you if your hard drive gets corrupted for any reason. There are a bunch of different applications that can do this for you. Check out Server2Go, which is one of the most common and is free.
6. Create a bootable USB of Windows 11
You’ll want one of these in case you need to install a fresh copy of the operating system on a new PC or a PC that needs a clean slate. Otherwise, it’s very useful to have one around to do repairs or troubleshoot issues if your main installation is corrupted.
7. Create a digital library
You could create a library of music tracks to play in your car or stereo. Or else, eBooks don’t take up a lot of space and even a USB flash drive with a modest 2GB capacity can store hundreds. There are a bunch of free sources for eBooks that you can make use of to create an extensive personal library in no time.
Pexels: Revac film
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