Mac users now have a software they can use to test flash memory capacity

F3 by Michel Machado is an open source Linux software to test flash memory capacity that now runs on Mac computers!. H2testw does not run on Macs (Apple) computers as it is Windows based.

Direct Download Of Software For version 1.4 of H2testw – Gold Standard In Detecting USB Counterfeit Drives

Make your USB flash drive bootable on Windows 7 / 8

Replace ‘#’ with the disk number of your USB flash drive as appeared in “list disk” below

diskpart
list disk
select disk #
clean
create partition primary
select partition 1
active
format quick fs=fat32
assign
exit

 

Note: “format fs=fat32” (if you choose to use ntfs, you’ll later have to run the “Bootsect.exe /nt60 K:” command to put boot manager compatible files onto your USB flash drive to make it a bootable device).

HP USB Key Creator Utility Version 1.7.0.0

Please find the link to download the HP USB Key Creator Utility Version 1.7.0.0

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Cheap Sandisk 8GB thumbdrive @ GIANT (offer ends 18 Dec)

Safely Removed USB Device but LED remains illuminated

If you have a USB device connected to a computer running Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, or Windows Server 2008 R2, and you then Disable the device in Device Manager, or Safely Remove the device using the system tray icon, you may observe one of the following symptoms:

•The USB device shows continued indications of activity (such as an LED that remains illuminated).
•The USB device continues to receive USB packets and continues to consume power corresponding to an active device state.
•Physically disconnecting the Disabled or Safely Removed USB device may, in some cases, cause an error in an active transfer to a different USB device.

These symptoms are not observed on a computer running Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 under similar conditions.

Move data over USB and The computer stops responding

KB976972

Consider the following scenario:
a. You have a computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2.
b. The computer has an NVIDIA USB Enhanced Host Controller Interface (EHCI) chipset.
c. The computer has at least 4GB of RAM.
d. You try to copy data from the computer to an external USB storage device.

In this scenario, either of the following issues occurs:
1. The computer stops responding.
2. The copy operation stops.

Secure Digital (SD) card Speeds

Speeds
There are different speed grades available, measured the same as CD-ROMs, in multiples of 150 kB/s (1x = 150 kB/s). Basic cards transfer data up to six times (6x) the data rate of the standard CD-ROM speed (900 kB/s vs. 150 kB/s). High-speed cards are made with higher data transfer rates like 66x (10 MB/s), and high-end cards have speeds of 200x or higher.

SanDisk classifies their cards as:
* Ultra II—minimum read speed of 15 MB/s (100x)
* Extreme III—maximum speed of 30 MB/s (200x)
* Extreme IV—up to 45 MB/s (300x)

Note that maximum read speed and maximum write speed may be different. Maximum write speed typically is lower than maximum read speed. Some digital cameras require high-speed cards (write speed) to record video smoothly or capture multiple still photographs in rapid succession. This requires a certain sustained speed, or the video stops recording. For recording, a high maximum speed with a low sustained speed is no better than a low speed card. The 2.0 specification defines speeds up to 200x.

Capacity  Standard SD: 1 MB to 2 GB

SDXC (2009) – 64GB to 2TB
SDHC (2006) – 4GB -32 GB
SD (1999) – up to 2GB

SDXC cards are formatted in the exFAT file system, which allows for files of virtually unlimited size. (SDHC, which uses FAT32, can only record files up to 4 GB.)

Rating	Speed (MB/s)	SD Class
6x	0.9	n/a
10x	1.5	n/a
13x	2.0	2
26x	4.0	4
32x	4.8	4
40x	6.0	6
66x	10.0	6
100x	15.0	6
133x	20.0	6
150x	22.5	6
200x	30.0	6
266x	40.0	6
300x	45.0	6

Wikipedia

Fastest USB v2.0 Thumb/Flash Drive Read Speed (Mbs)

Corsair Flash Voyager GT 34Mbs
Memina Rocket  30Mbs 
Lexar JumpDrive Lightning 30Mbs
OCZ Rally 2 28Mbs
Kingston Data Traveler Secure 24Mbs
SanDisk Cruzer Titanium 15Mbs

You may use this tool (USB Flash Drive Tester) to test the speed

List of portable software to put on USB Drives

Link

PortableApps.com Suite is a collection of portable apps including a web browser, email client, office suite, calendar/scheduler, instant messaging client, antivirus, sudoku game, backup utility and integrated menu, all preconfigured to work portably. Just drop it on your portable device and you’re ready to go.