“FLASH DRIVE” INSTRUCTIONS

<Windows XP>

Note: A Flash Drive (a.k.a. "thumb drive") is a small device about the size of your thumb which saves data in "non-volatile" flash RAM. "Non-volatile" means the data is saved even when the power is turned off, i.e., when the Flash Drive is unplugged from the USB port, unlike regular RAM in your computer which loses the data it contains when the power is turned off.

Flash Drive:     

1) Insert the Flash Drive into any free USB port on your computer. Wait a few moments for the computer to find the Flash Drive.

2) Double-click on the My Documents  icon on the “desktop,” or wherever the files you want to back up are located.

Note: You may or may not be able to back up your entire My Documents folder or all of the files you want to back up to a Flash Drive, depending on the capacity of the Flash Drive. They are available in capacities ranging from about 32 Megabytes to 128 Gigabytes.

3) Click once on the Folders button at the top of the window. (This is a very important step!)

4) Click on the Plus sign [+] next to My Computer.

5) Click on the Plus sign [+] next to Local Disk (C : ).

6) Scroll back up to the My Documents folder and click on the Plus sign next to it or locate the folder where the document(s) you want to copy to the Flash Drive are located.

7) Find the file(s) you want to copy, and click & drag them to the icon for the Flash Drive on the left. The Flash Drive could be the E: Drive, the F: Drive, the G: Drive, etc., depending on how many other drives your computer has. (The icon for the Flash Drive may have the name of the manufacturer under it, such as Lexar, SanDisk, Kingston, Edge, Corsair, PNY, Sony, etc.)

8) Double-click on the E: Drive, or whichever drive the Flash Drive is, and then see if the file(s) you backed up are visible on the right hand-side of the window.

9) Unplug the Flash Drive and replace the cover on it, if it has a cover, or retract its connector, if it has a retractable one.

Note: Normally, you should not unplug the Flash Drive if the green, blue or red light on it is blinking or flashing. Wait for the blinking to stop. (Or wait a sufficiently long time so that you are absolutely sure that the data transfer is finished.)

10) If you want to record the file names and the date on the Flash Drive, write this information on a small Avery file folder label, then stick the label on the Flash Drive.