4 lesser-known things I do with old USB drives

I have a lot of old USB drives lying around. The cheap storage solution is most famous for being an easy way to store Word docs and PDFs, but they can do so much more.

Did you know that with a USB drive you can create an encrypted locker for all of your passwords? If you have an old USB drive lying around, you can easily upcycle it and get more use out of it. Here are the four ways that I like to upcycle my old USB drives.

1

Experiment with a portable OS

Learn a new OS such as Linux with a USB drive and patience

Linux Mint

Installing a bootable OS on a USB drive is a breeze. All you’ll need to do is download whichever ISO files from whichever OS you desire, and then use a third-party tool (I prefer Rufus) to create a bootable drive. If you’re using a Windows-based computer, you’ll need to access your computer’s UEFI/BIOS, which can be done by pressing the designated key (typically your F1 key, but check your manufacturer first) at startup. Once you’re in the BIOS, look for a tab called boot order, and select the USB drive.

The process is actually a bit simpler on macOS, as you won’t need to download Rufus or any third-party programs, and can do the entire process, including booting from the USB drive with the built-in macOS Disk Utility feature. You’ll still need to download the OS ISO files to your USB flash drive, and then plug the drive in and access the Disk Utility application.

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2

Play your favorite games

You can also store and run games directly on a USB drive

Nintendo

In addition to storing and running an OS from a USB drive, you can do the same thing with your favorite games. It’s an easy way to travel with your favorite games, and it allows you to run games on a computer without having to install games on multiple computers.

You can also easily move games from Steam to your USB drive and play them directly from there. However, you’ll need a USB drive that is both fast and has a lot of space. I recommend using any drive that is certified USB 3.0 or higher for speed and to make sure you have enough space for your games.

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3

Automate file backups

Don’t lose critical files

Google / Pocket-lint

There are more ways than ever to back up important files and folders that you can’t afford to lose. However, one of the simplest ways to back up what’s most important to you, is by using a USB drive as a backup location. One of the primary benefits of using a USB drive to back up files, is that you can then access your most important files from anywhere, thanks to the compact portability of USB drives.

The easiest way to do this is to use a third-party backup program. I personally have been using Arconis True Image to do this, but be aware that Arconis is not free and will run you $50/year.

On both Windows and macOS, you can always manually backup files via drag and drop from the file tree, but if you want the ability to quickly and automatically backup files to a USB drive, you’ll want a third-party program.

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Create a portable media library with thousands of songs

While there are a lot of high-tech ways to create a personal media library — such as creating a NAS or Plex server — one of the simplest ways to create a portable media library is with a simple USB drive. Now that there are USB drives on the market that are capable of up to 1TB or storage that you can use for a wide range of movies, music, and e-books to take them anywhere with you.

It’s a great way to be able to access your media from multiple computers, and it makes traveling with your favorite media easy. You don’t have to worry about carrying extra drives in your bag or worry about whether you’ll have internet access, as everything you want to bring can be stored locally on the USB drive.