Administator for GetUSB.info
GetUSB.info started in 2004 with the concept of providing USB information for everything USB related. At the time, USB was gaining momentum and every day new products, articles and news became published. Today, the site is focused on bringing technical information, tricks and hacks to USB related products. The site does publish off topic information as well, to keep the variety up. Please visit the footer area of any page if you or your company is interested in article or product placement via purchased advertising.
For most, the middle of November is when you start thinking about Christmas and the holiday season. With that in mind, if you have an office gift exchange, this USB vacuum could make your short list, if you draw the office IT person as your secret Santa.
What tipped my memory about seeing this USB vacuum several years ago, is a commercial during Sunday night football. Yup, someone actually worked this USB gadget into a prime time commercial. First image is from the commercial, second image is the link to get the USB vacuum from Amazon (or equivalent).
Before you get your hopes up the USB vacuum actually works, it doesn’t. The thing will make a vacuum noise, but doesn’t suck anything up.
USB-C is a great technology, offering ultra-fast data transfer rates close to 10Gbps and increased power delivery for charging laptops, monitors, and TVs. However, the power advantage of USB-C diminishes over longer cable lengths. According to the USB-C (USB 3) specification, optimal power and transfer rates are maintained only when the cable length is under two meters (about six feet).
Power over Ethernet (PoE) is a proven way to deliver both data and power over long distances via cable. PoE Texas has introduced a product that extends USB-C connections using this technology.
“As a standard, USB-C offers amazing speed and power delivery. Unfortunately, USB-C can only transmit power less than ten feet (three meters), and the cable infrastructure comes at a cost premium. Ethernet cable, nearly ubiquitous in modern construction, can transmit power and data up to 328 feet (100 meters). USB-C power and data transmitted over Power over Ethernet significantly lowers the cost of adopting USB-C by eliminating the need for new electrical infrastructure.”
Extending USB-C Connections with Power over Ethernet
Real-World Example of PoE USB-C in Use
A user has a workstation located about 30 feet away from the production unit it needs to communicate with. The production unit is a USB-C duplicator by Nexcopy. The workstation manager controls the data to be loaded onto USB-C flash drives, while the production manager physically connects and disconnects the USB sticks during the duplication process.
Because a standard USB-C cable cannot cover the required distance, the user can employ the USB-C Power over Ethernet solution to deliver both power and data effectively to the remote device.
Conference Room Setup: A USB-C monitor is mounted 40 feet away from the docking station. Using PoE to USB-C allows both video data and charging power to reach the display over a single Ethernet cable.
Security Camera Installation: A USB-C powered 4K security camera is installed 80 feet from the control room, receiving both power and data via PoE without additional electrical wiring.
Point-of-Sale Terminal: Retail stores can power USB-C tablets located 50–75 feet from the main server rack using PoE, avoiding the need for extra outlets and USB hubs.
Industrial Automation: A USB-C duplicator or machine placed 60 feet from the workstation uses PoE adapters to maintain stable power and high-speed data transfer without costly long USB cables.
We really don’t like reporting about cables. It’s boring. But this post is going into publication for two reasons: 1) The model used to show off the product is a complimentary image {wink} and 2) It’s actually a unique feature combination for a USB cable.
Hyper has a new USB-C to Lightning cable that makes it convenient to keep the cable near by and doubles as a cleaver key-chain holder. The new HyperDrive Cable series includes Key-chain, Lanyard, and Tough. All of the cables are MFi certified (Made For iPhone/iPad devices) and make use of bulletproof ballistic nylon for high durability and longevity.
The cable length is 3.3 feet, or 1 meter.
Made of TOUGH 2m material by Hyper. This is material that can withstand 70kg of tension before something bad happens.
The key-chain has made of aluminum and screws into the capsule like casing which also doubles as the housing for the ends of the USB-C and Lightening connections.
They Hyper cable starts out at $27.99 USD at the time of this post.
I came across an interesting article today from Dr Gough, a tech nerd. and thought it good enough to summarize here:
The USB specifications for power from a port vary from 100mA to 1.5A and up to 100W of power for USB Type C, but the cables and connectors used in a cable might not align with the power specifications of the product being designed and used. Cables are typically rated for about 1.8A of current, which is most common for cables used for charging.
The 1.8A rating is based on safety limits for resistive heating of the cable and connectors. The rating is no guarantee your +5V at 1.5A setup will get you the maximum level of power. The important point here, the cable and connector combination is simply a rating to deal with heat, and ensures nothing melts. Going a step further, most specs ensure nothing gets noticeably warm to the human touch.
Every wire that’s not a superconductor has some finite resistance. Said another way, resistance is transferred into heat. Ohm’s law tells says that E = IR, where E is voltage, I is current, and R is resistance. So when you put power through a wire, the current X resistance gives me the voltage that will be “consumed” across that wire, power that turns into heat, and thus, never makes it to your phone.
I want to end this blog post with the above paragraph as that is the real takeaway here. The more inefficient (or cheap) a cable is, the warmer it will get. So if your iPhone cable is warm to the touch, it sucks. If your wire charging your power bank is warm, it sucks. Get a better cable. From what I can tell, there is no rating posted on all these cables you see on Amazon at cheap prices, so word to the wise using your tactile feel!
Last year, Google released the Titan security key. It can be used as ultra secure methods for two-factor authentication for some online services over USB-A, NFC, or Bluetooth. Today, Google announced an updated USB-C key to the lineup, which will be available tomorrow from the Google Store for $40.
The new USB-C key appears to have similar functionality to their previous model, all of which are built to the FIDO standard. The USB-C model lacks the NFC capabilities that its other two keys have, but this shouldn’t matter as the USB-C design is meant for you to plug it directly into your portable device, such as phone or ultra-thin laptop. That said, NFC is a bit moot.
Google’s new USB-C key is compatible with Android, Chrome OS, macOS, and Windows devices (Only the Bluetooth key works with iOS, and it requires the installation of Google’s Smart Lock app.) Like its previous keys, Google says the USB-C key’s firmware is permanently sealed into a secure element hardware chip, making the key more resistant to physical attacks.
Google partnered with security key-maker Yubico to manufacture its new USB-C key. Google’s key looks a lot like Yubico’s YubiKey 5C. Both keys are pretty similar, but Yubico’s keys support a few more protocols than Google’s Titan keys do, such as WebAuthn, so they might be the better option for some, depending on what you need.
Google’s other two Titan security keys were previously only available as a $50 bundle, but Google says you’ll be able to buy them individually starting tomorrow. The USB-A / NFC key will cost $25, while the Bluetooth key,
Let’s face it, optical discs are large and bulky. At nearly five inches in diameter, they feel oversized compared to modern laptops and tablets. Even though optical drives have been reduced in size over the years, many laptop manufacturers have eliminated them entirely to save space and power.
Beyond the size factor, space once used for an optical drive could be better allocated. It could house a larger battery for extended runtime, a faster solid-state drive for improved performance, or a more powerful graphics solution for design work or gaming.
When CD-R drives first entered the market, they offered massive storage compared to traditional magnetic media of the time. With 650 MB of capacity, they outperformed most hard drives of that era. DVDs expanded this further, offering 4.7 GB on recordable discs.
While optical media grew steadily, it never matched the exponential growth of hard drives and USB flash drives. Optical storage remains limited to gigabytes, while modern hard drives now store terabytes of data. Using CDs, DVDs, or Blu-ray discs for storage has become impractical—the write speed is slow, and retrieval times are equally sluggish. Hard drives and portable USB flash drives have become the dominant solution.
USB Duplicators: The Modern Replacement for Optical Disc Copiers
Given these points, it’s easy to see why optical media is fading out. CD-R and DVD-R may survive for a few more years, but USB drives and hard disks have already taken over. The next logical question is: how do you efficiently load data onto USB drives? In the optical era, you had CD/DVD tower duplicators, often with robotics and printers for disc labeling. These systems are now rare.
The solution today is USB duplicators. These are high-speed flash memory copier systems designed to load content onto USB drives quickly and efficiently. Similar to how optical duplicators had different burning methods, USB duplicators support multiple copy modes—file copy, binary copy, and duplication from ISO or IMG files.
It’s important to choose a USB duplicator that supports all these functions. Some models offer up to six copy modes, making them highly versatile. Options may include file copy, copy add, unique data streaming, copy from a physical device, and image-based duplication from IMG or ISO files. This flexibility ensures compatibility regardless of how the source content is provided.
Will “USB juice jacking” trend on Twitter anytime soon? Probably not. Should you be paranoid about USB juice jacking? Probably not.
What is USB juice jacking anyway?
The idea is someone, a hacker, trying to steal your data while you are charging up, or “getting juice” from a public USB port.
Yes, it can technically happen, so don’t be fooled. But could it actually happen? Probably not, so don’t sound like a fool.
Getting down to brass tacks of how this could happen, what would a hacker need to pull it off?
First, they’d need to make a connection, either WiFi or Bluetooth. This connection would transmit your valuable data to the hacker. To do that, the hacker needs some sort of device that holds that communication chip. That chip would need to sit behind the USB port in the string of communication. This “device” would also need power.
Given the above, a quick observation of the USB port you are planning to use, will tell you everything you need to know. So basically if you see a big block with a USB port, don’t plug in your device. If it’s a wall mounted USB port, chances are ultra-slim there is a technology behind the placard stealing your data.
So take airport chairs and charging stations for example; as this is the most comment place a website gives for the “scare.” You are not going to get hacked using those ports. First off, airports are high security areas and those charging stations are monitored. Second, the security cameras will pick up on someone trying to tamper with a charging station or USB port on the chair. Third, the people in the terminal need a boarding pass to get to those spots, so their identity is already known if anything suspicious does turn up.
You’ve connected a USB flash drive, heard the familiar Windows sound of connection, yet no drive letter shows up. You then go into Disk Management for Windows and see the device and memory, but the USB flash drive doesn’t get assigned a drive letter.
What should you do?
Most of the time, Windows will automatically assign a drive letter to any connected storage device—whether it’s a USB stick, USB hard drive, or other mass storage device.
However, if a drive letter isn’t assigned, there’s a quick fix to get your computer working properly again:
Open Command Prompt as Administrator (search for CMD, then right-click and select “Run as Administrator”).
Type diskpart and press Enter.
Once in DISKPART, type automount enable and press Enter.
If the above steps don’t solve the problem, there could be conflicting registry entries from past USB devices that disabled or interfered with the automount function.
Nexcopy offers a registry cleaning tool specifically designed for USB devices connected to your computer. This utility is an executable file that requires no installation and contains no spyware or malware. Nexcopy is a reputable company that provides direct support via phone, email, or live chat, so you can trust their software is safe and reliable.
We’ve seen these terms floating around in forums and How To’s for years when someone is explaining what to do with USB flash drives. I think most people glaze over the definitions of Clean, Erase and Format simply because they believe the terms are interchangeable, or they aren’t planning on doing the task mentioned in the post.
I hope the following information will clear up some terms and definitions so we can all better understand what people are talking about when passing along information about flash drives and the Clean, Erase and Format function.
All of these functions can be performed in your Windows 10 computer, or higher. I will start with the least complicated definition and task, and move along from there.
Format
This function is what 98% of Windows computer operators will use. This is the graphical interface inside Windows when you right click a drive letter and ask the operating system to format the drive. What is this function really doing?
Format is the least complicated of the tasks, and this function is removing the File Allocation Table of the USB and creating a new one. Said a simpler way… this function takes away the list of files sitting on the drive so it then appears blank with no data.
It’s important to note, the files are still on the drive, just not listed in an easy, organized manor which you can see through windows explorer (clicking on the drive letter to see the list of files).
Maybe a picture will help. Looking at the image below you can see the “data” is light grey. Meaning the data is still there, just not easily accessible. This data is what recovery software will look for, find, and list back on your drive. Also notice the boot code of the USB (if you want to load an operating system on your USB stick) isn’t touched either.
You might have questions if a USB flash drive should be formatted as FAT, FAT32, exFAT or NTFS and we did a great post about that a bit earlier as well.
Clean
The Clean function is a bit more in-depth than the format function. This function applies directly to the Master Boot Record (MBR) or boot code mentioned just above.
The Clean function will clear out boot code and will remove any partition on the flash drive. The partition of a flash drive is the information which tells a host computer how big the drive is, and if the partition should be bootable in the event you are trying to start the computer from a flash drive.
The Clean function is not accessible through the GUI of Windows, for example you cannot right click on a drive letter and find the Clean function. The Clean function is only accessible through the Windows utility called DiskPart.
The link below is for a ZIP file that contains two batch files to either enable or how to disable USB write protection on a Windows 10 computer. These batch files also work on Windows 7 machines.
This solution is ultra-easy and very quick: one click to run the registry edit file and one click to confirm the task. That’s it.
Typically, a person will want to lock down the USB ports of a computer to ensure a virus doesn’t spread through a USB device, such as a flash drive. This batch file provides a fast and simple way to both lock down your USB ports and easily unlock them again.
Important: Do not have a USB flash drive connected to the system when you run either batch file.
For those seeking more technical details, here is the specific registry edit being applied. Changing the DWORD value to 00000001 sets the device policy for the computer to be write-protected. Changing that value back to 00000000 restores normal read/write access.
Note: This USB write protection method is specific to the PC on which it is applied. It is not device-specific and will not follow the USB drive to other machines.
If you require USB write protection that is permanent on the device itself and universal across all computers, contact
Nexcopy.com and ask about their
Lock License USB drives.
This hardware-level solution is embedded in the USB controller, ensuring the drive is always write-protected, preventing any possibility of a virus being written to the USB stick. This is the best universal solution for USB write protection.
Screenshots of the Batch File Process
Batch files included in the ZIP:
Windows confirmation prompt after running the batch file:
USB 3.2, the most recent, shipping, standard sees a maximum transfer speed of 40Gb per second. USB4 will double that. Said another way, 80Gbps is equal to moving 10,000MB in one second. Said another way, that’s about 10GBs in one second.
Keep in mind, this is all theoretical, maxium speed. Real world applications will not get to this point. Never has, never will.
USB4 is built on Intel’s Thunderbolt technology. You know, the technology Apple tried to force everone to use back in 2012. The big change for USB is the interface. The Thunderbolt licensing setup is expensive and thus, we never saw low priced accessories to accommodate the technology. This is why Intel was always so interested in getting Thunderbolt to be the backbone for USB. It would gain in both speed and reduced price.
USB4 is also backwards compatible with USB 3.2, USB 2.0 and Thunderbolt 3. Since the new standard merges both USB-C and Thunderbolt, we should start to see decreasing accessory price points that utilize faster speeds as USB4 gains popularity.
USB4 device manufacturers must also include USB Power Delivery technology, which regulates device charging. PD can quickly charge your phone or gaming laptop, sending the optimal amount of wattage for each device to charge quickly without damage.
Expect to see the first USB4 products hit the market as early as mid-2020.
With USB gadgets like this, it’s hare to imagine companies like ADT stay in business for residential customers. This working USB charger includes a miniature camera which acts like a surveillance camera. You can plug any USB gadget into it for charging, all the while record or stream video for what is going on within it’s view.
Use your Android or iPhone you may stream directly to your connected app or stream to a group of people you’ve authorized within the app. The spy camera records 1080p HD footage and will also record that video to the 32GB microSD card (included). Bonus: You can set the surveillance camera to record only when it detects motion.
The camera view is anything directly in front of the plug, so no ability to turn the camera itself, but that is a simple enough problem to solve, just use an outlet that is in-line with the viewing area you want to record.
Here are some noteworthy bullet points about what you will get for the low price of $29USD:
Motion Detection – Can be set to initiate recording only when motion is detected and then send a notification directly to your phone.
Loop Recording – Can be set to automatically record over old footage, allowing for uninterrupted video recording.
Night Mode – Can be set for recording in dim and low light environments.
Multi-Use – Allows for multiple users to connect to the same device (Supports up to 8 users)
Multi-View – Allows for multiple cameras to be connected to the same APP / Software. (Supports up to 8 cameras)
