Category: Tutorials & How-To Guides
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Dirty USB Ports: A Small Problem That Causes Big Headaches
At first glance, this USB port looks normal. But a closer look reveals compacted dust, fibers, and residue sitting directly on the contact surface. This kind of contamination doesn’t usually cause immediate failure. Instead, it creates unstable electrical contact that leads to intermittent disconnects, unreliable charging, slower transfer speeds, and unexplained device behavior. Ports don’t…
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Build a NAS Out of Old USB Sticks – Hardware and Tech Will Say Nope!
What Starts as a “Free Storage System” Turns Into a Slow-Motion Disaster the Moment USB Flash Meets NAS-Level Workloads Everyone has that drawer. You know the one. A tech graveyard packed with five different charging cables from extinct phones, a random SIM tool that’s definitely not from your phone, and a fistful of old USB…
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Why Some ISO Files Work for USB Duplication — And Why Microsoft ISOs Don’t
Not All ISOs Are Equal: Why Windows Installer ISOs Break USB Duplication Most people assume an ISO file is universal. If a file ends in “.iso,” it must behave like every other ISO, right? In the USB duplication world, that assumption causes more confusion than anything else. Customers load a Microsoft Windows installer ISO into…
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Why There Is No Universal Bootable USB Flash Drive
Understanding why a truly universal bootable USB flash drive cannot exist, even though millions of people keep searching for one. People search for a universal bootable USB flash drive because the idea sounds so simple: one USB stick you plug into any computer, and everything just starts. Windows, Mac, Linux, old laptops, new desktops —…
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What Is a Security Dongle?
A security dongle is a small USB key that protects licensed software by proving ownership through hardware, not just a password. A security dongle, sometimes called a license dongle or hardware key, is a small device—usually USB—that unlocks or enables specific software when connected to a computer. It’s a physical token of trust. Inside the…
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USB Local Disk in 2025: The Reliable Way to Make a Flash Drive Appear as a Hard Drive
USB “Local Disk” in 2025: the XP-era hack had its moment—here’s the cleaner way (plus a product we found) If you landed here from our old tutorial about making a USB stick look like a hard drive, you’re reading a time capsule. That guide leaned on an XP-friendly INF/registry trick (tweaking the removable bit with…
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The USB Ghost That Wouldn’t Die — and How to Exorcise It (Windows 10)
How To: Fix the issue of Windows sticking the same USB Flash Drive name to any USB connected Ever plug in a flash drive and watch an old name crawl back from the grave? You format it, rename it, swear at it… and Windows still insists the drive is called something from a previous flash…
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Forget Hubs — This Board Packs 25 USB Ports
ASRock’s X870 LiveMixer WiFi puts USB connectivity first with twenty-five total ports for creators, gamers, and power users. Most boards today give you a few decent USB connections and expect you to figure out the rest with hubs and adapters. That’s fine for casual setups, but chances are if you’re running external drives, cameras, audio…
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I can’t Format FAT32. Where did FAT32 go? Where did it start and end?
Has anyone noticed FAT32 format option is gone in Windows? Microsoft has not issued an official statement explaining why the FAT32 formatting option is unavailable for storage devices 32GB and larger but we’ve done some digging and came up with a possible answer. On both Windows 10 and Windows 11, users are typically presented with…
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Why My USB-C Isn’t Working – Microsoft Is Cleaning Things Up
Microsoft is trying to ending USB Type-C port confusion by addresses the user issues they face with USB-C ports on Windows 11 devices. Even though USB-C is ‘supposed to be’ universal the ports themselves do not offer the same functionalities – leading users to confusion and frustration. To combat this, Microsoft has implemented new standards…
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Pros and Cons of the Raspberry Pi USB 3 Hub
It is common to hear Raspberry Pi owners want more USB ports. GetUSB.info just read about them introducing an official 4 port USB hub. Sweet. To note, most Raspberry Pi single-board computers, except for the Raspberry Pi Zero and A+ models, include a built-in USB hub that splits one USB connection into several USB Type-A…
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Encrypt a USB Flash Drive, Windows 10, Free Feature!
Encrypting a USB flash drive is quick and easy in Windows 10. The PRO version of Windows 10 will allow anyone to activate Microsoft’s built in bitlocker technology to encrypt an entire flash drive, or part of a USB flash drive. Microsoft BitLocker is a disk encryption technology designed to enhance data security by encrypting…