One Touch USB Backup By Corsair
Corsair put an interesting twist on backup technology. They have devised a one touch USB flash drive backup adapter. The adapter has a female USB port sitting on the top of the device. This is where you can plug in any flash drive. The adapter then connects to your PC via miniUSB cable.
“Our research indicated that over 80% of users have a My Documents folder of less than 64GB, and more than 85% need to regularly transport less than 64GB of data between different PCs. This shows that USB flash drives are an efficient method of backing up your data, and with high-capacity USB flash drives, there is still plenty of room for your favorite music, photos and even movies,” said Jim Carlton, Corsair’s vice president of marketing.This is also an excellent marketing tool to encourage users to break away from their 2 year old 1GB drives and saddle up for a larger 16GB, 32GB or 64GB flash drive. I for one, am a lazy backer-upper and a device like this might encourage me to be more vigilante about data backups. The Corsair USB backup adapter has an MSRP of $35. Corsair product page. Continue Reading No Comments
Colorful USB Hub
Install Windows 7 From Custom USB Flash Drive
With the backlash and failure of Vista, Windows is quickly moving to Windows 7. This OS is focused on correcting all the Vista short comings, while providing a faster operating system and speedy USB enumeration. However, upgrading or installing Windows 7 from a DVD takes a long time. You can speed up the process by putting the Windows 7 ISO file on a USB stick and install from there.
USB Hack: Run USB Cable Through Phone Line
TinkerNut ran a great video on how to turn a typical phone line into an extended USB cable. Excellent DIY project for a security camera at the front door. Home brew a video baby monitor system or just extended some USB devices past the range of that 15 foot $30 USB cable you got at BestBuy. Source: YouTube. Continue Reading No CommentsCustom Flash Drive With Post-It Note Dispenser
This should really be a post about a DIY project. This custom flash drive stores your data and gives you a post-it note dispenser to write down what’s on the drive. You can buy the official version for about $30 overseas [here] or you could spend a few hours this weekend and create your own. What you need: Flash drive, wood, post-it note pad.
USB Tutorial: Home Brew USB Popcorn Maker
Here is a guy with a bit too much time on his hands and clearly in the need for a healthy meal. Check out this USB tutorial on making a USB popcorn maker: Source: YouTube. Continue Reading No CommentsUSB Hack: Turn a USB Stick Into a Hard Drive or Local Disk
USB Tutorial: Turn a USB stick into a Hard Drive or Local Disk
NOTE: The original article can be found at the bottom of this page — jump there now.
UPDATE (2025): USB “Local Disk” without the XP-era driver hack
The old method on this page uses an XP-friendly INF/registry trick to flip the removable bit. It was clever, but on modern Windows 10/11 it’s brittle (driver signing, updates) and many tools/policies now check the device’s hardware class, not a label you force with a file edit.
What changed
- Windows storage stack + signing tightened; spoofed drivers are fragile after updates.
- Backup/imaging/installers increasingly verify true fixed disk at the controller level.
- Enterprise policies often block anything enumerating as “removable,” regardless of UI text.
What works now
Use hardware that natively enumerates as a fixed disk. The device tells Windows “I’m a hard drive,” so Disk Management, BitLocker, and picky installers behave accordingly—no per-PC driver editing.
Product we tested
Nexcopy USB HDD Fixed Disk appears as a Local Disk on any host (controller/firmware set). No utilities, no INF edits, just plug in. It’s suited for tools that require “Local Disk,” imaging, BitLocker, or multi-partition workflows.
Quick self-check
- Just need multiple partitions? Windows can create multiple partitions on many USB sticks. They won’t enumerate as “fixed,” but the partitions work—standard USB is fine.
- Need true “Local Disk” behavior? Choose fixed-disk hardware (e.g., Nexcopy) for installers that refuse “removable,” full-disk imaging, BitLocker parity, or corporate environments that block removable-class media.
Bottom line
The legacy hack is useful history, but for real-world deployments start with hardware that already identifies as a hard drive. For a full, modern walkthrough, see our new article covering 2025-ready options and workflows.
Original Article Starts Here
This is a very valuable tutorial, especially if you are looking to partition a USB stick. Another application for turning a removable drive into a local disk, is that now many software programs can be loaded directly to a USB drive. The first program which comes to mind is iTunes. I know you need My Documents and a Local Disk to install it, so after this tutorial, I’ll try installing iTunes and share the results.
The process of turning a USB stick into a hard drive is fairly easy. However, there are limitations. For example, this works best with Windows XP operating systems. You also need to update the drivers for the device for any computer you are going to use. Typically, this isn’t a big deal as you can easily do this for your work and home computers. However, this isn’t a great solution if you are trying to create a partitions USB stick for distribution to many possible users [say trade show give-away].
Couple of items you’ll need:
- USB_LocalDisk.zip files [download here]
- Windows XP
- USB stick
What we will do, is connected the USB stick, find the driver code, update the driver code and re-connect the device. Simple.
Here are the details:
USB Drive Is Double Take of DDR RAM Memory
USB sticks come in many different sizes, shapes and colors, but today is the first time we’ve seen a custom USB drive with the look and feel of RAM memory. The Segon Turbo drive is another release from Brando on unique USB shapes. Brando claims it’s ingenious and exquisite, which I think is a bit too much on credit, but definitely a different look. Too bad you can’t use the PCI looking slot to boost your real RAM needs.
- Security Manager
- Boot Manager
- Flash Mail Manager
- PC Lock Manager
- Bookmark Manager
- Security Folder
USB Cable Runs Your Back Up Software
Backing up your data is probably the #1 item most computer users neglect, ignore or simply don’t pay attention to. Most times it’s because the software is too difficult or you don’t have the right storage device to back up your data [sat DVD, DLT tape etc]. Well, this article should change your mind.
Best USB Joke – USB Keystroker Will Drive Anyone Crazy
Who’s up for a little bit of fun. Who’s up for driving your co-worker totally crazy. We are. Here is a great USB joke device that when connected to your PC will randomly lock your CAPS button, make keystrokes or jiggle your mouse around on the screen.
Avoid Sleep Mode With USB Shake Stick
There are a large number of computer users out there which need to eliminate the function of their computer going into sleep mode. I was talking to a friend of mine last night who had this exact problem.
The problem was at the corporate level the IT guys started a function that once your computer went idle for 30 minutes the screen saver would pop up requiring a password login. The reason behind such a decision was unclear, but it’s probably related to measuring productivity.
Well, as any good employee would do, you search Google for a work around. Today we found one. The USB shake stick, which doesn’t actually shake, but is a device that keeps your mouse moving in the screen so that sleep mode never turns on.
You can avoid sleep mode through this USB stick by simply connecting it to your computer and setting up the preferences [shake speed of mouse icon].
Although the above example is a great way to circumvent a corporate policy, there are a couple legitimate reasons. For example,
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