In a move that exemplifies innovation at the intersection of technology and design, CORSAIR®, renowned for its cutting-edge gaming peripherals and PC components, has introduced a groundbreaking solution for gamers, content creators, and professionals alike. The CORSAIR Platform:6, a modular desk engineered to redefine the workspace experience, has arrived on the scene, raising the bar for ergonomic excellence and customizable convenience.

Guided by decades of expertise in crafting high-performance desktop gear, CORSAIR, alongside its subsidiary Elgato, has harnessed an acute understanding of user needs to give birth to the Platform:6. This multifaceted masterpiece not only caters to the evolving demands of gamers and professionals but embodies the very essence of a dynamic and adaptable workspace. Seamlessly integrating premium materials, an unparalleled spectrum of customization options, and an array of intelligent features—ranging from adjustable height mechanisms to meticulous cable management—the Platform:6 sets an all-new standard for the ultimate, feature-rich computer desk.

Embracing the full spectrum of modern lifestyles, from avid gamers to home-based remote workers seeking an optimized workspace, the Platform:6 is a colossal six-foot expanse that can be expanded even further to accommodate high-end gaming rigs, complete streaming setups, and a profusion of accessories. The uniqueness of the Platform:6 lies in its multitude of configurations, each offering a diverse selection of features, including motorized height adjustments, a choice of surface materials, and an expandable rail system. The process of curating one’s ideal Platform:6 is seamlessly facilitated through CORSAIR’s user-friendly online configurator, which caters to both individual needs and spatial requirements. Alternatively, users can explore carefully curated bundles that promise unmatched value.

A testament to foresight and adaptability, the Platform:6 is crafted with the future in mind, mirroring the evolution of its user’s needs. A modular rail system forms the core of the Platform:6’s design, boasting a universal aluminum T-channel crossbar, side rails, and top-mounted rail. This ingenious arrangement renders the Platform:6 compatible with an extensive range of aftermarket attachments and accessories, inviting users to personalize their workspace with unprecedented creativity. Furthermore, CORSAIR celebrates user ingenuity by facilitating the incorporation of self-designed 3D printed accessories, resulting in an experience that’s truly one-of-a-kind.

For those who prioritize ergonomic convenience, the Platform:6 offers a variant equipped with dual electric motors that silently and swiftly adjust the desk’s height. This dynamic feature, controlled via an LCD readout controller, accommodates preferred positions with memory presets for a truly tailored experience. The desk’s surface can be chosen in either a classic dark walnut-stained, environmentally friendly rubberwood or a robust black laminate, adding an element of aesthetic choice to the mix.

No detail is left unattended in the Platform:6’s pursuit of an elevated workspace experience. Supplied dual monitor arms facilitate effortless dual-monitor setup, while an expansive CORSAIR RapidRoute wire management tray conceals cables and even power strips. Furthermore, an in-desk storage cubby, complete with USB Type-A and Type-C charging ports, harmonizes wire management and small item storage. The result is a space that not only accommodates the complexity of high-powered setups but does so while maintaining a clutter-free aesthetic.

The pivotal driving force behind the Platform:6’s conception is expandability—a quality that manifests through a plethora of add-ons that empower users to fashion their perfect desk. Should the expansive six-foot width fall short, side extensions can be effortlessly attached, offering an additional 30cm x 70cm of space, complemented by optional hanging pegboards. The Elgato Multi Frame, an exclusive top-mounted pegboard designed for the Platform:6, introduces even more mounting opportunities, enabling the organization of gear and accessories. Adapters tailored for Elgato Multi-Mount and Flex Arm products seamlessly integrate Key Lights, cameras, or microphones into the rail system.

At the forefront of this innovation stands the Platform:6 Creator Edition, the flagship variant of the desk, complete with adjustable height functionality and a rubberwood surface. As the Platform:6 gears up for its official launch, users can anticipate the exhilarating prospect of designing and purchasing customized configurations through the online configurator. The unveiling of the Platform:6 promises a new era of workspace refinement, an experience that blends cutting-edge features with an innate understanding of ergonomic principles. As we count down to its official launch later this year, the Platform:6 beckons us to witness how it elevates the workspace to an echelon of distinction.

Friday, June 3, 2022 Kingston Technology Company LLC was held accountable for willfully infringing on US Patent No 6,926,544 held by Pavo Solutions LLC.

The patent abstract:

A flash memory apparatus with a single body type rotary cover, where the cover is not completely separated from the main body to prevent cover loss. The flash memory apparatus consists of the following components: a flash memory main body with a rectangular shaped case in which a memory element is mounted. A USB terminal piece is electrically connected to the memory element and installed at a front end of the case to protrude therefrom, as well as a hinge protuberance formed on at least one side of the case. A cover is provided that is defined by a pair of parallel plate members facing each other with an interval corresponding to the thickness of the case. The cover has an open front and a closed back. The cover’s lateral ends are both open. The parallel plate members are joined to the hinge protuberance by a pair of hinge holes, allowing the cover to rotate with respect to the flash memory main body, allowing the USB terminal piece to be received in an inner space of the cover or rotated for exposure to the outside of the cover.

We are not a legal website so for more detail on the proceedings, please visit IP Watch Dog.

Do I have to eject my USB flash drive?

The short answer: No.

The technical answer: Yes.

If the technical answer is yes, the why do I have to Eject my USB Flash Drive?

The difference boils down to the type of file system being used. If the USB is FAT, FAT32 or exFAT you do NOT need to eject the USB flash drive before pulling it out of a computer.

If the USB drive is NTFS, then yes, eject the flash drive before pulling it out of the computer.

So why eject when the USB flash drive is formatted as NTFS?

The NTFS (New Technology File System) is a journaling file system system.

A journaling file system is one that keeps track of changes which have not yet been committed to the main part of the file system by recording the goal of such changes in a data structure known as a “journal,” which is typically a circular log. In the event of a system crash or power outage, such file systems can be restored more quickly and with a lower risk of corruption.

Depending on how it is implemented, a journaling file system may only keep track of stored metadata, resulting in improved performance at the expense of increased data corruption risk. A journaling file system, on the other hand, may track both stored data and related metadata, with some implementations allowing for user-selectable behavior in this regard.

With an NTFS formatted flash drive it is very possible there are journal entries going on in the background which the user is not away of, so if the drive is unexpectedly pulled out of the computer that physical action could corrupt the data on the drive.

Why do people format flash drives as NTFS?

Two common reasons people (wrongfully) format a flash drive as NTFS include:

1. The user would like to take advantage of security settings which NTFS does offer
2. The user has large single files and isn’t aware exFAT solves the same problem

NTFS allows an Administrator to assign privileges’ to files and folders and those security settings will remain for said files on the NTFS formatted flash drive. This is probably the ONLY legitimate reason a flash drive should be formatted as NTFS.

FAT and FAT32 have a single file limit of 4GBs so any single file larger than 4GBs will not be copied to a FAT or FAT32 flash drive. To get around this problem, Users will format the drive as NTFS. They select NTFS because it’s the same file system as their host computer… and since it works there… might as well format the flash drive the same way. However, what the users don’t understand is exFAT solves the same problem while at the same time providing a more stable file system – one that isn’t a journaling file system – so a flash drive can be pulled out without ejecting.

Good News – Free USB Eject Software Tool

GetUSB.info reported on this earlier; Eject USB Flash Drive safely, Free Download. The software is free to download, free to distribute and free to embed into other programs.

The concept of a write protect switch on a USB flash drive is to make it read only (locked). When the device is locked content on the drive cannot be changed, altered, manipulated, formatted or deleted off the drive. What GetUSB.info never understood is the value of a physical write protect switch.

Sure a USB write protect switch helps the honest people stay honest, but that approach isn’t very secure and certainly doesn’t apply for all situations.

So what replaces a write protect switch for a USB flash drive?

How about a programmatic way to add or remove the write protection to a flash drive?

Better yet, how about assigning a password to the programmatic way of adding or removing the write protection?

We can relax because the Lock License drives address both of these issues.

The Lock License drive is a hardware based ( at the chip level ) write protection solution and through a specific vendor software command the write protection can be removed to make the USB stick writable.

The write protection is configured on the USB controller of the flash drive. This means the write protection is done at the device level and will follow the USB stick. The result is a Lock License drive which is truly read-only when connected to anything… such as a Windows computer, Mac computer, Linux box, Smart TV, car stereo, anything!

The Lock License drive comes with a software method to unlock the drive and make it writable. This special software requires a password to be assigned to the unlocking. The password is required because the manufacturer, Nexcopy, didn’t want a universal way to unlock the drive.

Kanguru manufactures a USB flash drive with a physical write protect switch. The write protection itself is as secure as the Lock License solution, the difference is a Lock License drive adds one additional layer of security. The additional layer of security, the password requirement, is an important step for ensuring the device is as secure as possible.

Another interesting fact about the Lock License drive is the default state of the USB stick being read-only, or write protected. This means it is impossible for a user to accidently leave the Lock License drive unlocked.

The “locking” or write protection is done when power is cut from the device. Even if a user forgets to lock the drive, the locking happens automatically when the USB is disconnected from the computer.

It is worth noting there is no universal way to write protect any flash drive, this is why you cannot buy some software solution to do the feature. Write protection is a hardware based solution, not software.

The Lock License drive is manufactured by Nexcopy Inc who is based out of Southern California. The product is available in both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 technology and ranging in GB capacities from 2GB through 128GB.

From all accounts it appears Aleratec closed their doors and out of business from sometime starting in February, 2022.

GetUSB.info has called the corporate office multiple times searching for comment, but no answer. In addition, it appears Google removed Aleratec from their search results as their domain www.aleratec.com has been off-line for well over 30 days. We are posting this information in the event end-users are looking for support or warranty information related to the company.

Aleratec, Inc. was a family-owned, California-based company with two decades’ experience in designing, developing and marketing products acclaimed for high performance, reliability and ease of use.

Greg Morris, CEO of Nexcopy Inc, a similar company profile and also based in Southern California commented today after request, “I’ve known about Perry Solomon, the CEO, well over twenty years and he was always a good person to speak with regarding industry trends and business practices. Extremely friendly and approachable. Perry was focused on bring a solution to the market which brought true value to the end-user. I wish him the best of luck with his next business adventure.”

Aeratec sold PC based and standalone flash memory duplicators, CD and DVD duplicators, hard drive duplicators and hard drive demolishers. Aleratec also provided a “charge and guard” cabinet for charging portable devices like tablets. Schools found the charge and guard cabinet particularly beneficial.

At the time of this posting some products can still be found on-line, but most models seem to be listed as out of stock or on back order.

If Aleratec would like to comment or provide information for post sales support and parts, please reach out at: gmo @ getusb dot info and we can post the information in this article

Below are a list of the ten most common questions about a disk signature collision along with the related answer. The bottom of this article includes a video for some of the diskpart steps, which is needed when investigating a disk signature collision.

1. What is a disk signature collision?
2. Why does Windows create a disk signature collision?
3. How do I find the disk signature ID?
4. Does Windows 10 have diskpart?
5. How do I start or launch diskpart?
6. How to change a disk signature?
7. Is there a disk signature collision for every device?
8. What is MBR verse GPT
9. What is the difference between an online and offline device, how do I fix it?
10. Where can I find the full list of diskpart commands?
11. Jump right to the demonstration video at bottom of article

#1 – What is a disk signature collision?

When two (or more) storage devices have the same hexadecimal value for their disk ID (also known as disk signature). Windows does not like to see multiple storage devices with the same signature, so it will take all but one offline so the user gains access to only one device. The signature collision is most often found when binary copies of a master have been made to target devices.

#2 – Why does Windows create a disk signature collision?

Our understanding of why Microsoft did this was to prevent malware from spoofing the OS by presenting an identical seeming drive with bad intent. Bear in mind this MBR stuff was developed when dinosaurs still ruled the earth. Malware was but a dream in some teenage miscreants mind. So little effort was expended in that direction, much to the chagrin of todays Microsoft. The bible says something about this, “The sins of a father shall be visited upon their sons” or words to that effect.

#3 – How do I find the disk signature ID?

This article explains how to encrypt data which can be decrypted on both a Mac and Windows computer.

Microsoft Windows accounts for almost 80% of the desktop computers with Apple OS coming in second place at about 18% market share (as of Q3, 2021) and with that in mind, it is very common for users to want encrypted data to be shared on both Mac and Windows computers. For example, the work place uses Microsoft Windows and the employee uses a Mac computer at home. To share encrypted data between these two operating systems is not straight forward. There is no installed solution from either Microsoft or Apple which provides a cross-platform encryption and decryption solution.

Two solutions are available for those who want to decrypt files for both a Microsoft Windows computer and an Apple Mac computer.

One solution is the individual user purchasing software which encrypts and decrypts software for both Mac and Windows computers.

The other solution is buying a physical drive which supports decryption on either operating system.

The second solution is more well suited for a business. This is true because the burden of purchasing software is not put on the employee or individual.

This article explains how to encrypt data which can be decrypted on both a Mac and Windows computer by using a specific USB flash drive.

The only known solution that has the following three characteristics in a product by Nexcopy. This is a company which provides feature rich USB duplicator solutions, but also provides advanced functions to flash drive, such as cross-platform encryption.

This is how the Nexcopy USB flash drive encryption solution works:

• PC based software is used to encrypt the data
• Included with the encrypted data are two software utilities loaded onto the flash drive
• The utilities run from the flash drive and decrypt the data when the correct password is entered
• The applications do not require installation, they run directly from the flash drive
• The PCViewer.exe is the Windows based utility – no admin rights required
• The MacViewer.app is the mac based utility – no admin rights required
• By launching the correct utility and entering correct password the files will be decrypted and displayed on the associated operating system

Please keep in mind there is a difference between the term “encryption” and the term “copy protection.” There is a difference.

Encryption is the process of encoding information. This process converts the original representation of the information, for example plaintext, into an alternative form known as ciphertext. The ciphertext can only be reorganized and pieced back together from the authorized party who knows how the decipher the ciphertext back into plaintext. The important point to understand is that once the decipher has taken place, the user can do anything they want with the plaintext. The user can copy, duplicate, share, stream and screen capture that content.

Copy protection includes the process of encoding; however, has an additional layer of security whereby the user cannot do anything in addition to the content, such as copy, duplicate, share, stream and screen capture. Said another way, the files can only be viewed, but nothing else.

Encryption is a valuable technology where the content owner trusts the person with the password; however, needs security in case the USB flash drive was dropped, stolen or misplaced. Using encryption to protect the content means unauthorized users cannot access the information.

Copy protection is a valuable technology to protect the content, yet at the same time, allow many users to see the content. For example, a teacher might have valuable lessons they want all the students to see; however, they don’t want lessons to be saved or shared with other classes. This would be a good application for copy protection.

The manufacturer provides USB duplicator solutions for mass production of USB encrypted flash drives. Nexcopy also provides large scale USB duplicator solutions for copy protected flash drives. So depending on the specific needs of the individual or company, there is a solution for those who need encryption for both Windows and Mac computers.

Eject USB Flash Drive safely, Free Download

Microsoft does not provide ways to eject USB flash drives with a single click, or automatically. Universal Serial Bus (USB) is the #1 method for expanding storage in Windows, yet Microsoft makes ejecting a storage device such a manual process! Frustrating to many, like you, because you are here. {wink}

Today we cover how to eject a USB flash drive in Windows using the command prompt. In addition, this article also provides a software way to eject a USB flash drive with the single click of a button. Yes, that is right, a single click!

Let us start by covering how to eject a USB drive using the command prompt.

Like mentioned above, Microsoft does not make this easy. The user must get into DiskPart, List the volumes (drives) connected, select the specific volume (drive) then eject by typing “release.”

The above commands may be performed via the command prompt, but honestly it’s a pain in the a$$ because all the typing involved and manually selecting the device. This process needs to be automated. {hint}

If you are reading this article you want to make things quick to remove USB, easy and simple.

Nexcopy solved this problem with a free utility that doesn’t require installation, doesn’t require Admin rights, and doesn’t require you to select the drive. The tool is ultra-quick and ultra-easy. In addition, anyone can bundle the free exe file into their own software to automate the process.

The free software tool is called USB Eject Button

Here is the free download link to eject USB flash drives from Windows command prompt

Below is the command prompt using a single word to eject a USB flash drive. The command is “release”

The fourth industrial revolution or “Industry 4.0” is a term used to categorize today’s trend with industrial control systems (ICS) and how these machines interact with each other and humans.

The fourth era of “industry” combines hardware, software and biology and emphasizes the advancements in communication and connectivity. When the term IoT (Internet of Things) is used, this is the type of example that would apply. Industrial Control System USB Flash Drives designed for ICS security are critical to industrial systems and how they are controlled by their owners. The key when a USB flash drive is introduced into a control system, is security. Without security, one could lose control of the industrial system and ultimately introduce risks into a population or region.

Before we look closer at Industry 4.0 and data storage, let us provide a short summary of the first three phases of the industrial revolution.

First Industrial Revolution

The first industrial revolution was marked by a transition from hand production methods to machines through the use of steam power and water power. The integration of these new technologies took a long time, and spans a period between 1760 and 1840 for Europe and the United States. The first phase had the greatest impact on virtual industrial channels such as textile manufacturing, iron production, agriculture and mining (in general).

Second Industrial Revolution

The Second Industrial Revolution, also known as the Technological Revolution, is the period between

If anyone searches for “burn ISO to USB” they will get pages and pages of Rufus links. However, there is a big misconception with Rufus… it doesn’t create USB CD-ROM drives!

The only thing Rufus does is take a bootable ISO file and write the data to a USB stick. Basically Rufus will extra the data on an ISO file and write it to the flash drive. You can do the same thing with WinRAR.

There is nothing magical about Rufus when it comes to “making a CD” because Rufus doesn’t make a “CD.”

If you need to make a USB CD-ROM flash drive the best solution found so far, is the Disc License drive. The Disc License drive is a blank USB CD-ROM flash drive. Using their Drive Wizard software (free), easily write ISO files to USB. The resultant drive will be a USB CD-ROM flash drive.

Before we get into Disc License technology, we do need to clear up some points about WinRAR and Rufus software. WinRAR will extract all the files contained in an ISO file and write them to your USB flash drive; however, if the ISO is bootable, WinRAR won’t write the boot code. This is where Rufus does shine. The Rufus software will write all the files contained in an ISO file along with the boot code to make your device bootable. With that said, there is a clear advantage for using Rufus over WinRAR.

Does Rufus burn any ISO file to USB? NO.

Does Rufus make your USB flash drive read-only, like a CD? NO.

If the ISO file isn’t bootable, there isn’t much [more] Rufus can offer. A non-bootable image will display an error message saying “This image is either non-bootable, or it uses a boot or compression method that is not supported by Rufus.”

Rufus is truly designed for one thing: