If your Windows XP computer is not recognizing your flash drive, its likely that you computer simply is confused as to what drive letter to assign to the memory stick. Fortunately, the fix is a simple one. This trick also works when your computer refuses to recognize a USB drive or other removable storage device.

First, hit Windows+E to open an Explorer window.

Select “My Computer.”

Right click and choose “Manage” from the contextual menu. This will open a window called “Computer Management.”

Select “Disk Management”, which is under “Storage”

On the bottom right side of the window, you’ll see a list of all of the storage devices currently attached to the computer. If your flash drive is listed there, that’s great—you can fix the problem. If not, this solution won’t work.

Right click on the drive listed in that window. This will bring up a contextual menu. Choose “Change Drive Letter and Paths.”

This will bring up yet another window, which will show your “missing” drive. Choose “Change” at the bottom.

Another window will pop up. This one will have a drop down menu on the right hand side. Choose a letter “higher” than the one currently assigned to the drive. If it’s “E”, for example, choose a letter between “F” and “Z.” Its probably best to pick one toward the end of the alphabet.

Once you’ve selected a drive letter, a warning message will come up saying that “Changing The Drive Letter of a Volume Might Cause Programs No Longer To run.”

That’s OK. It’s likely that all you’ve got on the drive is data. Click on Yes.

That will return you to the Computer Management Window.

Your drive now should function properly.

Tor is an application that allows you to connect into the Tor anonymous internet system from any computer with your flash or thumb drive. This way, you can browse the internet anonymously from public locations, such as internet hotspots, library, or school computers and public terminals.

The freeware portable version has just been updated. It’s a handy thing to keep on a flash drive.

The Cruzer Plus comes with a six-month subscription to the BeInSync backup service. Files are automatically backed up any time the computer is online.

The idea behind Cruzer Plus is to protect users against accidentally deleting files, such as documents, photos, music, video, spreadsheets or work presentations, SanDisk said. Backed up files can be recovered by signing into the backup account.

“We believe Cruzer Titanium Plus will encourage people to use flash drives for storing important data, not just transferring files from one computer to another,” Hezy Rotman, VP and general manager of SanDisk’s USB division, said in a statement.

Other features include a crush-resistant metal case, optional password protection for accessing files on the drive, and two years of BoomerangIt’s lost-and-found service. The Cruzer Plus comes with a BoomerangIt sticker to put on the drive. If the device is lost and later found, then under the plan, the owner typically pays shipping costs and provides a small reward.

PC WIZARD 2008 is a powerful utility designed especially for detection of hardware, but also some more analysis. It’s able to identify a large scale of system components and supports the latest technologies and standards. This tool is periodically updated (usually once per month) in order to provide most accurate results.

PC WIZARD 2008 is also an utility designed to analyze and benchmark your computer system. It can analyze and benchmark many kinds of hardware, such as CPU performance, Cache performance, RAM performance, Hard Disk performance, CD/DVD-ROM performance, Removable/FLASH Media performance, Video performance, MP3 compression performance.

Instructions for using it are at the bottom of the linked page.

Replacing solid sate hard drives with flash drives is the future of laptops and portable computing devices. The flash drives are lighter and more durable and should allow for some more interesting designs, since they can be crammed into a variety of spaces (witness the side variety of shapes and sizes of the USB drives).

Sony has just updated their Vaio UX micro computer with a 32GB flash drive replacing the mechanical one. Here are the drive’s other specs:

* Intel Core Solo U1400 (Ultra Low Voltage)
* Intel GMA950 integrated graphics
* 512 MB DDR2 PC3200 RAM
* 32 GB Flash drive
* 4.5″ WSVGA display (1024×600)
* Keyboard, stylus and biometric fingerprint sensor
* Integrated Bluetooth, WLAN and WWAN capability

I love some of Sandisk’s new designs—and positively lust after their new MP3 players and pocket video player.

Their new Contour flash drive is pretty sleek looking, too.

It comes in 2GB, 4GB and 8GB configurations and has a minimum read speed of 25MB per second.

The Countour also includes U3 technology so you can carry your files and software on a secure USB drive. You can have your wallpaper, preferences, favorites, profiles, and more - everything you need for a familiar computing experience on any PC, wherever you go. Additional software includes Skype, CruzerSync™, Avast, SignupShield and HP Photosmart.

Pushing the envelope, Verbatim now is now showing off its new 8GB and 12GB flash drives. The 12GB drive will be available at the end of March for a street price of $179. From their press release:

LAS VEGAS, NV (JANUARY 8, 2007) —Verbatim® Corporation, an industry leader in the development and marketing of high-quality products for storing, moving and using digital content, announced today the latest additions to its popular Store ‘n’ Go™ line of USB Drives.  In addition to a new 8GB flash drive, a new 12GB drive was launched.  With 12GB of storage in a device that is only slightly larger than a standard USB flash drive, the new drive delivers the highest capacity yet available using one-inch hard drive technology.  By offering a full range of Store ‘n’ Go drives, Verbatim delivers the capacity, performance and security today’s more mobile users need to meet their individual storage requirements.

SanDisk V-Mate Video Memory Card Recorder - Digital AV recorder

The SanDisk V-Mate attaches to your cablebox, dvd or video tape player, or satellite transponder and records programs to removable media.

A graphical user interface that appears on your tv allows you to select your desired playback device profile or manually set video format, resolution and quality levels. The GUI makes it very easy to navigate through the menu and select recording and viewing options. It also allows you to schedule recordings of television programs based on channel, date, and start/stop times, including daily and weekly repeats.

It works with SD and Micro SD cards, as well as memory sticks and other media.

A company called WigoByte is offering a wierd convergence device: the flash drive-cell phone charger. The Mvolt-200 comes in sizes up to 1 GB and offers a battery that provides up to 10 hours of standby and 40 minutes of talk time.

I frankly cannot conceive of the need for this device.

As a part of the product tie-ins with the new James Bond 007 film, Casino Royale, Sony is offering a 007 flash drive.

Its a 1Gb drive with a retractable USB connector and comes preloaded with Virtual Expander, a data compression utility.

I’m amazed, though, that it doesn’t come with a fingerprint reader, or some other flashy security feature. Bond would never put his documents on a non-secure drive.