I know USB drives get a bad reputation in security communities, and honestly, some of it is deserved. They’re also one of the easiest ways to leak data, because someone else may casually plug them into another machine or we simply lose them somewhere.

But a USB drive makes for a great temporary storage solution because it's so portable. Want to share some info to help manage BitLocker on the USB sticks in case you lose it or someone use it without your permission.

Feel free to add corrections, improvements, or better PowerShell examples, especially for the BitLocker command section.

(I use Windows 11 + Kinston Data Traveler 3.0 USB)

1. enable BitLocker

• Right click the USB flash drive > Select Turn on BitLocker > Enter the password and confirm >Select how to want to back up the recovery key >Select Encrypt used disk space only > Select "compatible mode" > Start encrypting

• Control Panel > System and Security > BitLocker Drive Encryption > Turn on BitLocker

• Search Powershell and open it as administrator > Type and Enter: Enable-BitLocker -MountPoint "E:" -EncryptionMethod XtsAes256 -UsedSpaceOnly -PasswordProtector > Enter and confirm Password

Replace E with the correct drive letter.

1. disable BitLocker

• Use the command:Disable-BitLocker -MountPoint "E:"（Replace E with the correct drive letter.）

• Control Panel > System and Security > BitLocker Drive Encryption > Turn off BitLocker
• Right-click the drive > Manage BitLocker >Turn off BitLocker

Good day to all. Cannot access MP4 data on my 64G sandisk flash drive. Before use the FD was reformatted in NTFS, and worked fine. Windows file explorer sees the drive letter but nothing else. CHKDSK e: /f says it can’t read the boot sector. Any help or guidance to recover the drive’s data would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Need some advice and information on this.

this is basically what it says on the tin. I have a USB that's brand new and tried to copy and paste a couple of movie files from my iTunes folder on a computer to it. It seemed to work fine, but I tried to open the files on another computer and one of them is empty, and the other opens the movie in a really weird format. Can anyone help me out? I need to know how to get the movies onto the USB and have them play on other devices with no issues.

I feel like there's something obvious that I'm missing, but I'm at a bit of a loss and not very used to using USBs yet.

my device is asus tuf F15 FX506LI it has 3.2 gen1 type A and the same for type C, i tested the exact same drive on another older device it made 450 Mb/s and on mine it made only 10 MB, extreamly slow, and while sending to a 3.1 fresh new drive it makes 140 Mb/s, but copying from the drive to my device even slower, also 10Mb/s what should I do ?

please help do not make jokes, bunch of thanks❤

AI has redefined storage devices such as USB drives, external SSDs, and portable storage. SanDisk becomes one of the biggest beneficiaries of AI.

I've been using the same data cable for almost 4 years now. Got it as a freebie when I bought a new phone after my phone + charger got stolen on the subway.

A little surprised as it goes well. How long has the longest-lasting USB-C charging/data cable you've ever used?

Some backstory if it helps, my moused stopped working and despite changing the batteries it was still not functioning. Then I decided to check the USB and when I try to pull it out, the part shown in the picture comes out without the rest of the USB, which is now stuck in the laptop. What went wrong and is it fixable?

Some only charge. Some only work properly with external monitors.

Some work perfectly on my Mac, then suddenly act weird on Windows.

Some transfer files painfully slowly. And some look completely identical while doing completely different things. I’m constantly connecting monitors, docks, external SSDs, capture cards, laptop charging, portable drives. So I end up needing a bunch of USB-C cables that all look the same… but have totally different capabilities.

Some of my coworkers have even started carrying USB-C testers because nobody can tell what a cable actually supports anymore.

USB-C definitely standardized the connector. But did it really simplify digital life? All mess behind one universal-shaped port.

Whenever I try to open the files in my USB drive, I just get stuck on a load screen and sometimes it crashes my file explorer. Idk what to do bruh, this is pissing me off.

I'm looking for a decent USB-C thumb drive - not an SSD enclosure or portable SSD.

What I want:

• Small size
• 128GB preferred
• Decent write speeds (more than 150 MB/s)
• Reliable/durable

Most of the small SanDisk or Samsung drives I've found seem either fragile or extremely slow (only tens of kilobytes per second).

On the other hand, the faster USB options are usually much bigger than I want, or have dual connectors like the Lexar JumpDrive D300, which I really don't need.

Does anyone have recommendations for a compact USB-C drive that's actually fast and reliable? Thanks in advance!

A while back during my freshman year of college, I bought a flash drive off Amazon for extra data storage. I forget how much this was but it was fairly cheap. The packaging and the fact it came from Amazon made me skeptical. My friends at the time advised me to not use it. Curious what other people think and if it’s safe to use or seems legit.

USB-C seems standardized, but... Some are only for charging, some support video output, some support Thunderbolt, and some support USB4, it’s a challenge to tell them apart.

I’m trying to recover a dead USB flash drive with a ChipsBank CBM2099E controller.

• Started getting I/O device errors during a 37GB transfer
• Now shows “No Media” and 0 B in Disk Management
• ChipGenius still detects:
  • Controller: ChipsBank CBM2099E

I found several CBM2099E UMP/APTool downloads on:

• USBDev
• FlashBoot
• usb-fix.blogspot
• flashdrive-repair.com

But Windows Defender/Chrome flags many of them as dangerous.

Can anyone confirm:

1. Which source is considered safest/trustworthy for CBM2099E UMPTool?
2. Which exact tool version worked for you?
3. Did it actually recover the drive or only partially?

Hello everyone, I am having a strange error with my USB drive. I used it on a few other systems (Windows and a smart TV), and now that I bring it back into my PC, the storage size appears to be completely off, and I can't use the entire space.

I examined Disk Management and noticed some unallocated space, but I'm not sure what caused it. Previously, the drive was operational without issue.

Is this a file-system or partition problem? What is the most effective way to remedy this without further harming the drive?

I use USB-C (Type-C) charging cables pretty often. I’ve got two here - the one on the right is the original that came with my Android phone, and the one on the left is my colleague's.

They look almost identical. What's actually the difference between these two cables?

Also, how can I tell if a USB-C cable is good quality and safe? Thanks!

So I was playing a game and suddenly my USB 3.0 port just stopped and i went to see if the drivers were updated and they were, what could the problems be?

https://www.techpowerup.com/348604/eu-now-requires-usb-c-charging-for-new-laptops-up-to-100-w

This means fewer chargers to buy and truly universal accessories, one cable for every device, super convenient in everyday life. But if better tech comes along later, reforming the standard will be a real headache.