Do you remember when we all had floppy disk drives 20 years ago? If you had just a few files that you wanted to back up or needed to take to another computer, the floppy disk was a perfect solution. We all a box of 10 or 20 floppy disks just in case. By the late 90’s and early 2000’s, floppy disks were replaced by Zip Disks for those with higher storage needs. Some even tried saving files to CDs, but for quick transfer and retrieval this wasn’t always efficient. For at least 10 years, those Wrigley’s gum sized flash drives have been what we have used for temporary storage and easy transport. They are cheap and usually last for a little while. You can wear them around your neck, attach a flash drive to your key chain, or stick one in your pocket.

You should always have 2 unused flash drives on hand. Situations come up. You need to bring some files to another computer to work on. You need some temporary storage to put documents, photos and pictures while issues on your computer get cleaned out. You may just want an extra backup of a few important folders. Flash drives are not a replacement for an external hard drive, but they are just a sound tool to have on hand if you are a computer user. You are looking at a cost of <$10 per drive.

I recommend a flash drive of 8 GB (gigabytes) or 16 GB for everyday use.

If you shop at Amazon, here is a link for you
http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Cruzer-Frustration-Free-Packaging–SDCZ36-016G-AFFP2/dp/B00E9W1ULS/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1440352842&sr=8-4&keywords=flash+drive+16+gb

If you would rather shop at Staples (sale expires 8/29)
http://www.staples.com/SanDisk-Cruzer-Glide-SDCZ60-016G-A46-16GB-USB-2-0-Flash-Drive-Black-Red/product_654676