Removable Storage Drives and Devices

In addition to the hard drive, computers come with other storage devices. But many people new to computing get very confuzled when they read the specs for a computer that they are thinking about buying. What do all those drives do?

Relax. It's not that difficult. The most common types of additional storage devices installed on new computers are:

Floppy Drives

Floppy drives are rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Their small capacity and slow performance, along with ability of modern PC's to boot from CD-ROM drives and external media, have largely rendered the floppy drive obsolete. Many new computers don't even come with a floppy drive unless the purchaser specifies that one be installed.

Optical Drives

Optical drives use lasers to read and/or write data.

At present, the different types of optical drives commonly available on new computers include:

• CD-ROM drives, which can read CD-ROM's and play music CD's.

• CD-RW drives, which can read CD-ROM's, play music CD's, and write (or "burn") recordable or re-writable CD's. This is useful for data backup, to create music CD's, or to share big files (like digital photos from your family reunion) to other people.

• DVD-ROM drives, which can read CD's and DVD's, play DVD movies, and play audio CD's.

• DVD+RW drives, which can read CD's and DVD's, play DVD movies, play audio CD's, and write (or "burn") recordable or re-writable CD's or DVD's. They are useful for data backup, to share very large files, or (with the proper hardware and software) to create your own DVD movies or transfer your home videos to DVD.

ZIP Drives

ZIP drives use magnetic media to store data. They are available in capacities of 100MB, 250MB, or 750MB. ZIP drives remain a popular storage device, especially for backup of personal documents. Many people like them better than CD-R or CD-RW media because they find copying to a ZIP drive to be easier than creating a recordable CD project and burning a CD.

Card Readers

Card readers are another popular option on newer computers. They allow you to plug in a digital storage card (like the ones used by many digital cameras) and read and write to it as if it were a disk drive. This is very handy if you are into digital photography.

USB "Keychain" or "Pen" Drives

Portable USB drives, such as the Lexar USB Jump Drive shown here, are rapidly gaining in popularity as an easy way to transport data from one place to another.

USB keychain drives will work without requiring any configuration on most recent computers and operating systems, including Windows Me/2000/XP, Mac, and Linux (Kernel 2.4 or later) . They may also work on older systems if the proper drivers are installed.