Newsletter Archives

• Using USB-attached Windows media

  Posted on October 7, 2024 at 02:45 CDT by Ed Tittel • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 21.41 • 2024-10-07

  WINDOWS

  

  By Ed Tittel

  Ports, cables, and devices all matter when you hook storage to Windows via USB.

  These days, it’s undeniable that the Universal Serial Bus — better known to all as USB — is the most common way to connect external devices to desktop and mobile PCs. And USB connects much more than mouse and keyboard. It also serves all kinds of storage, printers, and scanners. Indeed, ultra-fast modern USB versions such as USB4 can even accommodate high-resolution monitors via USB-C.

  USB has come a long, long way since the first version appeared in 1996. In particular, USB lets users add storage capacity to Windows PCs, across a variety of types. In this story, we’ll take a look at options for USB-attached storage, and present some possible selection criteria for same. But first, a quick review of USB-version history.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.41.0, 2024-10-07).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Windows External Drives, Newsletters, NVMe, Performance, storage, USB, USB4

• Continuing trends in computing — and your choices

  Posted on December 18, 2023 at 02:43 CST by Ben Myers • Comment in the Forums

  BEN’S WORKSHOP

  

  By Ben Myers

  Let Windows 11 and other major trends be your guide to greater productivity, reliability, and security.

  Computer hardware and software continue their relentless advances — mostly progress, sometimes a hiccup. Paying attention to the various changes in our world of computing can save you time and money — and, after all, time is money. These trends may influence your near-term buying decisions, as our annual two-month Black Friday buying spree morphs into the January White Sale of unsold gear.

  These trends are the distillation of my experience based upon hundreds of computers making a stop in Ben’s Workshop along their way — whether from a factory or an auction house, as a trade-in, or simply for repair — and then into the hands of people using them or off to my convenient e-cycler.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.51.0, 2023-12-18).

  Ben's Workshop BitLocker, Enterprise computing, Gaming, HDDs, Home computing, Minimum Hardware Requirements, Newsletters, NVMe, Small Business computing, SSDs, Windows 11, Workstations

• Thunderbolt

  Posted on October 2, 2023 at 02:42 CDT by Ed Tittel • Comment in the Forums

  HARDWARE

  

  By Ed Tittel

  Not many people know this, but Thunderbolt originated as an optical networking technology. Apple and Intel worked on its initial design.

  Known as Light Peak, it was based upon optical components and fiber-optic cables at Intel’s Silicon Photonics lab. When it turned out that copper cables could deliver the same 10 Gbps bandwidth as the more expensive and finicky optical elements, the cheaper, less demanding technology won.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.40.0, 2023-10-02).

  Hardware Docking stations, Newsletters, NVMe, Performance, Thunderbolt, USB, USB Implementers Forum