Have you ever had that alarming experience when your hours of work have mysteriously disappeared from your computer ? Completing a backup on a portable storage device is one way to keep that second copy outside of your computer .
Greetings from the President continues from page 5 .
Flash Drive to the Rescue ourselves , secure in our future .
As we began our visit to Central America , the concept of the ‘ Third World ’ was soon driven home . At one stop , our knowledgeable and articulate guide was a one-time teacher who left the minimal wage of his career for the per diem rates of a tour guide . One of the things he pointed out was the extreme rate of malnutrition that impacted many children , especially during the first thousand days of life — the time of greatest brain development . We saw the primitive circumstances of much of the population , shut out from the success of the upper echelon .
Two conclusions become apparent : we need to support ‘ Third World initiatives ’ if there ever is to be a fair and equitable life for so many in underdeveloped countries , and we must not take for granted those elements of social dynamics and expectations that have been the great equalizer in our part of the world .
I am so pleased that ARTA ’ s focus is to enable all members , present and future , to enjoy the same ‘ journey of retirement ’ that we have . by Marilyn Bossert
Have you ever had that alarming experience when your hours of work have mysteriously disappeared from your computer ? Completing a backup on a portable storage device is one way to keep that second copy outside of your computer .
That storage device may be identified as a flash drive , a USB memory stick , a jump drive , a pen drive , or a thumb drive . About the size of your thumb , most flash drives have a storage capacity of 8MB to 64MB and are relatively inexpensive .
A flash drive is easy to use . Insert your flash drive into the USB port on your computer . The USB port will be found on the tower of your desktop computer or on the side of your laptop . Most computers will sound a chime-like sound when the flash drive is inserted . When you ‘ save as ,’ your flash drive will appear as another drive . Your flash drive will open , and you will click on ‘ save .’ Close your document .
Before you remove the flash drive from your computer , move your cursor to the bottom right hand corner of your screen where you will see ‘ show hidden icons .’ Open ‘ safely remove hardware and eject media ,’ and click on ‘ eject .’ A message will appear that it is safe to remove the flash drive .
On a personal note , I very seldom print my photographs from holidays . One way I can share with my family and friends is to insert my flash drive into the USB port of their computer , and click on ‘ Open folder to view files .’ The photos are more easily viewed on the larger screen . If anyone wants copies , they will simply save to ‘ pictures ’ on their computer .
A flash drive is also useful for running portable programs from the drive without installing them onto that computer .
Editor ’ s note : Marilyn ’ s instructions are for a PC . Using a flash drive with a Mac is a little simpler . When you plug a flash drive into a USB port , the drive appears on the desktop all by itself . Just drag your files to it , and they will be copied there automatically without erasing the originals . To remove the flash drive , just drag it to the trash and the computer will eject it safely . Don ’ t ever remove a flash drive ( or any drive ) on either a Mac or a PC without ejecting it properly , or you will risk losing the data on it .
6 Spring 2014