photo credit: lrargerich

Thumb-drives kick ass. Seriously. I always carry around my key no matter what, you never know when it’ll come in handy. 2, 4 or 8 gigabytes may not seem like that much these days but it’s still quite a bit of space. So, what do you put on it? I’ve experimented with a bunch of different ways of storing my information, applications and encryption and have come up with a system that works for me. What works for me may not work exactly for you but it’s a great place to start.

Encryption

While there are many great ways of encrypting your thumbdrive, I really don’t like the hassle. I keep my drive on me as a way of carrying or transferring files that I want access to as efficiently as possible without having to sign in. Of course, there’s always data I do want to keep encrypted, and for those files I use 7-zip.

Basically, I make one non-encrypted zip file in 7-zip (with a .zip extension) and this is where I want to keep my data safe. This zip file is located inside of a second zip file which is encrypted. The reason for having one inside the other is that winRAR allows you to see what kind of files and the names of those files are encrypted even if they can’t open those files. This way, all a prospective evildoer can see is the zip file locked behind a password.

Content

The main folder structure is broken down into 4 kinds of content: Data, Temporary, Transfer and Apps. This gives you a basic idea what my main folder structure is like. It’s a very simple structure but it works really well.

Data is where I keep my permanent data that I’d like to keep on my drive. Stuff like my portfolios and demo reels as well as some music. While I do carry my resume on me, I keep that with my encrypted files because it has my address. And my USB thumbdrive is on my keychain, not the best idea giving your address with your house key.

Temporary storage is where I keep, well, my temporary files. Files I may be working on that aren’t finished, files I want to show to clients or anything that really just has to come with me for the day or week (or sometimes, the month).

Transfer files are usually files that I’ve saved onto my drive to transport to another computer or for someone else. While very similar to the temp folder, I like to keep my files and the files for anyone else separate.

Apps is where I keep my portable applications. There are a ton of these now available and I used to carry a gargantuan amount, I’ve scaled quite a bit back to as bare bones as I can get. More on this in the next section.

I also have an “If Lost.txt” file with my email address and phone number plus a reward for a USB key that’s has twice the space. And I don’t put my address on it because, again, I hand my thumbdrive on my keys.

Applications

There is a whole suite of portable applications. Bringing around your own Firefox app with your preferences and bookmarks sounds awesome in theory but the reality of running it off of a USB is that it’s really slow. I’ve never actually needed to use any of the portable apps I’ve put on my drive so I’ve scaled back to what I perceive to be the most useful. OpenOffice, a portable ftp client, VLC for video and portable 7-zip. I carry two versions of each, one for PC and one for Mac (with the exception of portable 7-zip).

So there you have it. This system may not work exactly for you, the same as what I’ve seen on the net hasn’t worked exactly for me, but this is a really good place to start! Change it up and make it work for your own unique needs.