USB Ports and USB Drives
The USB (Universal Serial Bus) is a rectangular port used on every computer for the last several years. Virtually every (external) add-on device will come with a USB cable and expect to be connected to one of these rectangular ports:
USB connectors only connect one way so, if your lead doesn not fit, try it the other way up! Normally, the two holes in the metal part of the plug should face upwards when connecting.
A USB cable can be identified as a rectangular plug, with two square holes in the metal edge:
USB memory sticks (-also known as pen drives, flash drives or USB drives) are a common way of storing data. When connected, the computer sees this as another disc drive and you can access it accordingly. They come in various storage sizes (-normally from 4Gb to 32Gb) and colours. They are normally around the size of a small door key and are encased in a plastic exterior - with a USB connector at one end. They normally come with a detachable plastic cap to protect the connector when not in use:
They are useful due to their speed and portability and are particularly useful for transferring files from one machine to another.
Note: USB memory sticks are often quite short lived (-having only a limited number of write cycles before they begin to fail), so they should only be considered as temporary storage.