Data Services

 

  1. Information Preloading
  2.  Non-Erasable Content with File Lock
  3. Autorun
  4. Volume Label

1- Information Preloading

Whether it is to supply important data to your clients or just to reinforce your company message, pre-loading your custom USB flash drives with data is an excellent idea. We can pre-load presentations, product catalogues or any other promotional materials you desire.
Here are some examples of files our customers have asked us to pre-load in the past:

  • Product catalogues
  • PowerPoint presentations
  • PDF brochures
  • Pictures
  • Software
  • Company websites
  • Videos
  • Electronic Vouchers

Does data preloading work with both Mac and Windows computers?

Yes, basic data loading is a usable option for both Mac and Windows computers as long as the files you put on the drive work on both operating systems.

Data Loading Statistics

** Please be advised that some memory space is used for formatting and other functions.

USB Capacity            Photos (1)            Songs (2)              Docs (3)             Videos (4)

64 MB                         31                           16                          57                        7 min.
128 MB                       77                           29                          113                      15 min.
256 MB                       154                         58                          226                      30 min.
512 MB                       308                         116                        451                      1 hour
1 GB                           615                         231                        901                      2 hours
2 GB                           1230                       461                        1800                    4 hours
4 GB                           2458                       922                        3600                    9 hours
8 GB                           4916                       1844                      7200                    18 hours
16 GB                         9832                       3687                      14,500                 36 hours
32 GB                         19,661                    7373                      29,000                 72 hours

(1) Photos based on an average file size of 1.5MB.
(2) Songs based on an average file size of 4MB.
(3) Documents based on a combined average of a 50kb Word document, 27Kb Excel spreadsheet and 2.7MB PowerPoint presentation.
(4) Approximation for video playback at 768kbp/MPEG4. Actual time may vary based on resolution and compression.

How to get your data to us?

Small files can be sent to us by email, larger files by Dropbox or similar file sharing service.

What format should the data be in?

If you are sending the data by email, FTP or providing a download link, then the data should be sent as one .zip folder. Upon receipt, we will unzip the folder and add the contents onto each flash drive. This way the data will retain the exact folder structure you intended. If you are sending the data by post on a CD, DVD or flash drive then there is no need to zip the data.

2- Non Erasable Content with File Lock

If you want to protect your data from deletion by the final user then you require the file lock feature on the USB flash drive. This special feature combines the flexibility of a standard USB flash drive with the read-only feature of a CD-ROM. When you insert the USB flash drive into your USB port, two drive icons will appear: one is for the read-only zone and the other for a standard rewritable drive. There is the possibility of ‘hard-coding’ data to the read-only area while still giving users the ability to use the rewriteable area as a regular USB flash drive.

3- Autorun Function

** Please be advised that some company security systems block autorun.

Custom USB flash drives can support a function know as ‘Autorun’. This feature allows your preloaded data, such as a presentation, to launch automatically when the user plugs the custom flash drive it into a computer. If you would like your flash drives to support Autorun, please inform us, as the drives must be formatted by the factory as ‘Local Disk’ rather than the usual ‘Removal Storage’ format.

Why use Autorun?

When using custom USB Flash Drives as a marketing tool to distribute your company presentation, consider using Autorun to ensure the most important document loads instantly when your customer plugs in the flash drive. Some companies like to Autorun a Flash or HTML menu to structure navigation of documents stored on the flash drive.

Please note however that the latest computer operating systems have reduced their support for Autorun to tighten security. As flash drives have become more common over the years, the large majority of users can easily find a presentation on a flash drive without the need for it to autorun.

With which Operating Systems will Autorun work?

Autorun compatibility of file lock (Read Only) partition flash drive on common operating systems.

System:                Windows 2000              Windows XP              Windows Vista / 7              Mac

Command
Autorun on
the flash drive:   YES                                YES                             w/ warning                           NO

Autorun to
external URL:      YES                                YES                             NO                                       NO

Autorun to
external URL:      YES                                YES                             w/ warning                            NO
w / launch
helper program

Please Note: Some companies prevent flash drives from Autorun on company computers by making changes to each computer’s registry or network environment as a security precaution. However our experience is that this is quite rare.

4- Volume Label

The ‘volume label’ is the name assigned to the USB flash drive when the disk is first formatted. We can customise this name on your request up to a maximum of eleven characters. The flash drive appears with this name when plugged into a computer: a small but noticeable touch.