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In the glory days of the floppy disk drive, the disks always came with a
way
to write-protect them. The hard-shelled disks had a little slider in a
corner, for example.
This was extremely useful once computer viruses became common.
That
particular software always tried to copy itself to
any removable media it
could reach. But if the disk was write-protected (or Read-Only), then
the
virus was foiled, and if the disk happened to contain anti-virus software,
it
could be used to disinfect the computer.
USB sticks are removable data-storage devices that do not seem to
offer
the user any easy way to protect them from viral propagation. I will
propose that the device include something like an old-fashioned "dip
switch" (see link). These can be small enough to be part of the
average
USB stick without making it much bigger than it already is.
(EDIT 1: Another link was added, indicating this is not a new Idea.
Alas! However, see the 2nd Edit below.)
So, when you buy this kind of USB stick, the switch is pre-set to Read-
Write
mode, allowing you to save data in the stick's memory. At any time you
like, you can adjust the switch to Read-Only mode, basically "breaking"
the write-circuitry inside the stick, and thereby protecting the data.
And of course when you feel the need, you can adjust the switch
again, to restore the write-circuit and re-enabling the Read-Write mode.
(EDIT 2: In one of the annotations [Loris] suggested that an
intermediate
device be given the dip switch, so that any ordinary switch-lacking USB
memory stick could be protected. I like that, and added an anno with a
few more details for making that work.)
Dip Switch
http://m4.sourcingm...00ux0296_ux_g03.jpg
As mentioned in the main text. [Vernon, Jun 18 2014]
Baked
http://www.fencepos...e-write-protection/
[MechE, Jun 18 2014]
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Annotation:
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Baked but not very popular, which is why it's getting
harder to find them. |
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Title says it all and then there's 4 honking paragraphs. Oh, and baked to a crisp. |
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Most USB sticks had this feature a few years ago - it
seems less common now. Some memory cards have
a little sliding switch that does this, too. |
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Yep, just use an SD card. |
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"Write-protect" is the proper term, but still, abundant examples available with .47 seconds of googling the idea title. |
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Baked. I've got one in my pocket right now. |
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All I can say is that I personally don't recall ever seeing one. (I will
confess I didn't think to do a search, though.) Perhaps, if the trend
continues regarding their disappearing, this Idea needs to continue to
exist as a reminder of why they NEED to exist.... |
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// I personally don't recall ever seeing one. // |
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What were you told about wearing your tinfoil-lined baseball cap AT
ALL TIMES ? But you didn't, did you, and now some of your memories
have been selectively erased by the CIA Brane Ray ... or it could be the
Russians ... or the North Koreans ... or the Book Of The Month Club (a
right sinister lot if ever we saw one, worse than the Gideons, wink
wink, nudge nudge, say no more, eh , man of the world, eh ... ?) |
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Im guessing this feature has been removed not
because it wasn't useful, but because it caused too
much confusion among the tech unsavvy. People
calling in and complaining because they can't save. |
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// it caused too much confusion among the tech unsavvy. // |
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Would it not ultimately more cost effective (and satisfactory) simply to
cull the "tech unsavvy", in a brutal, violent yet entertaining "survival of
the fittest" reality-tv contest akin to a cross between Rollerball and
Predator Vs. Alien ? |
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I have several flash drives with this function. It's a very handy feature for presentations etc., where the host computer is very promiscuous and may not use up-to-date protection. |
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Given the desirability, historical availability and increasingly rare nature of the idea as currently proposed, perhaps you could modify it? |
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I suggest a small pass-though device with the sole function of providing such a switch. |
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Also, a special USB port intended for dedicated presentation machines, which cannot write at all. |
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[Loris], while a pass-through device would be great, it is more
complicated than simply putting a switch on one of the wires that
pass through the pass-through device. The intermediate device
would have to be electronically equivalent to a USB "hub" which
ordinarily can connect multiple USB devices to a single port on the
computer. Inside that hub are circuits that communicate with both
the computer and the other devices. So, if this particular pass-
through hub was only for one device, a USB memory stick, then it
would be able to receive and re-transmit write-commands to the
stick, and the circuit involved in THAT could be physically
switched. |
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I'll mention this anno in the main text. Thanks! |
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Heh, I didn't intend to suggest a simple breaker. |
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I'm not familiar with the USB protocol to say whether a full hub would be required, but even if it were I don't think it would be a significant issue. |
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The pass-through device would need to understand the protocol
between the host and the memory stick and selectively block write
commands while allowing read commands to execute normally. |
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//The pass-through device would need to understand the protocol between the host and the memory stick and selectively block write commands while allowing read commands to execute normally.// |
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Yes, yes, _of course_ it would. My claim is that this wouldn't preclude the device being manufactured as a device of at most the size (and in sufficiently large numbers, cost) of a cheap flash drive. (And that still doesn't necessarily mean it needs to be a full hub.) |
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It's not trivial, but electronics manufacturers have more than enough ability to sell more capable devices for surprisingly little. |
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Why not just put a little switch on the USB drive itself, like they do
already ? |
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If you use Linux, it's very easy to configure the system to mount drives
as read-only by defaut ... |
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//configure the system to mount drives as read-
only// I think the point was to have a USB drive that
can be plugged into any machine without being at
risk of being written to. |
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