SOLVED Can I use a flash drive USB for extra storage with my new small laptop(Windows 10)

[Denise Hughes]

I have purchased a Dell Inspiron 11 3000 small laptop.
I was wondering if I could use a flash drive to expand the memory.
I hope I've posted this in the right place.

 

[Digerati]

Can I use a flash drive USB for extra storage

Sure, but understand flash drives were never intended as permanent storage devices. They were designed for things like taking home a document from work. Or taking a copy of a project to school.

Flash drives are fragile devices. You can "zap" them with static just by sliding them in and out of a pocket. They can easily be dropped and stepped on. Or easily lost or stolen.

to expand the memory

"Expanding memory" is different than "extra storage". If you mean to improve your computer's performance by, in effect, adding more RAM, then you can do that with a flash drive using Windows "ReadyBoost" feature. That said, the same issues with fragility of these devices applies.

See ReadyBoost in Windows 10.

However, in many cases, using ReadyBoost does not help performance because data transfers via USB are much slower than RAM. See Is Windows ReadyBoost Worth Using?

It might be worth looking into upgrading your RAM instead of using ReadyBoost as permanent and better solution.

 

[Denise Hughes]

Thank you very much for your replies,Digerati.I love the little Dell for occasional use,but Windows can't update
to the latest version because there is not enough room.

 

[Digerati]

Windows can't update
to the latest version because there is not enough room.

That suggest there is not enough free space on the disk drive. You need to free some up. I recommend running Windows own Disk Cleanup to get rid of the clutter. If you already have CCleaner installed, you can run that too. If you have installed programs you don't use, uninstall them.

 

[Tim Locke]

It is one of those machines with a 32GB flash drive built in.

The problems of updating Windows on one of those has been in this forum several times. Worth a search for the people who found a solution.

It is unclear from the Dell description of the machine if the drive can be updated ( ie if it is a standard M2 socket) or if there is space to slot in a cheap 128 GB SSD.

 

[Denise Hughes]

I have cleared some space with chkdsk and run CCleaner.I haven't downloaded any software apart from an
Anti virus and Chrome.
There is a space for a microcard. I have ordered one,but wonder if that will help.

 

[Digerati]

It is one of those machines with a 32GB flash drive built in.

Thanks. I should have done a little more homework.

I haven't downloaded any software apart from an
Anti virus and Chrome.

Chrome does not take up much space but security programs sure can. Since Windows 10 already includes the very capable Windows Defender, I recommend you uninstall the anti-virus and free up more space. Windows likes to have free disk space to operate in to temporarily save temp and open files.

I do recommend, regardless your security solution of choice, you have a secondary scanner just to make sure you or your primary solution did not let something slip by and I recommend MBAM for that. The free version is a manual (on-demand) scanner and does not take up a lot of disk space. Note MBAM can be run from a flash drive too.

 

[Denise Hughes]

Thank you for your advice.My SDHC card arrived today and I have managed to download the big Windows 10 update.I shall delete the antivirus as it is huge and use Defender.I have MBAM on all my computers,it is a wonderful tool.

 

[Digerati]

I shall delete the antivirus as it is huge and use Defender.I have MBAM on all my computers,it is a wonderful tool.

That's the setup I have on all my systems too. Glad you were able to update Windows. Thanks for the followup.

 

[Denise Hughes]

I am a happy bunny,thank you.

 

[Jerry James]

I am a happy bunny,thank you.

I have a Dell 11 3162 that crashed during a Win 10 update. I had previously inserted a 64Gb micro SanDisk SD card and had set things up so that updates would go to the SD card instead of the 32Gb eMMC built-in flash drive that Dell had installed the Win 10 OS. (I thought I had purchased a small laptop with a 32Gb SSD with Win 10 loaded.) I have downloaded the Dell Media Creation Tool (with Win 10 for this laptop build) and have created a USB boot disk. With the boot disk installed; the Win 10 clean install repair or recovery stops after around 50% with the message"THERE WAS A PROBLEM RECOVERING YOUR PC". I HAVE ATTEMPTED NUMEROUS TIMES "to recover from a drive" (USB) -no joy. What was your secret to successful update?