How much thumb drive do I need?

[sofasurfer]

Mostly I'll use it in place of a dvd for installing distributions. I may also use it for storing an operational distribution. I big of a thumb drive do I need?

 

[f33dm3bits]

If you get a 4G thumbdrive it should be more than enough for most Linux distributions, there are a few exceptions but 16G and 32G thumbdrives are affordable now days. So I would go for one ot those than you can put Ventoy on it and boot from several isos.

 

[Brickwizard]

for a single distribution iso you need around 4Gb over 8 is a waste as you can normally only have one distribution on a pen-drive
A separate one for external storage size is up to you I have 2x32GB and 1x64gb for files and folders [pictures, docs, and music] I also have a 500GB which use to be used for recording live tv but now stands idle.

 

[truckerDave]

It seems everyone makes a drive big enough and for a reasonable price. The trick is finding one that will last. I seem to recall a thread on this site, maybe a year ago, talking about who makes a good quality drive. Maybe try the search feature up top.

I know I had an issue/issues with a multi-pack I had purchased on Amazon. I forget the brand. But ended up getting a 4 pack of PNY 128gb (overkill) that have done me well. I use 2 of them on less used machines for storing my Timeshift files. No issues (yet) with any of the four.

 

[osprey]

Mostly I'll use it in place of a dvd for installing distributions. I may also use it for storing an operational distribution. I big of a thumb drive do I need?

It's not easy to find 4G usbs in these parts of the woods, so we get the larger ones that are readily available. If you have a larger one, you can install ventoy and then load up as many distro iso files that fit and they can be installed from that larger usb drive. Using ventoy one doesn't have to waste any space on the usbs.

 

[Brickwizard]

I always look for PNY, Kingston or Crucial although i have a mixture that has built up over the years, my oldest [branded as USBest] is a massive 512mb usb2 and is about 24 years old still works perfectly,[IT was not cheap, it would have cost in today's money £99-35]

 

[GatorsFan]

A few things to consider
1) does your machine have USB 3.2, 3.0 or 2.0 - you can use a 2.0 on a 3.2 USB port but it will run at 2.0 speed - so buy one that matches your USB speed
2) if you use Ventoy you can have more then 1 OS on your drive depending on how large it is
Ventoy is here - https://www.ventoy.net/en/index.html

Some of my favorite thumb drives include PNY, Centon Pro, Kingston and Adata - I have bought some low end ones off of Amazon a 5 pack for 12$ US currency and like the saying goes "you get what you pay for" 3 of the 5 failed within 6 months the other 2 are still working they were 8 GBs each

Here is my Ventoy USB stick it is a PNY 3.0 64GBs - as you can see I have 7 OSes on it

 

[sofasurfer]

I wasn't expecting much more than a post saying to buy this or that but instead I got a whole bunch of good, helpful information. Thanks y'all.

 

[Alexzee]

It's not easy to find 4G usbs in these parts of the woods, so we get the larger ones that are readily available. If you have a larger one, you can install ventoy and then load up as many distro iso files that fit and they can be installed from that larger usb drive. Using ventoy one doesn't have to waste any space on the usbs.

Same here brother.
My local Micro Center offers a 15 GB. Haven't seen 4 GB usb's in years.

The 64 GB usb's are about ten dollars.

 

[Alexzee]

I wasn't expecting much more than a post saying to buy this or that but instead I got a whole bunch of good, helpful information. Thanks y'all.

PNY and Kingston like @GatorsFan said have never failed me.

 

[bob466]

For ISOs I use a 32GB Lexar Flash Drive with Ventoy ...

For System Images and Timeshift snapshots I use an External HDD or SSD because these are too big to fit on Flash Drives.

 

[theLegionWithin]

I've found that a 4 pack of 16gb thumbdrives is both useful to have & relatively cheap, ~$20 or less

 

[ML_113]

Same here brother.
My local Micro Center offers a 15 GB. Haven't seen 4 GB usb's in years.

The 64 GB usb's are about ten dollars.

Yep, and when they fail, it’s less of pain in the pocket. I use 500G micro SD once for my tablets, because I am lazy. It failed when I switched file formats (ext4, NTFS, exFat). It really hurts when I am 150$ out of the pocket twice. I won’t touch the current one in my Android Samsung ever again.

 

[MikeWalsh]

Like @Brickwizard , I've got a collection that's built up over many years. The smallest is a 1 GB, bought around 2002? - probably around GBP £40 at the time; still works perfectly. For less than this, I bought my largest one around 18 months ago.....a 512 GB SanDisk 'nano'-sized Ultra 'Fit' USB 3.2 Gen 1, to replace a pair of 256 GB of the same make & type. I was using these as 'external' storage on the old D630 Latitude, which gave up the ghost last year (the Nvidia mobile GPU's solder connections started cracking = game over!)

I've got perhaps around 20, including:-

2 or 3 16 & 32GB SanDisk Cruzer 'Blades'
A 16GB SanDisk Cruzer 'Fit'
A 64GB SanDisk Cruzer 'Fit'
2 x 64GB SanDisk USB 3.0 Ultra 'Fit' (1st-gen)
3 x 128GB as above
2 x 256GB SanDisk USB 3.2 Gen 1, and
A 128GB SanDisk Cruzer 'Glide'.

I've got well over 1TB in flash storage alone! I like SanDisk; they're reasonably-priced, and apart from 'issues' with the all-plastic older Cruzer 'Blades' cracking around the connector, and one USB 3.0 Ultra 'Fit' where it ran so hot the plastic end-cap literally melted off (!), in general they've been very reliable. The 16GB Cruzer 'Fit' is now well over 15 years old, and works as well today as it's ever done.

Time will tell on the USB 3.2 Gen 1 Ultra 'Fit' sticks.... (Yup, I'm summat of a flash drive 'hoarder'..!)


Mike.

 

[KGIII]

If one wants to save a few dollars, I've had very good luck with TeamGroup. I took a chance on them quite some time ago and have been nothing but impressed - over many purchases. They're less expensive but they're not the fake ones that don't have their advertized capacity.

I have a stack of them. They go on sale fairly often, so I'll toss in some when I order other things - or order the maximum allowed when they have larger discounts than normal.

I do not have any of my old thumb drives. I have either given them away with data on them or I have included them when I send stuff to the e-waste facility. I would not use them for anything and am not into hoarding.

I might have a few around that are just 4 GB in size. The rest are all going to have a higher capacity than that. I also don't use them for long-term storage, which might explain why I don't have a bunch hanging around in drawers.