MAKE USB WRITE PROTECTED

[LeMarchand]

@Arthur: Did you get yours yet and have you come across anything to watch out for?

[bladedanny]

@Arthur: Did you get yours yet and have you come across anything to watch out for?

 

I ordered one on wednesday and got it yesterday.

[LeMarchand]

I ordered one on wednesday and got it yesterday.

 

Can one or both of you do a review when you have had time to play?

 

Apart from the size, this looks like a dream machine. I could pretty much ditch my optical disks (maybe keep PLOP for USB booting from old machines) from my bag and just use this.

[bladedanny]

I bought it for exactly that, so I don't have to carry around numerous disc for various OSs. As well as been able to boot an 'disc' on netbooks that lack an optical dive.

 

Only started to play with it this morning, is there any thing in particular you're wanting to know?

[LeMarchand]

Only started to play with it this morning, is there any thing in particular you're wanting to know?

 

I guess the disks I use most are UBCD4WIN and PartedMagic, along with Windows installation disks(!). I currently have a SARDU pendrive, but with UBCD4WIN and XP installation disks (in particular) performance seems a bit flaky (and it takes so damn long to compile the thing if I need to make changes! So I guess: have you tried any of the above ISOs (or come across any ISOs that won't boot)?

 

Also, have you stuck with the 32GB FAT partition for ISOs or tried enlarging it (and has that caused problems, if so)?

[Arthur]

I got mine on Thursday, but decided to have a play around with it for a few days before posting my thoughts.

 

I would definitely recommend getting one - it's brilliant! As you said, you will save a huge amount of time by not having to burn discs or re-do USB flash drives each time a program gets updated. I haven't come across a single ISO it doesn't work with so far (the virtual drive emulates a USB optical drive so should work with literally everything). These are the programs and OSs I have tried...

 

Windows XP, Vista & 7
Mac OS X 10.6.3 "Snow Leopard" (see note below)
Linux Mint Xfce (201104)
Avira AntiVir Rescue System
ESET SysRescue
Microsoft Standalone System Sweeper
F4's Ultimate Boot CD v4.5
HP Proliant Smart Update Firmware DVD v9.30
KonBoot v1.1
Microsoft DaRT v6.5
PartedMagic v6.2
Ultimate Boot CD v5.1 beta 1

 

* The Mac OS X ISO had to be created with ImgBurn. Converting a DMG I had already made of the install disc using Carbon Copy Cloner to an ISO via 'hdiutil' didn't boot on my Mac mini.

 

In the style of Engadget, here is my Pro's/Con's list.

 

Pro's

• No need to take stacks of discs or USB flash drives around with you any more.
  
• Burning CD/DVDs is a thing of the past.
  
• Boots CD/DVDs faster than a regular optical drive would.
  
• Enclosure can power the HDD via a single USB port (rather than one of those USB Y cables). This probably depends more on which HDD you use though.
  
• ISOs stored in the _ISO folder can be organized into sub-folders. I have separate folders for Windows, Mac and Linux images.
  
• You can store far more ISOs on a HDD than you can with a USB flash drive.
  
• Aluminium enclosure looks great (particular in silver) and helps to dissipate heat from the HDD. The temperature is shown on the display too.
  

Con's

• Expensive (but still cheaper than buying an equivalent iodd enclosure from eBay)
  
• No USB 3.0 or eSATAp ports.
  
• Write protect switch is almost impossible to move with your fingernail. Had to use the end of a paperclip instead!
  
• The original iodd enclosures supported NTFS, ExFAT and FAT32 filesystems, while the Zalman only supports NTFS. I have a single 500GB partition on my HDD.
  
• Bundled ~36cm eSATA cable is too short if you have an eSATA port on the rear of your PC.
  
• Supplied case scratches display. The material on the inside is too rough.
  

[LeMarchand]

Cheers, was going to order one yesterday, but the first couple of sites I tried were OOS and then I got distracted.

 

Will try again this evening. This seems such an obvious idea that it's puzzling that it's taken this long for someone to implement it (and that there aren't many competing products - though no doubt once we all have one there will be cheaper/better competitors!). Mind you, I read a thread on HotDeals where most of the people didn't seem to see the point of such a device.

[SYNACK]

Looks good! I might get myself one of those.

 

Not something you can wear around your neck, though...

 

I don't know, some costume jewls and a chain might transform it into some fetching bling

[Arthur]

Not something you can wear around your neck, though...

Here's one I've just found that you can wear around your neck...

 

Kanguru FlashBlu30 with Physical Write Protect Switch

 

 

Since Zalman's latest ZM-VE400 enclosure has horrible capacitive buttons, this looks like a good alternative if you need a proper write-protect switch.

 

Apologies in advance for bumping such an old thread.

Edited April 16, 2014 by Arthur

[LeMarchand]

Apologies in advance for bumping such an old thread.

 

I should think so!

 

I got the Zalman, and it's still in frequent use. Might look at one of those Kangaru sticks next time I need to replace one, though.