It’s been just a few years now since the widespread popularity of the USB memory stick hit an all time high. In recent years prices have dropped at an amazing rate, and to make things even better, the sizes available have increased by nearly the same rate. It seems like just a year ago a 1GB memory stick was huge!

Finding one that exceeds 10GB is pretty easy and very affordable these days. In early stages, mostly tech people were the ones using them. Now they have become a must have for nearly every student. With recent developments, specifically the price and size, their uses have grown infinitely. Here are a few ways you too can use a USB memory stick to make your life easier.

1. A Backup Device-This is most likely the original intent for memory sticks. Even when they were just a few hundred MB. You can use today’s USB memory sticks to back up so much more than just your resume and accounting files. Their increased size and affordability has allowed them to be used to back up entire libraries.

2. Mobile Photo Studio-Have you ever wanted to take a bunch of pictures over to a friend or family member’s home? Do you have more photos than what your camera can hold? Just throw all your pictures on a USB memory stick. You can take it anywhere you want that has a computer, and you will be able to show off all of your pictures anytime.

3. Mobile JukeBox-If you have ever been stuck without a MP3 player or reasonable way to carry all your music files around with you, you know that it can be pretty frustrating. Why not try using a USB memory stick? Sure it can’t actually play them, but if you want to listen to your music at work, school, or a friend’s house, just pop your memory stick in any computer, and you can have your entire music library available.

4. Troubleshooting Device-This is perhaps one of the most popular uses currently. Especially for tech savvy people, a USB memory stick can be amazingly helpful for a lot of reasons when it comes to troubleshooting a computer.  They allow you to quickly and efficiently back up customer data (or your own) in the event you need to. It also allows you to easily carry around your arsenal of software like anti-virus, anti-spyware, and other troubleshooting tools. A lot of times you may find a computer that doesn’t have internet access due to an issue or maybe they just don’t have any. Having your troubleshooting tools handy saves everyone loads of time. We can’t list the number of times we have been on-site repairing a computer, wishing we had something like WinSock fix to repair an internet connection.

5. Extra Hard Drive Space-Yes it’s true! USB memory sticks can be used as an affordable option to increase the available space of your computer hard drive. If you are running low, and don’t have the cash to buy an external hard drive, USB memory sticks can be a great place to stash some of the larger seldom used files like picture collections, movies, music, and more. While it is true you cannot install a program in most cases, like Microsoft Office, to a USB memory stick, moving around files that are taking up a lot of space should give you the room you need.

These are just a few of the many ways you can get a little extra mileage out of that USB memory stick you have laying around, or a few reasons to pick one up soon.