SanDisk Ultra USB 3.0 flash drive. Suitable for use as a cheap Windows 10 Recovery Drive (for those of us who upgraded and don't have bootable installation media if the system crashes). The read speeds are OK but the write speeds are slow, so don't buy it if you want to write often, but should be OK as a backup. Packaging says "up to 100 MB/s". Plug in the stick, type "recovery drive" into Cortana, click the top link and tick the option "Back up system files to the recovery drive", then just follow the prompts. It will prepare the files (can take a while) and then ask you to choose the right USB stick before copying anything.
The stick has a hole for a label or keyring, but the plastic is lightweight, so not one to carry around everyday.
Use Click and collect online to get this at £4.99 (it was £6.50 in the store I went to). Seems a good price for 16GB even compared to online. I think the deal is nationwide, stock was OK in West London or for home delivery.
I also noticed that the 64GB SanDisk Ultra Fit (tiny) USB 3.0 was £12.99 in store, but £13.99 online, the packaging on that one says "Up to 150 MB/s". You can find better value online but not bad value if you want one today.
5 comments
bestbuy123
2 Sep 16#1
good price, was gonna purchase this but went for the extreme one instead cause of faster transfer speeds
JaneEB
3 Sep 16#2
Just one thing - if you need it for Windows 10 recovery then you need a bigger one, Recovery says you need 16GB but it is a "different" 16 GB than this, Windows uses a different measurement than producers of USB sticks. There are two different versions of a GB, Windows uses the larger one and the USB sticks use the smaller one.
Duffbeer to JaneEB
3 Sep 16#3
Hi JaneEB, thanks for the info. I've used my sticks for two different Windows 10 PCs to create a recovery drive for each, both worked without problems. The first saved only 4.27GB (W10 upgraded from W7) and the second used 11.2GB (new laptop, OEM installed).
I did some searching and "Saltgrass" on windows10forums said "Now a Recovery Drive reconstructs your current basic windows 10 install which gives you the ability to recover the system back to a original state at the time the drive was made. No personal files will be recovered. If you have an OEM system, or at least a newer one which came with Windows 10 installed, the software they originally provided will also be reinstalled." This explains the variability in sizes.
Microsoft recommend "... typically 3 to 6 GB in size" and Microsoft answers show all the screens you'll see. You can follow the process on your own PC until you see the screen which tells you to choose a USB stick as it will also tell you the exact size needed for your own PC. £4.99 for a little more peace of mind :smiley:
Duffbeer
Hilarious101
3 Sep 16#4
I highly recommend making a recovery disk. My new 6700k system with SSDs had to be recovered after a fatal Windows 10 crash. Was this an isolated incident specific to SSDs????
My old HP laptop running Windows 10 on a HDD also crashed last week ("files damaged" message) at POST. Which also had to be recovered/rebuilt from recovery disk.....
So, are these isolated incidents? Has anyone else had their "new" Windows 10 build fatally crash within a year????
I can categorically state that my Windows 7 installation on the old HP never fatally crashed in all the years it was used. Try telling that to Microsoft....As an "insider" I often wonder if it is a waste of time reporting bugs!!!! Same goes for AMD GPUs!!!! Waste of bloody time!
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Opening post
The stick has a hole for a label or keyring, but the plastic is lightweight, so not one to carry around everyday.
Use Click and collect online to get this at £4.99 (it was £6.50 in the store I went to). Seems a good price for 16GB even compared to online. I think the deal is nationwide, stock was OK in West London or for home delivery.
I also noticed that the 64GB SanDisk Ultra Fit (tiny) USB 3.0 was £12.99 in store, but £13.99 online, the packaging on that one says "Up to 150 MB/s". You can find better value online but not bad value if you want one today.
5 comments
I did some searching and "Saltgrass" on windows10forums said "Now a Recovery Drive reconstructs your current basic windows 10 install which gives you the ability to recover the system back to a original state at the time the drive was made. No personal files will be recovered. If you have an OEM system, or at least a newer one which came with Windows 10 installed, the software they originally provided will also be reinstalled." This explains the variability in sizes.
Microsoft recommend "... typically 3 to 6 GB in size" and Microsoft answers show all the screens you'll see. You can follow the process on your own PC until you see the screen which tells you to choose a USB stick as it will also tell you the exact size needed for your own PC. £4.99 for a little more peace of mind :smiley:
Duffbeer
My old HP laptop running Windows 10 on a HDD also crashed last week ("files damaged" message) at POST. Which also had to be recovered/rebuilt from recovery disk.....
So, are these isolated incidents? Has anyone else had their "new" Windows 10 build fatally crash within a year????
I can categorically state that my Windows 7 installation on the old HP never fatally crashed in all the years it was used. Try telling that to Microsoft....As an "insider" I often wonder if it is a waste of time reporting bugs!!!! Same goes for AMD GPUs!!!! Waste of bloody time!