Need A Quick “External Drive”? Try A GPS Or Digital Camera

SD and microSD are the standard storage mediums in many devices today. Three examples are digital cameras, standalone GPS devices (like Garmin nüvi models) and smartphones.

No matter what you mount your SD/microSD card into, when connected to a PC it will show up as a drive letter no matter what the originating device is when connected via USB cable.

Where would this come in useful?

You’re at a friend’s house. Your friend wants to give you some files (example: a collection of high-quality photos from a recent sporting event), but they’re way too big to send in email. Your friend has no writeable CDs, DVDs or USB keys to lend you – but – you do have your digital camera in your car.

Being it’s most likely true the digital camera probably has a few gigs free for space, just use the camera. Plug in the camera to your friend’s computer via USB, a drive letter will pop up (maybe after a few seconds of “recognizing” the device by Windows), and if you have enough free space, copy the files, disconnect the camera safely and it’s a done deal.

The same thing can be accomplished using your smartphone or standalone GPS device.

When you need a quick “external drive” in a pinch, remember your devices that use SD because they probably have the space ready-to-use.

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