52. Access and Save Files to a USB Memory Stick

You can access files from portable media such as USB memory stick drives. When the drive is attached to your computer, it acts the same as any other drive, and you can save, copy, move, and delete files on the drive.

When the drive is attached to the system, it is mounted by the system, so you can find it anytime that you need it in the /media folder in the file system.

Before You Begin

14 About File Commands

15 Use File Commands

46 Use Nautilus to Manage Folders

47 Browse and Open Files

48 Find Files

49 Delete Files

Insert USB Drive

Insert the USB drive into a USB port on your computer. A hardware detection dialog opens. If you want this dialog box to open each time you insert the USB drive, clear the Do Not Ask Again check box.

Tip

To remove the USB drive, make sure that you close all applications and applets accessing the drive. You can then remove the drive. If this makes you queasy, open a terminal window, type su, and then press Enter. Type the root password (and press Enter). Type umount /media/usb* and press Enter. You can type exit and then press Enter to exit as root, and then type exit and press Enter again to close the terminal. In some cases, the light on the USB drive will still be blinking, but you can now remove it. If you still don't want to just yank out the drive, power down the system and then remove the USB drive.

Close Hardware Detection Dialog

Select Yes on the Hardware Detection dialog box to open the USB drive.

Browse Files on USB

The USB drive window opens. You can browse the files and folders on the USB drive as needed. You can open another File Manager window if you want to copy or move files from the USB drive.

Close USB Drive Window

After you have finished working with the files and folders on the USB drive, select the Close button to close the window.

Tip

If you close the USB drive's Nautilus window, you can reopen it at any time. Open the Computer window (double-click on the Computer icon on the desktop) and then open the Filesystem. Open the /media folder, and the USB drive appears as an icon. Double-click the icon to open the drive.