[This followup was posted to comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage and a copy
was sent to the cited author.]
Do you think a USB 2.0 flash drive would be fast enough
that it could be treated as a removable hard disk?
It would be a replacement for a dying SCSI Jaz drive.
(I don't expect it to be as fast as a SCSI device).
An alternative would be a SCSI Zip drive.
Flash drives, even USB 1, are reasonably fast. I'm don't remember how
fast a Jaz drive is, but even my basic USB flash drive is faster than my
ancient ZIP100. A Zip/Jaz is really only useful if you want to store data
for awhile, or must support older disks. Both are on their last legs.
Iomega recently came out with a Zip750, but I think ZIP drives will be
gone soon. I haven't used mine in 2-3 years.
Basically, if you are just using the drives to transfer data (sneaker-
net), then use a Flash drive if your computers have USB ports. WinME/2K/XP
have built-in support for most of these drives (although you may need
Administrative priveleges for the driver to install itself under 2K/XP.)
Win98 may require drivers supplied by the manufacturer. NT and WIn95 don't
support USB at all (Win95B sort-of does USB, but few manufacturers support
Win95B.) Also, a USB 2 flash drive will only get it's speed if the
computer supports USB 2. You'll get USB 1 speeds otherwise.
You could also consider a DVD writer.
