Get the photos off a USB stick
Plug in a memory stick, copy what is on it onto your computer, and take it out safely.
Somebody has handed you a stick with the photographs from a wedding on it. Nothing will happen when you plug it in, and that is correct behavior.
A memory stick is a small drawer full of files. The computer notices it, gives it a letter — usually D: or E: — and adds it to the list of places you can look. Then it waits for you.
Copying from the stick leaves the stick exactly as it was. You are taking a photograph of the photographs, not carrying them away.
Key points
- Find a memory stick in the list of drives, by its letter and its size
- Look inside DCIM, where every camera in the world puts its photographs
- Select all, copy, and paste into a folder you chose
- Eject a stick properly before pulling it out
What to remember
- Copy, not Cut. Leave the stick as you found it, and you end up with two copies rather than one that moved.
- Copy, check, then clear. Sticks are cheap and photographs of a wedding are not.
- The small arrow in the corner of the screen is where every plugged-in thing is politely dismissed.
Try this
Plug in any stick you have and look at the list down the left of File Explorer. Find the letter it has been given, then eject it again without copying anything.
Practice: Get the photos off a USB stick. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.