How to Rename a USB Flash Drive

Before we learn how to rename a USB flash disk drive, let us see what a flash drive is and its importance. A USB flash disk drive is a commonly used data storage device. It is the device that has replaced the floppy disks which were mostly used in the early computers. The USB flash drives are typically removable and rewritable. The USB flash disk is small, light in weight, compact and more accommodating (in terms of the data it can store) as compared to the floppy disk. It uses the flash memory technology to store data.

A USB flash disk drive is very important because it can be used for various reasons:-

1. For data transportation – it can be used to carry and transfer data to another computer.
2. For data backup – you can use a flash disk drive to backup your important files, documents and software.
3. Installations – you can use a flash disk for software installations.
4. Running open source software – you can run open source software from the flash disk.
5. High capacity storage – a flash disk is able to hold a lot of data depending on its size which is expressed in terms of Gigabyte (GB) - e.g 2GB, 4GB, 8GB etc.

You might be asking yourself this question, is it really important to rename your USB flash disk drive? Well the answer is yes. Once you rename your flash disk drive, it becomes easier for you to recognize and work with it or them if you are using more than one. And instead of you giving a name, you can opt to give it your telephone number. This can help if by bad luck it gets lost or you misplace it and it is found by a Good Samaritan. The Good Samaritan can be able to call you and you would be happy to get your very important files back and of course your flash disk.

But remember, it is always important to backup your data somewhere else other than on your flash disk drive to avoid data loss.

How to rename your USB flash drive

The easiest way is to:

1. Click on start then select my computer, or double click on my computer icon on the desktop.

2. Locate your flash disk under the Devices with Removable Storage. Most probably if you have never given any name or volume label, it will be calling itself Removable Disk (then followed by the drive letter here e.g. F:)

3. To rename, right click on the device icon and select rename.

4. Enter the name or your mobile phone number. The drive will now assume the name or numbers you have assigned to it.

Note: (a) You can not leave it without a name.

(b) You can only enter 11 characters or numbers.

The other way of renaming a flash disk is when you are formatting. Though this method should only be used when it is absolutely necessary to format your flash disk and you have backed up your data, otherwise you will loose your data. When you right click on the flash disk icon, then select format, you can enter the volume label before you click on the start format button. The volume label you will enter is the drive name it will assume.

You can also rename a USB flash disk drive when formatting it using MS DOS. After initiating the formatting process, you will be prompted to enter the volume label which is the same as the drive name you want to assign it. Volume label (11 characters, ENTER for none). Type the name or number you want to use as your drive name and then press enter key to continue.

So you can rename your drives so that when you are working with a number of them you can tell which is which.