MP3 Players are External Drives

There are more uses for MP3 players than simply listening to music. Some MP3 players also contain a Digital Voice Recorder (DVR), which can be used while traveling to record small notes to yourself or to record lectures and seminars. You could load up your MP3 player with the audio portion from an online lecture for a course you are attending for later review or with one of the many foreign language courses that are now available. Any audio file stored in the MP3 format can be copied to an MP3 player for later listening.

So how do you store these files to your MP3 player? You connect the player to the Universal Serial Bus USB port of your PC. Some MP3 players come with special software to aid in the process of transferring files. Others simply require you to use the file management software of the computer. Windows PCs contain the Explorer program, which is available by right clicking on the start button of the task bar. This program brings up a display of the storage areas and devices that the user has access to. You can copy files from your PC to the MP3 player using the Explorer program.

One other use for your MP3 player that many people do not realize is for data back-up. When an MP3 player is connected to the USB port of a computer, the computer handles the player like any other storage device and the player will often show up as an external drive. Using this feature you can create folders on the player and copy files to that folder just like you would any other external drive. In fact, many of the MP3 players available on the market use the same technology as the USB drives or thumb-drives as they are sometimes called. For this reason, some organizations do not permit their employees to bring MP3 players to work because they can be a security threat. So, if your employer asks, or demands, that you leave your MP3 player at home don't argue. Simply realize that the employer has a valid concern and do as requested...