We've all lost a flash drive or two. Whether it was a cheap USB drive containing some promotional material, or a top secret one detailing the security protocol pertaining to a certain Queen of England's travel plans, sometimes we forget things, and have to hope that our sensitive information doesn't fall into the wrong hands. Securing your hardware by encrypting your flash drive beforehand will prevent unauthorised individuals from getting into your misplaced media. It won't get your flash drive back any faster, but you'll know that you and your data aren't in danger while your USB is at large.

For those eager to easily misplace two terabytes worth of photos, videos, MP3s, and other important documents, today Kingston unveiled a three-inch USB flash drive packing more storage than even a fully spec'd MacBook Pro.

Earlier this week, the Victorian Police issued an alert about malware-laden USB thumb drives being found in residents' mailboxes. The idea of distributing malware through USB sticks isn't new and yet research has found that many people would plug in a USB drive that they find in a public place. This kind of attack is known to be used by attackers to gain access into corporate networks by luring careless employees into plugging in booby-trapped USB sticks in their work computers. More education is needed to warn end-users about the dangers of USB sticks found in public spaces.

Flash drives can come in all sorts of fun shapes and sizes (my current favourite is shaped like R2-D2), but wouldn't it be cool to make one with your own design? With a microwave kiln and some glass you can.

There are exceptions to the rule that you always "get what you pay for". Indeed, there's nothing better than getting a good deal on a quality product. As the prices on flash drives drop, opportunities to snag a bargain are everywhere, but just because a drive is marked as "USB 3.0" doesn't mean it'll perform any better than an older 2.0 device.

You can never have enough USB thumb drives, unless of course you have a problem with hoarding and you're drowning in portable storage devices. For everyone who doesn't fit this description, Officeworks is currently offering 16GB Cruzer Force flash drives for five bucks each.

Windows: Flash drives come in many different shapes, but once you connect them to your PC and start browsing with Windows Explorer, what you see is exactly the same. If you're on a PC, Windows lets you create a custom background with a desktop.ini file.

Whenever Windows 7 had problems, you could just insert your Windows 7 installation CD and run its recovery tools. Most Windows 8 users, however, don't have an installation CD. Here's how to make a recovery flash drive and delete the space-hogging recovery partition that came with your Windows 8 PC.

If you carry a USB flash drive with portable apps, operating systems and useful data on it, you know they tend to look alike. This clever DIY project will make sure you never get your USB drive mixed up with someone else's ever again.

We love our thumb drives, but they're not all created equal. Some are slow, overpriced, too small, too big or just ugly. The Patriot Supersonic USB 3.0 flash drive is fast, inexpensive, spacious and just the right size.

Although cloud services have made thumb drives a bit less useful for a lot of us, they're still a staple of every geek's toolkit because there are so many things you can do with them. If you've got one or four thumb drives sitting around and want to make sure they're put to good use, here are plenty of awesome things you can do with them.

If you carry around more than one flash drive with you -- maybe you want to keep your work and personal files separate, or maybe one of them is a bootable Linux drive -- this DIY double-sided drive will save you a bit of space and keep your flash drives in one convenient package.

The Swiss Army knife is the go-to multi-tool for all types of people, but it hasn't seen much in the way of technological upgrades over the years. Instructables user dr_weidinger wanted to add a modern twist to his, so his grabbed an angle grinder and hacked a USB flash drive onto the knife's can opener.

Dear Lifehacker, Some of my computers (like my Mac) are always warning me about disconnecting flash drives without ejecting, while Windows doesn't seem to have a problem -- in fact, my external USB drive doesn't even have an eject option. Does this mean it's safe? How do I know when I actually need to eject a drive?

Windows: If you find yourself leaving your USB drive in your work computer and cursing yourself after you arrive home, USB Guard will make sure you always remember to take your flash drive with you.

While everyone else is rushing to convert their wallets into data, one Instructables user was converting his wallet into data storage. By taking a cheap, ultra-thin USB flash drive dongle and sewing one tiny piece of Velcro, Instructables user "Activist" was able to upgrade his leather wallet into the 21st century.

Windows: If you know you need to be more diligent about backing up your flash drive but you never get around to it, USBFlashCopy makes it simple with automatic backups every time you plug your flash drive in.

Whether you're trying to increase your security at an internet cafe, tunnel your way to your home computer from your cubicle, or leave no trace on your friend's borrowed computer, a flash drive turned portable privacy toolkit is invaluable.

After discovering how easily WEP can be cracked and creating a long, secure WPA2 key, you've probably noticed it's a pain to setup the wireless when your friends stop by. Windows 7 makes this process easy.