One of the most common portable storage devices is the USB flash drive. Everyone uses them but few know more information about them and even fewer know how to format them, which is precisely the reason why Check Flash was developed and can help anyone who wants to do those two things.
Installation & Requirements
There is no installation for the application. Simply download the files and then run the exe. The supported operating systems are Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7 and 8.
Interface
All the options regarding your USB drive are conveniently located in one place. It should be noted that most of the things you will be able to choose to do are reserved for more advanced users and if you do not really know what you are doing, you should really be careful when using the program. Most of the information that the program can provide for you also requires a bit of technical knowledge.
However, that does not mean less tech savvy users will have trouble using the program or that they should not use it at all. You can still get information on the state of your drive that will surely be of help to anyone. However, as the application warns, trying some of the more advanced utilities might cause more harm than good at the hands of amateurs.
Moving on from those observations, the interface is pretty straightforward. First of all, you choose an access type which will also determine what actions you can take. The temporary file access type can only give you the ability to test the writing and testing speed of the USB flash drive as well as simultaneously check for errors. It is best advised that the drive is completely empty when performing any tests, not because of potential dangers but because the application gives better results on completely empty drives as it can read them better. To test any drive you only need to select it from the drop down list and press the start button.
Other things available include the test length, which is going to be useful when errors are detected, information about the drive such as its speed and a complete error map with an accompanying error log. There is also a legend that categorizes errors based on colour.
Pros
-No installation and a very small file size
-Extremely fast testing speeds even in larger USB Flash drives
-A very reasonable amount of options for testing the drives that is accompanied with a complete log
Cons
-Some aspects will be confusing to less experienced users
Conclusion
If you have searched for such an application then you should know what to expect. It performs exactly what the name suggests and does well in both reading and testing the drives for any errors. With no installation required, you should most definitely try out Check Flash and see for yourself.
