--- title: ROCK USB Drive Best Practices and Tips description: The USB drive is a critical component to your LiDAR system.  Even though it is small and fairly cheap to replace, LiDAR data is being written in real time to the USB drive during data collection.  Bec --- [Skip to content](https://learn.rockrobotic.com/rock-usb-drive-best-practices-and-tips#main-content) English Show submenu for translations ![ROCK-robotic-community-logo.png\]](https://learn.rockrobotic.com/hs-fs/hubfs/ROCK-robotic-community-logo.png?width=250&height=50&name=ROCK-robotic-community-logo.png) - [ROCK Customer Support](https://www.rockrobotic.com/support/) Open main navigation Close main navigation - [ROCK Customer Support](https://www.rockrobotic.com/support/) - English Show submenu for translations - [www.rockrobotic.com](https://www.rockrobotic.com/) [www.rockrobotic.com](https://www.rockrobotic.com/) Hello. How can we help you? - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. 1. [ROCK Knowledgebase](https://learn.rockrobotic.com/?hsLang=en) 2. [ROCK R3 Pro](https://learn.rockrobotic.com/rock-r3-pro?hsLang=en) 3. [Data collection](https://learn.rockrobotic.com/rock-r3-pro?hsLang=en#data-collection) August 8, 2024 # ROCK USB Drive Best Practices and Tips The USB drive is a critical component to your LiDAR system.  Even though it is small and fairly cheap to replace, LiDAR data is being written in real time to the USB drive during data collection.  Because of that, we want to focus on just awareness and maintenance for this USB drive. ### Awareness By awareness, we mean understanding approximately how much space has been taken up or is available for use on the USB drive. This is crucial for ensuring that you have enough space for your data collection needs. ### Maintenance  Regularly formatting your USB drive is essential for clearing out space and preventing potential issues. You can find the instructions for formatting the USB drive on the [Rock Knowledge Base](https://learn.rockrobotic.com/what-flash-drive-works-with-the-r3-pro?hsLang=en). ### Best Practices 1. **Stop Data Collection Properly**: After data collection is done, use the[one-button method](https://learn.rockrobotic.com/how-to-operate-the-r3-pro-with-1-button?hsLang=en) to stop the survey. This involves: - A short push, followed by a long push on your Rock Lidar unit. - Holding the button down to turn the unit off. This ensures data collection is stopped correctly and the unit is shut off properly, preventing writing issues or corruption to the USB drive.  2. **Safe Ejection**: When transferring data from the USB drive to your hard drive, make sure to eject the drive safely after the transfer. This prevents possible corruption of the drive, which could lead to issues with writing data during your next survey and necessitate recapturing the dataset. ### Potential Issues If the USB drive gets corrupted and is not properly formatted, you might face issues with writing data during your next survey, leading to processing errors and possibly having to recapture the dataset.  > **Tip**: Always ensure your USB drive is in good condition and formatted regularly to avoid data corruption and loss. 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