USB Trip Wires - How to Avoid Smashing Your Camera, Cell Phone, or iPod

I have lots of devices that I regularly plug into the USB slots of my PC. There must be millions of people who use USB cables to transfer data to all sorts of portable devices. Although most people don’t realise, they are setting themselves a trap when they plug into the front of their tower PCs.

Product designers couldn’t have designed it much worse if they tried. Due to the short length of USB cables, our precious devices usually are precariously rested on the table top, which equates to a suitably high cliff from which our beloved gadget is ready to fall. All it takes is a light brush or a slight snag of the USB cable and several hundreds pounds worth of cutting edge technology can be destroyed in seconds.

One of the best solutions to this potential danger is to get a monitor with USB 2.0 ports. However, if your display doesn’t have this feature I have come up with a cheaper solution. It doesn’t rely on any sort of wireless technology, but is just a simple way of moving your USB port to a more sensible position. If you run a USB extension cable from the back of your PC up to the back of your desk this keeps the cable out of harms way. I use a rubber band to tie the female end to my monitor cable, thus keeping it in a convenient position so I can easily connect and disconnect my devices.

Wireless devices are becoming increasingly popular and in time are set to replace USB cables. In the mean time, we are stuck with cables that double up as trip wires. Don’t say you haven’t been warned.

Zach Hope is the author of Speed-Up-Windows-XP.com, a site that can teach anybody to speed up Windows to invigorate old computers. You can eliminate slow boot troubles today and transform your slow computer.