What kind of disk do I need for Microsoft Office Files?

Like .doc files , publisher files, excel files, etc.? I have a gateway computer that's pretty new and it doesn't have a floppy disk drive. Obviously I haven't needed a portable disk in awhile, so I don't know what's new and what would work with office and my computer. I also need this disk to be compatible with older computers that can have office on them. Basically, I need a portable disk/chip whatever they call it now days, that can store Microsoft Office Files on it. Also do you know how much and where to get these things? I need something that is really cheap, it doesn't have to hold a lot at one time; just about 5-10 files at a time. Thank you for your help.

My computer doesn't have a cd burner.

The best medium to store portable data on now is a usb flash drive, you can find them at almost any store now. These flash drives will work on OS X, Windows 2000, XP, and Vista with out the need of installing any drivers.

Here is an example of these, they come in smaller sizes too:
http://shop2.outpost.com/product/5521380...

If you are going to use the data on a old computer(Windows 9x) then you should probably store the information on cd/dvd-r


It is kind of hard to give an average size for a Word document because it will depend greatly on many factors, but they start out about 100KB. Power Point/Publisher will use more room than a Word file. Any of the flash drives(including the 64MB ones) will be more than enough room for many Office files. If you would ever plan on using it for storing movies/music then something bigger than 1GB would be needed. I use my flash drive all the time to carry around my college home work(which means I am useing it for Office files), and I have a 1GB drive, It has done a fantastic job for me.

burn them to CD, use a thumb drive (AKA flash drive, USB memory key, etc)

I assume you are asking how to be able to transport files from one computer to another.

First, whatever device you use, it doesn't care what the files are, they are only data. So you can use any kind of file on such devices.

You have various options, the cheapest and easiest is the flash drive, also called a thumb or jump drive. These are little drives, about the size of a pack of gum, that plug into the USB ports on your computer. Your computer will tell you it sees new hardware, and will ask you what you want to do. You click to open the drive (it will show like a folder) and it will open in a window and show you what is on it. Then you can drag any files you want to transfer to that drive. They will copy onto the drive. Go to the bottom of your screen, you should see an icon with a little green arrow on it facing left (Note I am using Windows XP, if you have Vista it may be different). Click on this, it will ask you if you wanted to safely remove software. Click on the port for that little drive you plugged in. It may take a couple of seconds, then it will tell you it's okay to remove the hardware (NEVER just pull it out!)

The nice thing about these little drives is you can buy them almost anywhere, you can now get a 1gigabyte thumb drive for no more than about $15, and you can plug them into any computer with a USB port, including Macs. So it doesn't care what kind of computer you have or what kind of files you are using.

The one disadvantage is that they are small, and people tend to lose them or forget they have them plugged into the computer. Always make sure you properly disconnect the drive, never just pull it out. And also do not make the mistake of working from the drive: you should really just consider them a way of transporting files. Copy the file you need to work onto the computer (drag it to the desk top or copy it into My Documents) and open it up on the computer, not from the drive. When you are done working on it, you can drag it (copy it) back onto the thumb drive. Then make sure you dismount/eject/disconnect the drive correctly, remove it and off you go.

Hope that helps!