add a device

Any usb stick in your PC will show, just as your Montana and its memory card show.

A standard removable USB drive is not recognised by BaseCamp so you need to use File > Export to copy the contents of a BaseCamp folder or a selection of tracks and waypoints to the drive. Bear in mind that Garmin will export all these into a single GPX file unless you export then one at a time.

Another approach which I use is to create a Garmin Flash Drive which will be recognised in BaseCamp. Full details are available at: http://www.gpsrchive.com/Montana/Clone%20GPSr.html 

The XML file in the \Garmin folder on the flash drive will make it visible in BaseCamp just like a GPSr , and you can then transfer routes, tracks and waypoints to it. These will be held in the \Garmin\GPX folder.  

Thank you both for your replies.

On my PC, I figured out how it works. I have a USB stick with the Basecamp files and map files that I purchased on it. I use it when I am playing with new tracks rather than plugging in the Montana. If the Montana is not plugged into the PC, but that USB stick is, when I open Basecamp, it sees the USB stick and opens the maps that I have on it. I have no tracks on it because I didn’t know how to save them there. (Hence, my question.)

If I plug in the Montana then start Basecamp, BC see the Montana. If I then plug in the USB stick, even though windows sees the USB stick, BC does not. It’s like it does not refresh after starting. However, if I plug in the Montana and the USB stick, then start BC, BC sees the both.

When I posted the question, I had not thought about the order of things.

Eyelet: Before figuring out the order, I was unable to export to the ush stick, since it was not seen by BC at all. Now that I have the order of things figured out, I used the export feature to, in essence, back up the Montana to the usb stick.

Wrong. I do it all the time.

I certainly don't want to argue with you sussamb. You've been incredibly helpful in the past. All I can say is that I tested this with 2 usb sticks and a ubs hard drive and on my pc, at least, if the usb device was not plugged into the pc when I opened BC, BC would not see it when I subsequently plugged in the usb device. In each case, the PC registered the usb device as a drive, but BC did not include it in the devices list.

FWIW, I'm running windows 10 pro 20H2 on the PC and BC 4.6.2

At least now that I know the order that I must do things on my PC, it's easy to accommodate it.

thanks again

Grant

You are right - I stand corrected (as the man said in the orthopaedic shoes)!

No harm done, Sussamb. It is interesting that these things behave differently on different set ups - to be expected, I guess.

Thought maybe I was special for a moment