U3 Smart Drive

I've just bought a Cruzer flash drive with U3 Smart Technology. I was wondering if anybody has had any experience with it, and share any thoughts if possible.
Thanks in advance for any comments.

 

I have purchased several drives that had U3 on them. (I buy LOTS of flash drives! ) Initially, I liked the platform and thought it was of value. But after a while, I ended up changing my mind. I didn't like the fact I had to wait for U3 to load each time I inserted the drive. I didn't like the fact it took longer to remove the drive while waiting for U3 to unload. I didn't like the fact that on each PC it's used on, there are some pieces of U3 left behind (not much, and nothing of a personal nature but still a few pieces.) Plus, when and if I wanted a portable application, I found some sources of portable programs that worked well without the "fluff" that U3 brought.
http://portableapps.com/
http://www.portablefreeware.com/

So, anymore, I remove U3 as soon as I get the drive home. It allows me to use the drive in the least amount of time and other than a USB device entry in the registry, there are no leftovers in the PC.
http://u3.com/support/default.aspx#CQ3

 

Thanks, this is exactly what I thought U3 would be, depending on the user it could be valuable, but I like to use it as a simple storage unit.

 

The first thing I do when buying a U3 device is to uninstall the U3 thingie using their uninstall utility, format it and load it with portable apps, truecrypt and whatnot.
Mrk

 

On my flash drive, it is an option to install it. Is there really a reason to be so drastic?

 

What is the "it" you mention?

 

See the attachment.

 

Running U3 is not optional, at least not for some Windows users if they have default settings in place.

There is another file there (autorun.inf) that you don't see because you have Vista (or Win 7?) set to not show operating system files. If autorun was enabled by default in Vista/Win 7 as it in XP, U3 would have already ran and installed.

BTW, if you look carefully, you can see that you also have a CD drive F called U3 System. This is normal for a U3 drive. Note that unless you have ran the LaunchU3 executable, you still have not actually installed anything...

 

Hello,
i have a cruzer micro flash drive 16gb.
i just copied all the U3 stuff to a partition on my hard drive then reformated the drive.

that reminds me that i need to find the recipt.
after roughly 1-2months since purchase and now it doesnt work anymore.
tryed in 5-10 machines running different os's linux (debian,mandriva etc),OSX leopard and windows xp and vista.

 

You should be a detective, as a matter of fact the attachment was taken on Win 7. I've actually launched U3 and it gave me the option to uninstall it (although it is still there to be restored, I don't mind). I can't see any point to reformat the drive (the current attachment was taken on Vista Ultimate).
@Iodore
Mine is also a 16GB, I've never heard of flash drives dying so quickly, by the way, how long are they supposed to last? (I kept my receipt after reading your post)

 

They should normally last a long time. Although I must admit I've never tested that much. I buy new ones well before their predecessors are even broken in. LOL!

2 key things that help to give them a longer life. Keep them far, far away from static electricity and ALWAYS use the "Safely Remove Hardware" routine (left clicking the icon in the System Tray and then left clicking on the appropriate drive.)

 

this is my first usb flash drive that has gone wrong.
i still have a 128mb flash drive from around 4 years ago that works great.