Size & Portability

• The U3 system software automatically installs U3 components (the “U3 Launchpad”) on the hard drive of any computer it is plugged into.
• The U3 USB flash drive can be plugged into any other computer running a compatible version of MS Windows without any software installation.
• You only need Administrator’s rights on the setup computer, afterwards, you can move the U3 USB to other computers and you do not need administrator access privileges.

Simple to use

• Programs are run from the Launchpad, which looks a lot like the standard Windows XP Start menu
• No need of admin rights on other computers
• New software can be installed to a U3 flash drive without the requirement for administrative privileges on the host computer.

Security

• Most U3 drives have a security lock inside the U3 Launchpad. This loads the CD partition first and can be set to require a password ; otherwise the data partition will not load and the use will not get access to the stored data.
• The U3 USB flash drive will erase all stored data on the data partition after a set number of failed password attempts. This feature currently may make the data partition invisible on the Mac OS, Linux or other non-Windows operating systems. An alternative is to use passwords on sensitive documents or third party encryption technology. This password protection may be removed by the original user on any Windows computer.

Some of the negatives…

U3 Technology is still under development by SanDisk, as well as its successor technology, “StartKey”. Some of the criticisms of U3 USB flash drives have been:

• Freezing the computer – Some software conflicts have been infrequently reported (CD writers such as Nero, etc.)
• The U3 platform is a “closed” platform / proprietary format, and unavailable for developers outside of SanDisk. SanDisk requires a 5% royalty from USB flash drive manufacturers that implement U3 technology in their flash drives.
• Mostly Windows… U3 software might not work as expected on Mac or Linux machines. It was designed for Windows… successor versions are being developed in coordination with Microsoft, so this is not likely to change.
• Two drive letters – Flash drives do not traditionally have an auto-play functionality, so the two drives was a hack to fix this issue. U3 software creates two drive letters (one which your computer thinks is a CD that then enables Windows’ auto-play to start the launcher, and another for storing user data).
• Compatibility issues: Photo kiosks, consumer electronics, and some devices sometimes have a hard time with U3 devices. They tend to see the emulated CD-ROM first and not the data partition. Some photo kiosks can now detect U3 drives but for other devices, the hassle has not been worth it, so there may be some issues with non-pc devices.

It is possible to password protect your U3 USB Smart Drive with a password so that nobody can use it if you should lose it or should it somehow fall into the hands of a data thief. You can also set it so that after a set number of password tries, it will destroy your data. Of course, you can have a password hint… but once your data is gone, it’s gone!

This delete function will only delete the data partition, so if you get your U3 USB drive back, you can still use it and reload your data.

The problem with security is that it makes the U3 unusable on some systems such as Macs, Windows 98/ME and Linux to name a few. Users of these systems will not even see the data partition if security is enabled. For travelers, this may or may not present a problem, as a PC is almost always available somewhere nearby, and then when you reach your destination, you can always then disable the security an plug it into your Mac or Linux machine. If this is a problem, you can always simply password protect the sensitive documents using the native password protection that comes with most applications – or Zip and password.

U3 technology was developed jointly by SanDisk and M-Systems and is an open-standard. SanDisk later acquired M-Systems (2006).

The technology relies upon a tiny 4MB read-only partition which behaves much like a CD-ROM drive, while the data partition shows up as a regular flash drive – simple enough. Windows is tricked into treating the system partition as a CD – hence, U3 takes advantage of Windows AutoPlay whereby Windows automatically runs the U3 LaunchPad, requests the user password, and if all passes muster, unlocks the data partition of the drive.

The best part about it is that U3 will run on anyone’s PC – including in Internet cafes – whether or not the user has Administrative rights!

The LaunchPad is the main interface of the U3 smart drive, and it looks a lot like your standard Windows XP menu. There is a U3 icon in the system tray, so you can just open or manage applications and documents on the U3 USB drive from there.