U3 System

What are U3 Smart Drives? U3 Smart Drives are regular USB flash drives with a twist. Programs can be installed on them and the data from those programs will travel with you. In other words, U3 Drives are computers on a stick. Although the technology is relatively new (the company started in January 2005), there is a wide variety of programs that can be used on these supercharged USB drives. One of the most important advantages of using a U3 enabled flash drive is the ability to take your documents, photos, email, address book, favorites, webpage logins, and more with you wherever you go. Of course you can backup all these files on a normal USB flash drive or other removable device, but the advantage of using a U3 drive is the programs along with the data are on the USB drive. This means you'll be able to work on a report, view photos, look up an email address, and more simply by plugging the device into a computer and pulling it up. You dont necessarily have to take a laptop with you anymore to get your work done. You can't make a "normal" USB flash drive into a U3 enabled drive. The U3 system software is pre-loaded on the drives and cannot be added to a normal drive. When a U3 drive is plugged into a computer, it creates two drives. One is a CD drive with the system software on it and the other is a removable drive that you can use to store information. You can remove the U3 Software from a Drive and make it a normal flash drive. This process is irreversible though. So be sure you want to remove the system files FOREVER before using the uninstall programs. For non-U3 USB flash drives, there is an alternative, Portable Apps. These are software programs designed to be installed on a flash drive, removable hard drive, IPod, etc. They don't require the proprietary U3 software to run so they can be installed on ANY flash drive. For more information on Portable Apps, click on the following link: Portable Apps What Programs are Available for U3 Enabled Drives? Although the list of programs is increasing each day, the following software is available for free to download and use on a U3 enabled flash drive. A complete list of free and commercial products for the U3 is located here. Challenger Software for the encoding of files, all files within a folder or drives. EditPad Lite Convenient, carefully designed text editor and Notepad replacement. It has all the features a solid text editor needs. EssentialPIM Free powerful PIM that features calendaring, note keeping and contact storage FileZilla FileZilla is a free open source FTP and SFTP client. IrfanView All Plugins IrfanView All Plugins is a very fast, small, compact and innovative FREEWARE (for non-commercial use) graphic viewer. MedicAlert E-Record This application lets you store on your U3 smart drive emergency contact information, medical conditions, allergies. You can also print an Emergency Card. Maxthon Browser The fast and powerful internet browser, which supports tabbed interface, advanced Ad blocking, privacy protect and more. Mozilla Firefox (YourBrainz) Mozilla Firefox 1.5.0.2 for U3 packaged and supported by YourBrainz. Mozilla Thunderbird (YourBrainz) Mozilla Thunderbird 1.5 for U3 packaged and supported by YourBrainz. MyPodder This podcast management software integrates with the free services on www.podcastready.com. myPodder allows easy podcast subscription management and sharing favorite podcast episodes with your friends. OpenOffice.Org View and edit office documents in a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation manager or drawing program with a user interface and feature set similar to other office suites. Pass2Go powered by RoboForm Take your passwords, contacts and personal identity with you and securely login to any web site. Pamela for Skype Basic Edition Pamela is your own personal assistant for Skype offering answering machine, auto chat reply and much more. Portable Party Poker Learn to play poker for free! All that you need to know about online poker. Packaged to take with you anywhere. Preclick PhotoBackPack Easily organize, edit, print, preserve, and share your digital photos directly from your U3 smart drive and it’s free! PuTTY for U3 PuTTY for U3 is a free Telnet and SSH (1 and 2) client based on PuTTY. Shutterfly Studio Beta Take your pictures with you! Shutterfly Studio, a free, all-in-one software, has everything you need to easily organize, edit, and share your pictures. 15 FREE prints included! SignupShield Passwords Free, plug & play password manager, saving passwords and related data from sign-up, sign-in, and password change web based forms, automatically filling out those forms when needed. Also includes a trial version of SignupShield Suite. Skype Make free calls to your friends all over the world from any PC. Trillian A full featured, stand-alone, skinnable chat client that supports AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo Messenger, and IRC. U3 Oddcast Welcome A talking avatar that “pops up” when a U3 smart drive is inserted in your PC for the first time describing the U3 smart drive and launchpad. WeatherBug Get free live, local weather conditions, forecasts & severe weather alerts wherever you go. Xfire Xfire is the worlds fastest growing tool to make gaming simple. Find friends, join games, track stats all from one application. Zeec Uploader zeec is the ultimate free solution for on-the-move photo and video-sharing. You are in control of all your pictures and movies – anytime and anywhere. Zinio Reader Zinio lets you read your magazines in digital format, giving you the exact same look and feel of the print magazines you enjoy with all the convenience of digital. What Manufacturers of USB Drives make U3 Compatible Drives? For a complete list of manufacturers of U3 enabled drives, click here How Do I Remove the U3 System Software? When I first saw the U3 drives, the first thing I wanted to do was to uninstall the software from it. At the time, I didnt understand how invaluable the U3 software would become to me, and how much I enjoy having a "smart" USB flash drive with my programs and data on it. If you want to uninstall the U3 system software, you'll have to download an uninstall program from U3, or if you have the Sandisk model, they have their own uninstaller. Click on the links below to go to their sites and remove the U3 software if you wish. U3 Uninstall Program Sandisk U3 Uninstall