Hello,
I've seen here and there that John may cease development of programs for the U3 system; I was wondering whether there was any further news on the matter.
A friend just gave me a new flash drive, and it has U3 on it. I haven't played with it yet, but it seems interesting, and I like the auto-run functionality. I also looked at the demo they have on their website (a while back, when U3 was just coming out) and I saw some interesting features (complete customization of the user interface--desktop picture, desktop, theme, etc, unless I got it wrong).
What's the general consensus about U3? Good, bad, or worse? At any rate, I'm stuck with it on this drive, so I may as well use it, and I can't live without an up-to-date Firefox Portable... 
Rick Smith // Paladin225
Visit the Community page
Join our forums
Subscribe to our email newsletter
Subscribe with RSS
Follow us on BlueSky
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on LinkedIn
Follow us on Mastodon
Follow us on Twitter
You aren't actually stuck with U3. If you search here you can find instructions on how to get rid of the U3 Launchpad, and replace it with John's PortableApps Menu, while keeping the autorun mechanism.
But is U3 good at all?
Rick Smith // Paladin225
Rick Smith // Paladin225
meh. could be better could be worse!
(TM)sergentsilerlogo:<(TM(sergentsiler)
Zoop
I think I'll stick with U3 for now and see how it goes; I've added a few PortableApps to the U3 Launchpad, so I guess that works too.
Rick Smith // Paladin225
Rick Smith // Paladin225
My new 4GB flashdrive is an U3 smart drive, but I surfed this site's pages and now I am just realizing that U3 technology is useless...
Why do I have to install an app with U3P extension from the U3 menu and let it create a folder called 3C9B4B3F-D55C-245vf-8537-B889415453393 instead of download a classic EXE and have a folder with the name "ApplicationPortable" and the PortableApps.com menu???
Why do I have to lose some space of the drive with a read-only partition that is seen as a cd by my computer?
What's the real advantage in using an U3 "smart" drive???
please tell me...
Personally I think if you purchased a U3 drive, you should keep the U3 LaunchPad.
It doesn't hurt anything to have it, you can configure the LaunchPad not to start on insertion, and you can still use PAM at the same time.
If I could find a U3 drive as fast as my corsair voyager GT I would buy it.
U3 is just another tool like any of the other software on the drive, just use it wisely and don't think your stuck using ONLY U3 stuff.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Because they stand on a wall and say nothing is going to hurt you tonight. Not on my watch.
"Because they stand on a wall and say, 'Nothing is going to hurt you tonight. Not on my watch.'" (A Few Good Men)
Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous.(Albert Einstein)
Maybe I was configuring it wrong or something, but I would deactivate the autolaunch from their menu, and it would still load. I'd try a different setting, and it would still load up. I didn't like the fake drive, as that was just an extra step.
The only thing that the U3 would be good for me are the U3-only software.
"... respect, all good works are not done by only good folk. For here, at the end of all things, we shall do what needs to be done."
--till next time, Jameson Stalanthas Yu -x-
Don't be an uberPr∅. They are stinky.
Hi everyone,
First post here, but have been coming to the site since last summer when I bought my first U3 Cruzer. After buying it, I had no idea what U3 was having had a small regular drive before. Then I loved it, then I found Portable Apps and love them just as much if not more. As you mentioned, both seem to offer software the other doesn't and both make great tools. I used my drive at work with no problems, and a coworker ran out ran out and bought himself a U3 drive after seeing how mine worked. Both of us liked the idea of not using the work PC software for web surfing email, etc. I've also never had the Avast issues I keep reading here, although the log file needs to be deleted now and then because it just keeps growing otherwise. I've gotten so used to using my U3/Portable drive that I even use it at home rather than some of the software on my PC.
Anyway, here is the problem I have encountered with U3, which is making me wonder if this is the best option. Last month I traveled to Germany to visit family. Since my laptop wasn't working, and I figured my PDA phone wouldn't with them using a different network, I made sure to bring my U3 drive to use there. The first hotel we stayed in I had access to PCs with web access. When I plugged my U3 in, it was blocked and wouldn't allow the software to run. Not even an error prompt, just nothing. But when you look at the disks on the PC it did show the extra drive now plugged in, but there was nothing to read from it. This left my U3 dead in the water on this PC and I used simple old Yahoo through their IE browser to access my mail. Later in the week I stopped at an internet cafe in a store similar to Best Buy here. I asked the guy if my thumbdrive would work, he said U3 would not. I tried it anyway, and the same thing, no prompts, but the drive showed.
I thought the whole idea of portable apps and U3 was to take your software and files with you. But if U3 is blocked from running, this leaves you with a completely dead drive. I'm wondering if I should now get rid of U3 and just use PAM. But I like some of the software I have in U3 and also wonder if PAM would be blocked. Has anyone else encountered this? Is there a way to get rid of the U3 functionality and make PAM the main primary "operating system" on the drive, yet still be able to run the U3 software I like? I'm just disappointed that my first attempt to use all my software away from home ended up being a bust. My thumbdrive was more than useless.
Mike
Lots of PCs will block U3 from running. Some because they'll only let one drive letter be added (lots of libraries, photo kiosk PCs, etc). Others because they block any apps from running on a drive. Personally, I've never used U3 and always stick to portable apps.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Do you know of any way to then run as a standard drive, but be able to run U3 as a secondary shell or something to allow those other programs to function? So that rather than when I plug in kicking off U3 and then loading PStart and PAM, it kicks off with PStart and PAM and then something that will let me run the U3 programs I want?
Mike
The U3 Launchpad is just a program that can open .u3p files inorder to extract the good nugety .exe file that runs the .exe files to the so called U3 exclusive software (and thr just 4 U3 versions of software). So basically U3 is just smoke and mirrors, they just want you to pay $10 x-tra bucks for a useless piece of crap. The only good thing is that pretty much ANY U3 stupid drive can be transformed into a PortableApps smart drive with SmithTech's Autorun thingy. Besides there is little software on U3's site that has any recognizable names at all. Like take Disk Hero, never heard of it til I got to U3's site. Never knew that U3 had its own pr0n til I got 2 its site. I am afraid peeps are being lured into the less reputable companies.
--
As all of ya should know Microsoft is the Evil Empire, and Windows (a.k.a. Winblows or Windoze) is their greatest general, so please make a difference and install Linux or Free BSD on yer Windows comp.