The U3 Smart Drive, Great for Traveling

The U3 Smart Drive is a USB flash drive with special software that offers this functionality. The U3 Smart Drive is an otherwise ordinary USB drive with the U3 platform pre-installed. This platform is a full-fledged operating system that can run U3 applications installed on the drive. Importantly, all data is saved onto the U3 Smart Drive without leaving a trace on the host PC. Several applications are available for the U3 platform, including the Mozilla Firefox Web Browser, Thunderbird e-mail client, anti-virus programs, utilities, business applications and games.

While many U3 software applications are available free of charge via download, some are sold for an additional fee.

Several manufacturer of USB flash drives offer U3 branded Smart Drives, including SanDisk, Kingston, Memorex and many others. This article is based on my experience with using 2 2GB Memorex Mini TravelDrive U3, bundled with McAfee U3 Anti-Virus, Thunderbird for U3, and Migo for U3.

Each manufacturer bundles different applications with its U3 Smart Drive, so be sure to get the bundle that meets your individual needs. Note that some bundled applications may be trail versions that work only for a limited time (e.g., 30 days) or are “lite” versions that have limited functionality. The drives are available with various memory capacities and are not only merely useful for travel, as they can also be used to provide a backup for your critical data. Naturally, available storage capacity will be reduced by the U3 platform itself and any bundled and user-installed U3 applications.

Any PC running the Windows XP or 2000 operating system will recognize the Smart Drive when it is plugged into an available USB port. The U3 Launchpad will start automatically and a U3 icon will appear in the Windows system tray in the lower right corner of the screen. Clicking once on the U3 icon will pop up a U3 menu which is similar in appearance and functionality to the Windows Start menu.

The U3 Launchpad can be used to start, install/uninstall and manage U3 applications, to explore user-created files stored on the drive and to configure the drive.

The U3 platform includes its own security application. After enabling security, the drive will require a 128-bit encrypted password of your choosing before allowing drive access. Indeed, without the required password, the U3 Launchpad will not pop up nor can one see or access the drive's storage area. After an unspecified number of incorrect password attempts, a warning will indicate that after five more incorrect attempts the drive will be permanently locked.

After it is so locked, the only way to use the drive is to completely erase it. So.., while you may feel safe from data theft while traveling with your U3, don't forget that password! For users who want a higher level of security, several applications that encrypt user files on the drive itself are available.

All applications run from the U3 Smart Drive leave no data on the host PC, and instead use the U3 for storage. Thus, when browsing the internet from a host PC using the U3 drive, all traces of data, such as cookies, the cache and any passwords remain on the U3 Smart Drive instead of passing onto the host PC. So, you can use a PC in an Internet Café while keeping the details of your browsing private and secure from any hacker who might examine the host PC after you leave!