Don’t look now, but…

253 responses so far ↓

• 1 deuce // Aug 29, 2006 at 12:14 pm

  Thanks for the info on the removal tool. That U3 piece of crap software was driving me nuts. Thanks for finding out how to remove it.

• 2 Tim // Sep 3, 2006 at 12:24 pm

  THANK YOU i spent an hour looking through sandisk’s website and found nuten, then i googled my issue and this site came up top. you were verry helpfull and now i won’t be pulling out my hair every time i plug my drive into a new computer.

• 3 Message from the Great Abyss… « Don’t look now, but… // Sep 4, 2006 at 6:59 pm

  [...] I’ve been reluctant to post of late, mainly because I was either too tired, had too much to do, or didn’t have the time to write what I really felt like writing. The extent of my involvement with the blog in the last few weeks has been to watch in amazement and amusement at how badly folks seem to want to get rid of U3 on their flash drives (nearly 350 hits on that one in the last 30 days, and I’ve only had the blog for a few days longer than that - are you guys listening, SanDisk?) or the stupid Actiontec ‘web activity log’ (210 hits)). I only posted that stuff out of my own frustration with commercial products, but it seems to have been useful for someone, so I guess I’ll keep doing that occasionally. In any event, this post will be less information and more blather, mainly meant to let friends, family, stalkers, and accidental readers (hi guys!) know what’s going on from here. [...]

• 4 Kris // Sep 4, 2006 at 10:10 pm

  Thanks, That helps alot, I tried formatting the drive before, and no luck, Tried all sorts of junk and still was no resolve, Why don’t they bundle in the uninstaller??

  Well, Thanks again for that link, saves me alot of time and software nagging..

• 5 Ben // Sep 6, 2006 at 8:09 am

  Thanks. Quick fix for an annoying problem.

• 6 Pete // Sep 9, 2006 at 7:10 pm

  Thanks for posting this!! I was going nuts trying to uninstall the garbase U3 Launchpad. You saved me a LOT of time. Like someone else wrote, SanDisk should supply the uninstaller with the disk.

• 7 Bogus Jimmy // Sep 9, 2006 at 11:41 pm

  This U3 stuff really is junk. It was annoying that it launched everytime I plugged it in on my PC and it was stupid that it came up that I had inserted a blank CD (and a Thumb Drive) everytime I plugged it into my MacBook. No thanks Sandisk, I’ll get my portable apps from portableapps.com and be done with it. Thanks for the tip.

• 8 Pissed off zack // Sep 12, 2006 at 5:38 pm

  Thanks for the tip. I can now use my driver with out that piece of U3 sh*t slowing down my computer.

• 9 no longer Pissed off zack // Sep 12, 2006 at 5:53 pm

  Just an extra tip if when you run the uninstall software and it comes up with a message saying something about having more than one U3 drive you have to disable other drives on your computer. (this is on the sandisk website if i am confusing u)to do this right click on my computer and hit manage. Then select device manager and select disk drives. then right click any other drives and select disable. When u are done with the uninstaller go back and enable any drives you disabled.

• 10 Yooper in Keweenaw // Sep 13, 2006 at 2:05 pm

  Thanks, really annoyed me to see that U3 junk on a nice cheap drive.

• 11 Akoi Meexx // Sep 13, 2006 at 4:14 pm

  Thank GOD!

  My old micro was stolen, so I had upgraded to the 2 gig and was horribly disappointed with the U3 tech. I write my own programs for that sort of application, and they don’t reside in any hidden parts of the [censored] hardware, christ! SanDisk needs to pull their head from their sphincter before asphyxiation occurs.

• 12 Mark // Sep 17, 2006 at 10:02 pm

  Thanks, Friend!
  After finding your message and DLing the software, uninstall was painless. I was convinced there was hidden exe somewhere on my HD. I found it was only the micro, though, when I made a full capacity zip and stored it, u3 didn’t have enough memory to load, it would hang.
  They can keep their craptacular software. As others stated, the uninstaller should have been included, that’s lame on SanDisk’s part.

• 13 Felix Garibay // Sep 21, 2006 at 8:22 am

  Thanks! I bought the drive for $25.00 at Staples yesterday (9/20/06). Too good of a deal to pass up, I didn’t know how much of a hassle this u3 was going to be, but the removal was quick and easy.

  Thanks again!

• 14 joe // Sep 24, 2006 at 8:38 pm

  i have a problem i did the uninstall of the U3 and then ejected the flash drive and plugged it back in and went to my computer and there is no driver there but it still lets me eject it from the system tray

• 15 Krista // Sep 24, 2006 at 9:19 pm

  Joe: You might check “My Computer” after you plug in the drive to see if it sees it as a removable drive; if so, there’s nothing more to do.

  AFAIK, the generic USB storage device drivers are part of XP and there’s nothing more to be done (assuming, of course, you’re running XP). It’s been so long since I set up my system that I have no idea whether or not I had to install any additional device drivers for USB mass storage, but I don’t *think* I did. If it’s horked beyond that, I can’t tell you what’s going on, because I’m not there to see it. Sorry!

• 16 Obie // Sep 25, 2006 at 6:12 am

  Thanks, you saved me alot of time looking for the solution. We are given these for work, and desktop support is a pain when you suddenly run out of drive letters, as your thumbdrive has taken 2! Thanks again.

• 17 B-rad // Sep 27, 2006 at 7:46 am

  I just bought one of the exact pieces of hardware that you did, and I have got to agree that that little jewel of a program U3 is a total piece of crap. It just annoyed the you know what out of me, it would work on my computer at home, but when I got to my college, it would not even load the programs from the usb to the computer, so I could access my files from home but not school. Thanks for the info about the driver fix.

• 18 Schmule // Sep 28, 2006 at 9:24 pm

  What were they thinking with that U3 junk and without including a very easy way to remove it? Hey I appreciate the nfo and insight you provided. Now I have a real drive. I had a slightly different prob than most. I have NO extra drive letters left for U3 to assign to its stupid CD(System) part. Ya know companies have been doin’ this crap for a long, long time. Even generic Zip disks came with junk on them. Who knows next thing ya know will CF,SD,MS,SM etc. will come with preloaded pictures for us so we don’t have to take any of our own!!

• 19 masha // Oct 2, 2006 at 11:46 pm

  I LOVE YOU !
  THANK YOU !!!!
  ur my hero =]]]

• 20 Jonathan // Oct 9, 2006 at 7:28 am

  Thanks. Very annoying, especially when part of my intent of having a drive like this is to create my own bootable environment on the drive. I love how the uninstaller says loosely at the very end, “Formatting is complete. Your drive is now just a REGULAR storage drive.” Oh no! Not a REGULAR storage drive! What will I do?

• 21 c // Oct 10, 2006 at 10:57 pm

  Thank you SOOO much! I’ve been debating wether or not to purchase this device. I too, am weary of the added software and want a plain and simple USB drive.

• 22 eshu // Oct 11, 2006 at 12:38 pm

  thanks a million!

• 23 John // Oct 16, 2006 at 12:47 am

  Krista-

  Let me add my thanks as well. I’d LOVE to get hold of the bozo at Sandisk who approved putting their “would be oh so clever and useful” proprietary software on the drive. It’s beyond me that the marketing people in these outfits cannot understand that we don’t WANT this kind of crap. Chairman of Sandisk, are you perhaps looking at this site? If you aren’t you sure as hell should be!
  Thanks again Krista.

• 24 Rick Umali // Oct 16, 2006 at 11:23 am

  Thanks for posting this information. It was on the first page of links that Google returned when I entered “Removing San Disk U3 Software”.

• 25 John Pfeifer // Oct 18, 2006 at 3:14 pm

  Krista,
  Thanks for doing the hard work in making this unholy amalgam of good hardware / annoying crapware actually useful. No legal threats from me!

• 26 Lynne // Oct 22, 2006 at 1:43 pm

  I’m a novice and know just enough to get into trouble, LOL. I plugged in the Cruzer and nothing happened–in fact everything just hung up. I couldn’t “Safely Remove Hardware” because it wouldn’t open. I opened “My Computer” and there was nothing there, YIKES. Finally after 5 minutes, I got pissed and pulled the little crapper out–unfortunately, just as the U3 Launchpad appeared in my toolbar. I powered off, plugged the drive in again and restarted my PC. the “Auto Play” box popped and was searching endlessly–after 5 minutes, I clicked Cancel–nothing happened. Again, I pulled the Cruzer out and powered down–everything was okay after restarting. I found some suggestions on other message boards–hold the shift key down while rebooting–didn’t work (although the Cruzer did appear in my I and J drives when I opened “My Computer”; but I couldn’t save a Word doc to it–I tried just to see what would happen). I don’t think I can get my money back; and I don’t want to be stuck with something that is useless and wreaks havoc with my OS. I have Windows XP/Home Edition and am using a 2.0 USB port and have plenty of space on my harddrive. I’m afraid of doing anything because I have had no trouble with my PC and want to keep it that way–any help would be greatly appreciated.

• 27 Krista // Oct 22, 2006 at 8:30 pm

  Hi Lynne - I’m unfortunately not an expert on the device, so I’d actually suggest e-mailing SanDisk customer service. I also don’t have a Cruzer with the U3 Launchpad still on it anymore, so I can’t actually provide much in the way of technical advice. But this is certainly not about the space on your hard drive or anything else - this is about the goofy way the U3 software works.

  That said, if you can actually see the drive on “My Computer” and want to see if you can get U3 Launchpad up and running so that you can uninstall it (as in the instructions above), you might double-click on the drive and look to see if there’s a *.exe file called “launchpad” or “setup” or “autoplay” or something, double-click on that, and if Launchpad runs, try the above. I can’t guarantee that’ll work, or that it won’t break your drive.

  If you’re not confident with being able to fix it on your own, though, I’d recommend mailing SanDisk customer service or checking the LaunchPad support page at https://www.customernation.com/pls/ps/ps.ps_main?p_host=304&p_supplier=5096&p_parm=PSHPP - there are a bunch of links on there that might help you.

  (Again, note that I don’t work for SanDisk or represent their interests in anyway - in fact, they rather tick me off!)

  Good luck, and let us know if you manage to figure out how to fix it!

• 28 Lynne // Oct 22, 2006 at 8:57 pm

  Hi Krista - thanks so much for the reply. I have been to all of the message boards I can Google and the posts are the same–you either have serious problems or Cruzer with U3 works fine. I am sure of one thing, there is definitely a conflict and I think it’s with my CD/DVD program (which I AM NOT going to uninstall). My PC just freezes up solid when the Cruzer is plugged in. It’s hit or miss (more miss than hit actually) whether the device will show up in My Computer–normally it’s just a blank window and if I try to close it, everything disappears. I was going to try the U3 Uninstaller; but since the drive now doesn’t show up–I’m up the creek. Sorry for going on, if I had known that this super deal was going to be such a mess, I would have passed on the Cruzer. If you want a really good laugh, here’s the back and forth with SanDisk (this is so typical of most support requests these days and I wish she would can the “have a nice day” wishes:

  Your Question/Request:
  I purchased a SanDisk Cruzer Micro 1.0GB and it is causing me a great deal of trouble. I plugged it in and everthing on my PC froze–I tried to use the remove hardware function and it wouldn’t open. When I clicked “My Computer” the window opened and there was NOTHING there! I tried to shut down my PC and finally had to power it off. I removed the Cruzer and restarted my PC, everything was fine, I kept the PC turned on and plugged in the Cruzer again–this time the Windows “Auto Play” box popped and kept searching for 5 minutes–I clicked Cancel and nothing happened. Again, I had to power my PC off. I have other SanDisk flash drives and have NEVER had this type of problem. I was going to download and install the U2 LaunchPad installer; but am afraid of making things worse! I’m using Windows XP OS and have plenty of space on my harddrive.

  *******Update***** I Googled “trouble with SanDisk Cruzer” and found this message board which describes my problem exactly. I tried following the U3 troubleshooting instructions–powered my PC off, plugged in the Cruzer, pressed the Shift key and powered back up–this time, the two drives (I and J) recognized the Cruzer; but NOTHING else would function. My Computer was BLANK. I want to return this drive to Radio Shack; but I’ve cut out the UPC for the $15 rebate and mailed it yesterday. I really want my money back!

  ————————————————

  SanDisk Response: (10/22/2006 02:09)
  Hello Lynne,

  Thank you for contacting SanDisk Technical support. We are happy to be of any assistance.

  We apologize for the inconvenience that this issue has brought you.

  Do you have any packet burning software installed on your PC?

  Some CD-ROM or DVD burners are bundled with software that may conflict with the drive letter on which your smart drive is installed. Although there has been no formal testing to date of the various packet writing software applications in the market, it is advised that you uninstall the software and then try inserting the smart drive again. If the problem is resolved, please contact us at tier2support@sandisk.com with the name of the packet writing software installed on your computer.

  Examples of such programs are listed below:
  - B’s Clip (from BHA)
  - Data Add 2.0 (Ulead)
  - DirectCD (from Adaptec/Roxio)
  - InCD and Nero 7.0
  - PacketCD (from CeQuadrat)
  - RecordNow MAX, MyCD, PrimoCD, PrimoDVD and DLA (from Veritas)
  - Write DVD! (from Software Architects)

  If the device works on another PC, then you might want to contact your PC manufacturer, a PC Technician, or Microsoft for assistance.

  Should you have further inquiries or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us via reply to this Email.

  Have a nice day!

  Best regards,
  Jennifer D.
  SanDisk Technical Support.

  ————————————————
  Your Response: (10/22/2006 04:08)
  Thank you for the reply; but, I really would like a refund–I am a novice computer user and unfortunately, if I screw something up with installing and un-installing programs, I have to pay an expert to fix whatever I’ve done.

  I have Record Now Plus installed on my PC (which is not included in your list). I visited a web message board and find that I am not alone with the Cruzer problem,

  I have other SanDisk portable drives and have never had this problem with any of them–that is why I purchased the product. I really want my money back and ask that you elevate my email to someone who can tell me how to accomplish this.

  ————————————————

  SanDisk Response: (10/22/2006 04:45)
  Hello Lynne,

  Thank you for your reply.

  You may email your concern at rebates@sandisk.com. Since we do not have access to rebates cases, it would be better that you email your concern to the given email address.

  Thank you.

  Should you have any further inquiries or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us via Email.

  Have a nice day!

  Best regards,
  Jennifer D.
  SanDisk Technical Support.

  ————————————————

  Your Response: (10/22/2006 04:45)
  Jennifer–you don’t understand, I’m not asking about any rebate. I am very unhappy with my purchase of the Cruzer Micro and I don’t want to keep something I cannot use. I want my money back. Can I return it to Radio Shack and get a refund? Or, should I send it to SanDisk?

• 29 Olaf // Oct 23, 2006 at 9:07 pm

  For whatever reason the SANDISK uninstall didn’t and doesn’t work. HOWEVER here is a link to U3’s website that DOES work.

  http://www.u3.com/uninstall/final.aspx

• 30 Krista // Oct 24, 2006 at 12:15 am

  Olaf: Thanks for the link. The SanDisk uninstall did work for me, but it’s good to know there are more options!

• 31 adam // Oct 25, 2006 at 2:37 pm

  Couldn’t make u3 uninstaller or san disk uninstaller work.
  Sledgehammer uninstalled it nicely though.
  dabs.com sold me a drive with four times as much memory for the same cost as u3 drive.
  Adam

• 32 Barry // Oct 29, 2006 at 10:31 am

  Thanks for taking the time to detail your problem. The link to U3 Uninstall helped, as the SanDisk version wouldn’t work because it thought I had more than one drive installed. You post saved me a lot of time surfing for answers!

• 33 InTouch » Blog Archive » A New Toy or SanDisk Cruzer (now without U3 technology) // Oct 29, 2006 at 12:19 pm

  [...] Before I incapacitate anyone else’s computer, I better find out what kind of trouble other users are having with this flash drive. Top of the list on my Google search is Krista Grothoff’s post where I found everything I needed to remove U3 and all it’s programs from my new drive. I needed to use the uninstall program from U3 because SanDisk’s uninstall program thought I had two drives attached. [...]

• 34 Jesus // Oct 30, 2006 at 3:01 am

  Thanks dude, this thing was driving me nutz…

• 35 Matt // Nov 1, 2006 at 10:34 am

  Cheers for the useful info, Krista.
  I’ve just uninstalled that troublesome U3 Launchpad from my new Sandisk Cruzer. I’d rather have “just” a flash drive than some “smart bells and whistles” device that makes trying to use the friggin’ thing a nightmare.

• 36 sergio salcedo // Nov 17, 2006 at 10:42 am

  Krista:

  Hi! i was a desperate guy fighitng against a tiny little thing named USB flash memory… haha but thanks to you i won the battle.

  Im from Monterrey Mexico, and i had this trouble with a flash drive from an important director here in the company i work for.

  Thank you, really i mean it, it was so helpfull your information.

  Have a nice day, Krista…

  before i go… y loved your story haha you meake it kind o f funny lol!

  adieu!

• 37 Charles Hethcoat // Nov 19, 2006 at 11:05 pm

  I did exactly what Krista did: Bought 2 of these little things on sale (at Office Max– one unit for me, one for my wife), got them home, and could not use them at all. Neither one. Could not use them at my office either. When I plug one into the USB port, its light flashes on/off, just like that. Then, nothing, nada, zip. Nothing runs, no splash screen, no U3 nuttin’. No device letter on My Computer, nothing on Computer Management. Other people around the web say to reformat it, but you can’t reformat what’s not there. I be stymied.

  I’m going to try to find the device using Linux with a Knoppix or similar boot CD. If it shows up there, I know I can reformat it, and that should get the U3 stuff off.

  On the other hand, not seeing the device itself is a bad sign; I’m worried that it’s hosed electronically.

  If I have any success I will write back.

  Thanks to all for sharing your thoughts.

  Charles Hethcoat

• 38 Danielle // Nov 25, 2006 at 4:10 pm

  Thank you SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much!!! I am going through computer hell over here, and I have an old sandisk USB 2g and when I purchased the 4g today I went through HELL!!! God bless you for being so nice and helping me out. All I did was goto google and type, SANDISK without U3 and your site came up!!! Kudos !!!
  -Danielle

• 39 Alastair // Dec 1, 2006 at 6:30 am

  Hi Krista. Thanks for posting this. I bought a micro cruzer U3 which caused my PC to re-boot every time I plugged it in. Ever since then I get a message on start up which tells me that my system has recovered from a serious error. Don’t know why but the next challenge is to try to fix it. I was about to assign my Cruzer to the garbage bin but removing U3 and reformatting it has made it work like a normal memory stick. Back in the “smile zone”. Thanks again. Aly

• 40 Bill // Dec 1, 2006 at 5:43 pm

  Had the stick in, had the launch pad open in the task bar, but the removal program from the websiterefused to identify the drive as a U3 program… looks like they put a fix for those trying to fix our sticks… dang!

• 41 Mohamed // Dec 1, 2006 at 9:20 pm

  Thank you for the tip.

  I bought the USB drive to replace my old faulty drive only to be confronted with the problems experienced by others.

  The drive only worked once on my PC and it went crazy. Didn’t work on my home and office PCs. However it worked on my daughter’s laptop and my colleague’s PC at work. I began to suspect the problem was with my PCs - until I came accross your tip.

  Thank you very much for saving my day.

• 42 Nick // Dec 4, 2006 at 12:45 am

  Thanks so much it really was such a waste of time and space because it took so long to load up and you had to wait to put on a little word file which can now be done so much faster

  Thanks Again

• 43 Ronald // Dec 6, 2006 at 12:19 pm

  I had exactly the same problem. bought the sandisk 1 gig micro. Hated the U3 program. I don’t even understand how sandisk could even think that was helpful. Struggled with it. Found this site, and followed the procedure, now I’m happy. Thank you so much.

• 44 Robert // Dec 8, 2006 at 11:57 pm

  I’ve been having problems using my sandisk 1 gig micro at my office since I didn’t have admin access to the work computer. The thing would just keep flashing on and off. It couldn’t get the launcher going as a result of the admin restriction barring loading personal software without prior IT approval. As a result, the sandisk was non-functional. With U3 uninstalled, everything is working fine. Thanks for posting the solution.

• 45 Raichea // Dec 12, 2006 at 3:08 pm

  Same old, same old… the Sandisk installer wouldn’t - suggested running the installer and then uninstalling from the Launchpad Settings menu. The newer version of Launchpad does include an uninstall option, but that didn’t work either!!

  Fortunately, the U3 uninstaller did the trick - pleased that U3 is history!

  Rai

• 46 Raichea // Dec 12, 2006 at 3:08 pm

  Doh! That should have been, “…Sandisk uninstaller…”

  Rai

• 47 MWolfe // Dec 12, 2006 at 7:52 pm

  Thank you a lot for this, I’m sure i could have done it myself but thanks to your cool blog I got it even easier

• 48 dan townsend // Dec 15, 2006 at 8:57 pm

  Thanks man, really helps me out

  I ahve bundled software

• 49 dan townsend // Dec 15, 2006 at 8:57 pm

  *hate

• 50 dave // Dec 18, 2006 at 12:52 pm

  thank you (btw, I found you from http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=how+to+get+u3+launchpad+off+sandisk+usb&btnG=Google+Search)

• 51 Robin Roemisch // Dec 20, 2006 at 12:58 pm

  THANK YOU! An amazing easy solution to a terribly frustrating problem. Happy Holidays

• 52 Mario // Dec 20, 2006 at 7:16 pm

  Did anyone ever answer Joe’s question in message 14 above?

  I have the same problem. I still see San Disk U3 stuff in my registry and would like to remove it all. I am denied when trying to delete some of the registry items.

  I’m told I need to re-image my PC. I’ll do that only as a last resort. Right now I have a work around, bothersome as it is. I noticed that if a have attached a USB thumb drive [even the Cruzer from which I uninstalled the U3 stuff], the drive is available in Explore when I log back in. Once I ’safely’ remove it, the drive will not be visible in Explore again when I reattach it. I can use Disk Management–>Open, but not Explore until I log off and back on with the device attached.

  How do I remove all knowledge of San Disk from my registry?

• 53 Niilo // Dec 27, 2006 at 12:09 pm

  I came across this page doing a google search, having purchased a 4GB Cruzer and having this annoying U3 crap popping up every time I insert the drive. Thing is, I’m on OS X (Tiger) and the two uninstall utilities are for Windows and I don’t have a PC. Even on the U3 site, it asks for the reason to uninstall, and it has “I use a Mac” as an option, so I hoped it would download a Mac uninstall utility, but no - it still tried to download the .exe which is useless to me.

  I have tried using Mac Disk Utility to format the drive, zero it, repartition it - everything… nothing works. It says there is a 50MB locked CD boot partition on the Cruzer which cannot be modified.

  Does anyone have a solution for getting rid of this aggravating piece of garbage from my Cruzer?

  Thanks!

• 54 Brian // Dec 27, 2006 at 1:07 pm

  Thanks for the info on the gunk removal. I knew there would be a way around it, I figured there would be quite a few people that wouldn’t put up with it. The removal is quick and painless.

• 55 Robert J. Sawyer // Dec 29, 2006 at 12:02 pm

  Many, many thanks!

• 56 Alex D // Dec 31, 2006 at 11:57 am

  Thank you! The program was terrible, I’m so glad I’m rid of it.

• 57 Tam // Dec 31, 2006 at 12:01 pm

  Thanks so much. I couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t simply copy files over like my Kingston drive from work. I had to use the alternative link because it kept saying I had two drives in when I only had one. But now its clean and I can use it for what its intended, just moving a file from A to B. Thanks.

• 58 WW // Jan 1, 2007 at 1:43 pm

  This U3 garbage may be the straw that breaks the camels (SanDisks) back. Haven’t seen a simular piece of garbage in years.

  NOTE FOLLOWING FROM U3 WEBSITE:
  “Only applications that are specifically developed for the U3 platform may be loaded onto the smart drive. These applications have been made “U3 smart,” and undergo testing and verification through our application certification program.”, so be careful.

  Even most of SanDisk’s support personnel don’t know the U3 software can be removed, thus converting drive to a “standard flash drive”.

  Thanks to all for helpful suggestions.
  WW

  P.S. Note many retail stores (Staples, BestBuy, Office Depot, Circuit City) are now selling the SanDisk Micro (U3) 1GB for $19.95 (or less). Do you think SanDisk now realizes they have a “dog” product and are trying to unload inventory?

• 59 Donnelly // Jan 1, 2007 at 4:27 pm

  …the info here finally worked in wiping that U3 stuff off my new XMAS micro cruzer.

  Note that only the ‘latest’ SanDisk removal-tool version would work — that’s called:

  “u3 uninstall.exe” (Version 1.0.2.3)

  Older version is “launchpadremoval.exe”
  (Version 1.00.21). It froze up and did nothing on my windows XP system.

  Both are downloads from SanDisk, and you must enable their ‘cookies’. They also make it a tedious chore to get thru the download process for the latest version — to scare off as many folks as possible.

  ———
  Note, the Sandisk drivers for Windows 98SE don’t work– had to search for generic USB drivers, but micro cruzer will only handle about 25% of its storage capacity on a 98SE PC. {??}

• 60 WW // Jan 2, 2007 at 2:39 pm

  For info: PNY also sells 1GB and 2GB “U3-Smart” flash drives (same price as SanDisk), however, unlike SanDisk the PNY drives will work either as a traditional USB storage device (without the need to remove any installed software) or at your option, as a “U3 SmartDrive”, if you have Windows 2000 or a later OS.
  _______

  Details here: http://www2.pny.com/1GB-USB-20-FLASH-DRIVE-WITH-U3-SMARTtrade-TECHNOLOGY-P2114C53.aspx
  _____
  PS- BestBuy has the 1GB PNY on sale this week for $19.99. (Note: I’m NOT affilated in any way with PNY.)

• 61 John // Jan 2, 2007 at 4:16 pm

  Does anyone know if choosing to reformat on another system (OSX or Linux) will remove all the PC auto run things? On my Mac, I get two loaded drives when I plug in the Cruzer. It’s almost like there’s a ROM version (that loads as a CD-ROM, BTW) that can’t be reformatted. I’m assuming that’s why the uninstaller from SanDisk or U3 is needed and that it must be doing a firmware update on the drive. Unfortunately, the uninstaller utility ONLY runs on Windows–so the irony is that I cannot eliminate this before ever plugging it in to a Windows box. Can anyone else either confirm or correct this?

• 62 John // Jan 2, 2007 at 4:19 pm

  In reply to my own comment #52: I found the following info at an Amazon.com review of the product…

  Mac users-the U3 function won’t work for OS X (not that I’d want it anyway). I figured erasing and reformatting from FAT 32 to Mac OS Extended (Jounaled) would do the trick. Nope. I tried zeroing out the data. Nope. I went to the website and got instructions to use Get Info and unlock the files, but they are grayed out. It was so annoying having the U3 show up as a separate disk and having to eject BOTH every time, I finally called SanDisk. I was informed that the only way to remove it was on a PC (Yuk!). I finally went to my neighbor’s house, downloaded the U3 uninstaller to her Windows PC and followed the steps. It does work, but seems ridiculously Mac-unfriendly. We’re in the minority, silly as that is, but to have to use a PC to make this product workable is absurd.

• 63 WW // Jan 3, 2007 at 12:47 pm

  John - When I first ran into this problem, SanDisk support personnel advised me their U3 flash drives contain a “chip”, thus the need to use their (SanDisks) U3 software, to remove/install U3 feature.

  I have my doubts about the “chip”, but it could be one explanation as to both operational as well as modification problems with these new drives.

• 64 William Moss // Jan 3, 2007 at 8:05 pm

  Nice post, but- WARNING- even after successfully performing the above procedure, if you plug the newly ‘cleaned’ drive into a Windows XP Media Edition computer, it will be unrecognized, and Windows goes looking for a driver (and won’t find one). Yikes! I opened yet another issue with Sandisk. They recommended exploring or calling Microsoft, and gave no help! This U3 fiasco will be the undoing of Sandisk, till now a reputable company… What trash!

• 65 Sassan Sanei // Jan 8, 2007 at 2:27 am

  Thanks for the very useful tip! All I wanted was a USB flash drive, not a program-launching platform.

  (Why would I want to carry software around with me in U3 format instead of EXE format? I’m shaking my head in disbelief at whoever dreamed that one up. I just don’t get it. And what’s with the two drive letters?)

  Thanks again.

• 66 Chris // Jan 8, 2007 at 4:45 am

  Thank you, it was a complete pain in the arse having this software on the 20+ keys we use.

• 67 geo // Jan 9, 2007 at 7:00 am

  why remove it.. it is very powerful.. you may never know.. wahaha

• 68 geo // Jan 9, 2007 at 7:01 am

  a couple of noobs here ….

• 69 Andrew // Jan 9, 2007 at 9:40 pm

  Thanks for writing this up. I recently received a Sandisk Cruzer 1gb for Christmas from a friend and it had u3 (not the titanium, the other one). Personally, I had no problems with u3 since it wasn’t installing any software onto my hard drive, and I could default for the annoying warnings not to appear. Unfortunately however, my work computer is secured and prohibits unauthorized software from running, so the Sandisk was unusable at work without the u3 start-up. It’s really a pity too since the security password would be nice for storing confidential files with.

  Sandisk seems to now bundle the removal software built into the u3 settings on the device. When I tried this I got a warning that “it could only be used on one device and to reinsert.” I tried to reinsert a few times, but the same error. I used the fix from the u3 website and I’m back with a normal, snazzy USB drive. No big loss, and I love the fact that the port slides in and out rather than having a cap that I would surely lose. Good to know that Sandisk tried to give the users the uninstall right on the device… even though that didn’t work, so the user-friendlyness of the device seems like it is evolving.

• 70 Rob // Jan 10, 2007 at 2:37 pm

  The utility from the http://www.e3.com/uninstall link (mentioned in the main blog posting) worked perfectly to remove E3 from an Ativa-badged 1GB thumb drive. I picked the drive up at Office Depot at a really great price, assuming (like the poster) I could just delete the crap I didn’t want. Rather irritating to have a “CD-ROM” show up on a Mac desktop in addition to the actual thumb drive itself even though the actual E3 software itself doesn’t work/load. Keep this blog page up and running!

• 71 Garion Riva // Jan 13, 2007 at 6:02 pm

  Wow! I’ve been trying to remove this junk forever. U3 is really some worthless and sneaky stuff. Thank you!

  However, if you want something for your drive that will load programs and whatnot there’s a more functional app at http://www.portableapps.com (which also has some really neat things you can do with a USB drive).

• 72 Rolan // Jan 16, 2007 at 4:09 pm

  That thing on my San Disk was about to drive me nuts, couldn’t find anything on the San Disk web pages to help me, so I went to Google and found your posting. Wow, just what I wanted, I am now rid of all the junk that was on the drive and can use it as a normal drive.

  Bless you anyway, my friend.!!

• 73 Dave // Jan 18, 2007 at 7:33 am

  Helllo everybody.

  I need help with my sandisk U3 cruzer micro USB.
  It always worked well when i pluged it. In normal conditions, it shows or assigns 2 logical units :one for the Launchpad software and the other for store my own data but suddenly it only shows or assign a logical unit for the included software and not shows more my info.
  i tried to remove the software and to format the device from the website but now not assign nor any logical unit.
  Any help will be more appreciated.

• 74 DJ // Jan 21, 2007 at 6:55 pm

  Thank you for the information about removing the U3. They should not be allowed to attach the software without clearing stating it is attached and how to remove it. It totally froze my computer everytime I put the drive in. Thanks to your info I removed the software and now have a 1gb drive for a great price.

• 75 Shaman // Jan 22, 2007 at 11:23 pm

  Thanks for the lead! U3 was annoying me big time. I thought I just reformat… No! The blasted U3 remained, still appearing as a CD drive.

  Following your tip(s), I went to the SanDisk site, but I couldn’t find a removal tool, just some instructions. Unfortunately, my U3 was an older version and I simply didn’t have the uninstall option mentioned in the instructions. Clever as I am, within the launchpad, I chose “check for update” and selected upgrade. This _seemed_to_ work like a charm, and duely found the missing uninstall option. When I launched it, in not as many words, it essentially told me “I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that!” and asked me to confirm this with several message boxes. It said, first I would need to remove the other (non-existent) U3 drive from my system. Well, f#@& you, too!!

  Luckily, the http://www.u3.com/uninstall/final.aspx link worked like a charm - after a few annoying messages and 100 warnings.

  I’m sure “U3 Smart Technology” is like the tastiest chocolate cake, but however delicious it is, I don’t like to have it rammed down my throat.

  Thanks to all of you for the advice and for the original post, of course!!!

  Shaman

• 76 Removing U3 Software From a Cruzer | Open Switch // Jan 24, 2007 at 8:17 am

  [...] *nix is that it CAN’T run automatically, but with Windows it still does.) At any rate, here’s a tutorial on how to remove the preinstalled software from a Cruzer. Share This This entry was written by [...]

• 77 Mike // Jan 24, 2007 at 2:14 pm

  You Rock, Thanks!!!

• 78 theBernharts.com - » // Jan 24, 2007 at 2:14 pm

  [...] some googling, I found this highly useful article out there which provided a link to the U3 site for a removal tool. Works like a normal USB flash [...]

• 79 Vance // Jan 25, 2007 at 7:23 am

  Allow me to add my appreciation for the information you have provided. I now have a flash drive that actually works like it should.

• 80 martin // Jan 26, 2007 at 10:10 am

  Thank you so much!

• 81 James // Jan 26, 2007 at 5:14 pm

  Thanks for the link but I’m having trouble getting it to work on my SanDisck Cruzer 2 GB.

  If I follow your directions, I get an error telling me I have more than one flash drive installed and to remove one. Yet I only have one plugged in!

  If I go the other route and start the program without the flash drive installed, I’m asked to insert it into the USB port but when I do, all that happens is the U3 program starts up but the removal tool still doesn’t see the drive pluged into the USB port.

  So I don’t know what to do.

• 82 Exorcised Cruzer owner // Jan 26, 2007 at 5:22 pm

  Thanks for the help on removing the U3 ^%#^^%#^&#. I, too, like James, couldn’t get the SanDisk software to work. The software mounts a virtual CD drive and the PC assigns the USB stick two drive letters–one for the actual stick and one for the virtual CD drive.

  To fix this, I had to use the link Olaf recommended (http://www.u3.com/uninstall/final.aspx). While there, they ask why you want to rid your drive of the invasive (my term) software, which gives you the chance to vent.

  Many thanks to you and St. Olaf for the successful Cruzer Exorcism!

• 83 Whatever // Jan 28, 2007 at 4:58 am

  If SanDisk has any business sense they will remove this software and keep it as a downloadable software by just saving a simple web page on the drive or by adding a CD with the software in it. It is just simply nasty business ethics and behavior to have a software in a hardware that you simply cannot remove. SanDisk, I hope you are reading the frustrations of “n” number of users!

• 84 James // Jan 28, 2007 at 1:47 pm

  Hey! Now that worked. I just got almost 2 GB of MP3s on this thing until it ran out of space. Thanks for the link.

• 85 lance // Jan 29, 2007 at 8:19 am

  i hate the software that comes with this stupid jump drive

• 86 Dave F // Jan 29, 2007 at 11:17 am

  It is nice to see someone like yourself taking the time to research and share with others. The trend of bundling unwanted software needs to be controlled. It is not enough to label the package that widget is included but it should also clearly state what widget does and how to remove. After all, I paid for it just as I paid for my computer. In my book, that makes the owner regardless what the corporate weenies think! Good job. Glad you are a member of the human race.

• 87 Adam // Jan 29, 2007 at 6:42 pm

  Thank you for the well-written, entertaining, remarkably quick fix Krista. You’ve saved a lot of people a great deal of aggravation.

• 88 Zen Kai // Jan 30, 2007 at 11:06 am

  Bless you. Something needed to be done about that nonsense. Incidentally, the same process works for the 2 gig drive. Oh, and for those who were having problems with the removal utility, you may need to runn the Safely Remove Hardware wizard and close out ALL USB mass storage devices, SanDisk or not.

• 89 Rahul // Jan 30, 2007 at 7:23 pm

  Thanks a lot man!! This U3 was driving me crazy. On top of that I have a Mac…GOD!! It was the worst thing to have with a Mac, it never came off!! I was about to return the drive…but then I googled my frustration and got your site!! God bless you mate!!

• 90 Rahul // Jan 30, 2007 at 7:25 pm

  oops…isn’t Krista a girl’s name…

• 91 randf // Jan 31, 2007 at 9:32 am

  thanks for this site. i transfer files from my windows machines to my mac powerbook all the time. the U3 software began to fail and really hampered my access on all windows machines. fortunately the mac access was ok, except for the annoying “fake” writeable CD image that always showed up. (mac users, always drag the writable CD to the trash first then eject the usb disk, else all kinds of strange finder behaviors start happening)

  of note, whenver i put my device into windows and the U3 launchpad failed, initially there seemed to be no way to simply open up the drive using the “my computer”. whenever i seleced the usb removable drive icon, it would “snap” open revealing all my files and then “snap” back to the “my computer” view. this game would go back and forth until i just used the back arrow, then the view stayed put, giving access to my files.

  at that point i dragged all of my files for safe keeping onto the desktop while i used the removal tool mentioned in your article to zap the sandisk programs and turn it into a plain old “usb mass storage device”

  thanks!

• 92 decrepitoldfool // Feb 1, 2007 at 3:13 pm

  I hope Sandisk reads this thread very, very carefully, and reads what I am about to say.

  The remover apparently works sometimes, but not always, or it creates conditions that cause trouble. Or U3 remains on the machine somehow no matter how much they say it doesn’t. Or U3 drives have a driver problem.

  We had one professor who bought their drive, loaded his presentation on it, and went merrily off to another venu to give the presentation. When he plugged it in, his lack of administrative access prevented him from opening his presentation. Another professor was not able to use the drive at all; he was the lucky one.

  I ran the uninstaller, and the drive would work on my machine but not his or any of our lab machines (in other words, my administrative access allowed it to work) Then I used drive management in Windows to remove both partitions, create a new, fresh partition, and format it, and the same condition; the Cruzer would not read on the user’s machine where it had previously been plugged in. We tried repartitioning it on a Linux machine with the same results.

  I will never buy a Sandisk product again until U3 is GONE.

• 93 decrepitoldfool // Feb 1, 2007 at 3:15 pm

  Oh, I should add: many thanks to Krista for this post! XXX00XX But I hope Sandisk Googles their company and finds this thread.

• 94 ej // Feb 1, 2007 at 9:22 pm

  Mod note: obnoxious, insulting introduction removed from the original comment - the relevant bits that remain follow.

  By holding the shift key down when plugging in ANY U3 enabled flash drive, the U3 launch is bypassed….hence no annoying pop-ups. But you can still use the U3 application by clicking on the U3 System listed under My Computer. For those of us that use multiple computers in different environments, it can be very helpful to carry your own (favorite) software with you and not have to worry about what programs are actually installed on the computer you happen to be using……

• 95 Krista // Feb 2, 2007 at 4:32 am

  Note to ej (above): In future, I will moderate your posts accordingly, as I have done above. There was no need to be juvenile and insulting about responses to a post which clearly wasn’t targeted toward you, since you are in fact a fan of U3 bundling. One might be led to believe you were a Sandisk/U3 employee…

  That said, I’m sure your information will be useful to anyone who wants to *keep* U3 on their drives.

  The real point, which you miss, is that most of us resent before forced to opt-out of crap we don’t want on our hardware, and furthermore are annoyed that removal seems to be such a pain in the ass.

  Your mileage may vary, but don’t plan on coming back here and insulting other folks who are simply venting their frustrations.

• 96 Lukasz // Feb 2, 2007 at 8:34 am

  Sweet- It works thanks now I can move files between my mac and a PC.

• 97 James Thiele // Feb 4, 2007 at 11:17 am

  On my Mac OS X the u3.exe was locked so I selected the file in the Finder, chose the menu File/Get Info, unchecked the Locked check box, dragged the file to the trash, and emptied the trash. Gone forever.

• 98 Ron Holland // Feb 4, 2007 at 10:43 pm

  I’m using this cruzer to take files between home and work. At home, although the software was (like any other virus) a bother, but at work, I couldn’t use it because our server would reject it’s request to do whatever it wanted to do, and not load the drive. Your tip to the software was a godsent, and the other tip to remove usb add on’s if the un-install didn’t work was a great help too.
  For the issue of them making it hard to remove… well, uh, money is the bottom line. If they can get this to take off, then they will sell software for it and get to build great big houses, and drive limo’s and have servants and tell political leaders what to do…. you know just the simple perks in life.
  Regards all.

• 99 Paul // Feb 5, 2007 at 2:09 pm

  Thanks you very much! That software was a big pain!

• 100 Matt // Feb 7, 2007 at 5:36 pm

  Krista, I think you have just saved me from pulling all of my hair out and probably toenails too! For that alone, I must thank you. And for the small matter of me now being free of this godforsaken U3 software, I double thank you. I actually had the uninstall software on the drive, however it would not work (…”you have more than one U3 drive” etc). I had to go into My Computer, Properties, Hardware, Device Manager, Disk Drives… and then disable all the other ‘Generic USB’ drives. The uninstaller then at least proceeded further, but just seemed to go into an eternal loop while trying to format. So I went back to My Computer, and used Windows to uninstall the device, and used Windows to format the drive. Got there in the end, and couldn’t have done it without your help. Thanks once again.

• 101 Don // Feb 11, 2007 at 11:21 am

  Thanks for the solution. found it on the first google and it worked.

• 102 Robby Simpson // Feb 12, 2007 at 2:46 pm

  Thank you so much.

• 103 Lee // Feb 13, 2007 at 7:01 am

  Thanks for the link to the removal kit. Like others, I hated the U3 software, particularly when you’re going to Staples to just print a document.

• 104 Phil // Feb 14, 2007 at 8:10 pm

  Weeks of frustration have come to an end. Free at last. Thank you.
  (Mac user who used a PC to reformat the USB drive).

• 105 eikelein // Feb 16, 2007 at 5:19 am

  Krista, Thanks a BIIIG BUNCH!
  My Cruzer U3 story is a bit different. About two weeks ago I got it uninstalled with the Sandisk remover just fine. Since I a dumb, old geezer I did re-install again. Must have been brain-dead that day… Tried to uninstall today and voila, all the well reported problems.
  The difference: First uninstall was on an old Compaq that has only 4 “regular” USB ports. The computer I used today has a unit with card readers built in and that can’t be “stopped” if there are no cards in the slots. SanDisk’s remover seems to see the card slots as USB devices and then ask it’s dumb questions. I opened My Computer and right-clicked on every of the reader drives, then selected Eject. After that the U3 Uninstaller did it.
  Questions that remains for me: How many different versions of their stuff does SanDisk have? How much more hardware dependent can they make the software? And how can they better hide it so we don’t even see it anymore? Hint for Sandisk: Rootkit is the name. Too sad the whole thing to even laugh about it.
  Still, I’ll buy another one considering the current HUGE price reduction.

• 106 Jim // Feb 17, 2007 at 5:38 pm

  BLESS YOU!!! BLESS YOU!!!

  That thing was driving me nuts!!!

  THanks!!!

• 107 Chris B // Feb 18, 2007 at 7:47 pm

  Sweet fix mate, cheers, had huge problems with it in my USB car head deck, kept on starting from track 1 out of 300 every time you turned over the engine. Thanks for your time n effort

• 108 Adam // Feb 19, 2007 at 12:04 pm

  Thank you so much! I was pretty upset when I plugged this puppy in. I figured I could just format it and never run the software at all.

• 109 Joey // Feb 21, 2007 at 9:31 am

  thanks for posting this. That U3 was so annoying and the link got it off quickly. Great post!!

• 110 oz // Feb 22, 2007 at 6:29 am

  Good write up, thanks mate.

• 111 MaryAgnes // Feb 24, 2007 at 8:22 pm

  Thank-you so much for your posting. I have been going though f…..g h…