Using a U3 flash drive

I’ve had a U3 flash drive for a while now, and overall it seems pretty slick. You can read about what U3 is here.

While it is slick, I’m still not using it exclusively for applications yet, mostly because there isn’t much software available for it. I’m talking freeware here, and John T. Haller’s Portable Application Suite is far more complete than what’s out there for U3, at least so far. On the upside, it’s very easy to install new applications to a U3 drive from the launcher program that starts (usually) automatically when you insert the drive in a computer.

The U3 software data, such as the settings for Firefox, are not easy to find. You’ll find a “system” folder on the data portion of the drive. Under that you’ll find a fold for each application with a very long name that seems randomly generated. Unfortunately, copying settings from another instance of Firefox didn’t work, and there’s no way to import settings, so it may be a manual process depending on the application.

In the Portable Apps Suite, I could just copy the relevant files over and save myself the hassle. I must state that I have tested this only with Firefox, not with anything else.

I downloaded RoboForm, which is a kind of password safe/auto-filler for web logins. It wants to work only with the browser loaded into the U3 portion of the drive, and I’m too lazy to manually re-enter my bookmarks, so I haven’t used it much.

The anti-virus is really quite nice. I’m talking here about the ability to contain it - most AV programs want to scan everything constantly, and as a result become so problematic they get turned off. This one can be run only when you want, which makes it much more manageable.

The system also has a security feature, which requires a password to access the files. The files are not encrypted, so it’s not the most secure thing in the world, but it is very fast and secure enough to thwart the casual person who finds a misplaced drive.

I found that on one of the computers I used the drive, Windows wanted to reboot after discovering the system portion of the U3. Sometimes Firefox just gives an error on startup. The system doesn’t always autorun, but the “launcher” can be started manually - required if you have security turned on.

So all is not perfect in U3-land, but it is a good idea and those who find installing the Portable Application Suite or similar software too intimidating, will like the ease of installation.

Portable Data - PAS, U3, etc.

I’ve written a bit in the past about the fundimental problems of data portability. We all have data, email, files, etc. that we want to have with us when we travel. However, how do you take them with and leave the computer at home?

There are online solutions, USB flash drive solutions and of course PDA solutions. It looks like the USB flash drive solutions have just gotten much more sophisticated.

First, John Haller has created PortableApps.com, which has full office suite of free software that runs nicely from a flash drive. I’ve been using this for a week, and it’s very nice to have all your settings and whatnot stay in the same place. However, it’s a strictly open-source affair, and if you don’t care for Firefox, Thunderbird, OpenOffice, etc. you’ll have to look elsewhere.

Second, the folks at Sandisk and M-Systems have invented U3, a trick where the U3-compatible flash drive tricks the host computer into thinking it’s a CD rom drive, thereby allowing applications to run completely off the flash drive. The advantage with U3 is that it’s likely to attract more software vendors.

Then there’s Migo, which puts your MS Explorer and Outlook setting on a drive, so that when you use someone else’s computer your settings are used.

Each offers potential advantages and disadvantages, but it’s clear that vendors are catching on to the data portability problem. How long will it be before computers are just appliances, and the data and software are the personal part, carried in portable memory?

Let’s not let Big Brother get too big

Ok, this is a bit spooky, and it’s clearly fictional, but it’s where we’re headed if we’re not diligent in protecting our privacy and our freedom.