The cruzer min 2 gig jump drive looks and feels like a great peice of hardware. Before you buy this thing, there are some things users of usb jump drives should know.
Of course like almost everything, they changed some things about how the jump drive works. Everytime you plug this USB device on any computer it has not been put on, it install some launcher program called U3. This program is not welcome by most IT people that have common sense. Its not good practise to have to install software for a usb jump drive, that is why windows has generic mass storage device drivers. The operating system takes care of being able to modify and access data on these types of drives.
This software is forced and so is the emulated cd rom that is also created everytime you plug in the device. So with this device when you plug it into any computer, it installs software, reguardless of the users permissions and it creates an emulated cd drive. This is a stupid move on the part of SanDisk, I would call it a super stupid move. It automatically launches when you plug it in and creates a c:\documents and settings\user\application data\u3 subdirectory. This directory does not disappear when the device is ejected. This was confirmed by SanDisk Tech Support after they told me it left no trace initially.
What I dont understand is that the autlo loading U3 software has features that allow you to install U3 programs on the SanDisk and use them. One of the main reasons people use usb mass storage devices is to be able to take cd installs or any type of install and carry it around and install it whenever you wanted. In addition to that, imagine having to install software everytime you wanted to use your usb device on another computer, not a driver, but an application.
Getting rid of the U3 SanDisk software has been made easy with a program from SanDisk that removes the auto launching software.
Removal
To remove the U3 Software, make sure your cruzer mini is plugged in. After that download and run this exe file.
you say, make sure the cruzer is plugged in and then run the removal tool.
however, sandisk's site says that you not only need to have it plugged in but that you need to have the u3 launchpad running.
this is an important consideration, since many of us can't get the launchpad itself to run.
I copied the removal tool (that came with my 4gb cruzer in the zip file) to my local hard drive and ran it from there. It acted like it was running fine, then 2 minutes later it said, critical error, please restart your PC and run it again.
OK? so I did this but after restart, the Cruzer doesn't even show up in MyComputer and when I run the removal tools, they all say, "please install a u3 device." great.
So I go to disk management and can see the "healthy" 3.84gb drive sitting there. But there is no file system on it and no drive letter. great.
I assign a random unused drive letter and it takes it. (though still doesn't show up in MyComputer) And then I right-click and try to format it FAT32. No dice. Says it's not enabled, must restart PC first. what? I go to properties for that drive and it says Enabled and should be working. great.
I'm at a loss. This $30 gizmo has already cost me more than that in wasted time. I love computers.
The other thing is to make sure that you disable/stop or unplug all other USB devices and that you manually disable the CD_ROM drive version of the USB jump drive and this should make the program work....
Astonishingly simple. U3 has annoyed me since I bought the device. Why didn't Sandisk put the utility on the disk in the first place. (This is a rhetorical question. The answer is: to push a new affordance in the hope that by some miracle people will adopt it and it will become a standard.
Now if I could just find as simple a way to migrate Thunderbird mail from my XP machine to my new Vista machine I could go to bed.
you also have to disable any memory card readers that are a part of your computer...not as astonishingly simple as i had hoped...now all "I" have to do before going to bed is reinstall all the things i uninstalled before calling SanDisk to find out it was the card readers that came in my computer. Hope this helps the next pseudo-geek that comes along.
This does not work. It never finds the Cruzer -- acts like it is not even plugged in. So much for that solution. What a worthless piece of crap the Cruzer is.
I tried your solution on the Cruzer 1.0 micro that my son gave me. He had used it before with a MAC but when I tried to use it with my PC it continually locked up my computer. I checked all of my USB ports with a removable harddrive and they all worked. Every time I tried to insert the SanDisk the computer would lock up and nothing would happen. I tried to download and install a new U3 launcher but that would end up with a locked up (program not responding message). So I took the Cruzer to work and to Best Buy and it started right up at both places. WTF? My PC is a 6-7 year old HP with Windows XP and runs everything else I plug into it. So I thought, maybe my antivirus software was preventing it from working so I disabled that and tried again - no luck. I'm out of ideas and will probably will have to buy another thumbdrive. All I want it for is to load a few files for my FTA satellite receiver in my workshop and this is the best way to transfer the files. However, I cant see buying another thumbdrive if a new one wont work either - any ideas? Thanks, pete
Thank you for the tool. I got a Cruiser 2GB to use for storage and when I plugged it in I got a bunch of stuff I didn't want. You made it easy to remove. Keep the good work.
I am starting to really hate these Cruiser drives! I downloaded the uninstaller, but it keeps saying
"This program only supports one U3 drive removal. Exit the program and unplug extra drive then try again."
I have no other drives plugged in other than my internal hard drives. Uninstalling U3 is not the piece of cake it is reported to be. Anyone know how to flat get rid of the programs on the Cruiser?
Another satisfied reader here. Thanks so much for this assistance. I bought the jump drive for my son and his school's computers were not liking the U3 software at all. We are fixed!!!!!!!
I was using a 4 GB drive with ReadyBoost. I decided to use it as a drive, but am unable to format it. Windows XP Disk Management sees it, but cannot format it; Windows Vista doesn't see it at all. Windows Explorer does see the drive. When I try to use the U3 Launchpad Removal Tool, I am told there is a "critical error". Maybe my drive is done...
Unfortunately I own 2 of this suckers. Both stopped working would freeze 4 of my 4 pcs I have. I tried to use the removal tool 3 times and left the SanDisk Cruzer U3 Removal tool program running over night. I cam back in the morning to get the same results.... still running. I am puzzled what was causing the conflict with my hardware. But I know I will not go through this again. If any of the people related to SanDisk read our comments, they may say: "We don't need you, who cares." Since the are NO! fixes what so ever. We don't need you SanDisk either, we'll take our money to companies else, that care.
I have a couple of these, tried the utility, it seemed to be looping constantly, (probably stupid of me to try and get it to 'save the data'), ended up end tasking it. Unplug the drive, plug it back in, format through windows. Bob is your mothers brother.
I tried the removal tool. The U3 drive was removed, but the avialable drive dropped from 7.5 to 3.5 GB. Where is the other half of my drive? WTF!!!! GRRRRR!!!!! Ripped off by Sandisk.
If you run the launchpad program (Windows) on the"cd" the program opens, blah blah, but it doesn't add/install anything to your computer. When it comes up, an icon next to the clock is created, and it has labels if you want to do anything.. Go to the option about "settings." You'll get two choices. I think it's in the LaunchPad settings, there's a tab called "uninstall Launchpad" right there.
The only catch it is has to rewrite the whole drive. I suggest a usb 2.0 port and alot of virtual ram (and normal ram if a you have a full 4gigs!) if you plan on doing that. Otherwise it can do just a format, returning everything to normal.
NO EXTRA SOFTWARE IS NEEDED for this to work. I am on Vista 32-bit. I do not know if launchpad runs on a 64 bit system, or an out-of-date one. 98/ME
Before I ran the Cruzer Launchpad program I disconnected both the CD-Rom Drive letter (in my case E:) and the removable drive letter ( in my case F:) I have downloaded the latest version at Scandisk.com. Before you you can download this version you have to register.
Then I started the launchpad program. Choose the top option. Everything on the disk will be "destroyed".
The Cruzer will be formatted. After the process is done I disconnect the USD stick. Then I plugged the USB disk in again. My drive letter returned (F: drive). No CD-ROM drive appeared.
"I tried the removal tool. The U3 drive was removed, but the avialable drive dropped from 7.5 to 3.5 GB. Where is the other half of my drive? WTF!!!! GRRRRR!!!!! Ripped off by Sandisk. Okay, I just posted the prior comment about a crizer shrunken drive. Download the latest version of the removal tool from
I have the same problem as the others with the shrunken drive. I just got the thing today and went through all the hassle of getting rid of U3. Now my drive is only half as big. WHOEVER POSTED HOW TO GET THE FULL SIZE BACK PLEASE HELP.
I really had the runaround with this thing but finally got it removed and restored my shrunken drive. heres exactly what I did.
I tried to remove it with the sandisk uninstaller for u3 and it wouldn't work until I disabled all of my other usb adapter things through the device manager in control panel. It worked after that, and i choose to not save all my stuff on it (not sure if this mattered or not). Then i noticed that my 8gb(7.5 turned into a 4gb(3.5). I read on here how that was a problem and the guy with the broken link saying he reinstalled. So I found the sandisk U3 launchpad intaller and ran it (not the titanium one). I then redid the uninstall but this time siad to save all my stuff. This worked like a charm and i just didnt add anything back because all that was there was U3. If you end up with a shrunken drive, make sure you dont add anything to it then do what I just said. Im not sure that making it delete the gigablytes of stuff caused it, but im pretty sure. I hope this helps everyone
Worked great for me. I was about to return the stupid thing. Now I have a fast USB drive back. Thanks a bunch for the info. Looks like the EXE is legit. No viruses.
Thank you for that terrifically helpful post. I'd already deleted the crud from the thumb drive itself, so the download didn't do anything. But knowing where to find the folder on my hard drive was invaluable information. I've deleted it from my computer and my husband's computer, where we'd also tried to use the thing. Now all I have to do is remove the crud from my daughter's computer.
SanDisk has stooped to a new low. This U3 app is about as useless as they come and you CAN'T get rid of it, even with the removal tool The removal tool keeps telling you to insert a SanDisk when it is already inserted. Just buy a Kingston and be done with it. They don't load you up with a bunch of cappy bloat-ware.
i bought a cruzer u3 about two weeks ago and i always was annoyed by the u3 software. so today i decided to try and delete it, but it didn't work. the removetool says i have to insert a u3 stick while it's already inserted. does anyone know what i can do? i've tried everything that's been posted here.
The cruzer looks like an awesome 2 gig jump drive. Great information posted here. I found more at <a href="http://www.yahoo.com">yahoo</a> and also at [url=http://www.yahoo.com/]yahoo[/url]
Yeah, nice removal tool. Not only did it remove the launchpad, it removed EVERY effing thing on the drive even though I selected the option to restore the data! Nice. I used to have a few problems getting machines to recognize the drive, but what is the cost of a few minutes compared to the data that I lost? Again, nice job warning people that ALL data will be erased when the drive is formatted. I have no words for you that can be posted on a public forum.
I just bought a cruzer 8 gb which sent my computer to blue screen every time I inserted it. Finally found the link to remove U3 and was able to do it by holding down the shift key while inserting the drive and then following the link. That reformatted my drive and removed U3 and solved my blue screen problem. Now my 8gb drive is 3.5 gb and the solution above for restoring the gigs doesn't work for me, because every time I try to reinstall U3, I'm back to a blue screen. So I guess I'm stuck with a 3.5 gb drive (which I didn't pay a lot for at least) unless someone can tell me how to format it for the 8 gb that should be there. When I try to do it in Windows, 3.5 gb is the only choice ...
I just bought a 4gb Cruzer with U3 and it appears now that Sandisk has given you the option to remove the U3 programming the first time you plug it in. It removed the U3 software as promised and now i have a nice, fast, clean thumbdrive.
I bought one of the Cruzer 8gb sticks for carrying my classwork. I hated the u3 part of it and couldnt get it to uninstall so I reformatted the stick. Now my virus protection says there is a g:autorun.inf virus detected??? An autorun.inf program is something that causes programs to start running automatically. I understand that. But when I open the Cruzer thru Windows Explorer and choose the properties of the stick, it tells me I have the full storage space available. But my Avast antivirus keeps going off with the same error.
WOW..it took me hours to figure out a way to remove the U3 crap!! If you don't do it the very FIRST time you plug it in, you may be out of luck...BUT, this worked for me after several tries:
1. Went to Device Manager. Opened "Disk Drives." Double-clicked "SanDisk Cruzer USB Device." Clicked the "Policies" tab. Chose the second option, "Optimize for Performance." Closed my way out of Device Manager.
2. Went into Windows Explorer. Opened My Computer and clicked on the SanDisk drive letter to show what files/folders were on it. Selected all (3 in my case) files/folders and deleted them (sometimes I had 2 entries for the Cruzer - one listed it as a CD; the other just showed it as "K' in my case - I couldn't delete the files from the "CD" listing - only from the "K" drive).
3. With Win Explorer still open, I right-clicked on the "K" drive and chose "Format." I formatted to NTFS.
4. Then I went down to the System Tray icon for the Cruzer and found the "Settings" option. Clicked that, then chose "Uninstall." Used the option to NOT save any data. It formatted it again (I think that's what it did) and then said it would now operate as a "regular" USB (or something like that).
NOTE: The instructions in point #4 are from memory - now that it is a regular USB drive, that System Tray icon, and all its menu choices are GONE, so I had to try to remember the process for #4 as best I could!
Thank you so much. I have very little time in between courses to print out work and waiting on that damned U3 to load and be accepted by the iffy computers in the library here has cost me many a valuable minute or 5. You are a life...well grade-saver.
I noticed that at least one other person commented on needing to open the launchpad for the download to remove it, but this is not the case. Go ahead and run the download, then when it says you need to insert a drive, remove the drive and reinsert it - this will register the drive in the download's view and the app will run accordingly. It takes about 20 seconds, then the drive is just a storage drive and the U3 is gone. Hope this helps anyone else who had this problem. TK in AK
Yes I am displeased with SanDisk as well. I had a whole college semester's worth of work on it and had enabled security on it. One day at school I plugged in the drive and it brought up the password screen. I left it on that screen for like 20min. not entering the password ONCE and it then showed I had used up all my password attempts. I was like WTF? So now I'm locked out and I decided to uninstall U3 and I get a screen that says "do you want the data from the drive to be restored after the drive is reformatted?" I chose yes and cannot find my "restored" data at all. Security is important, but locking you out forever is a joke! I have yet to see any e-mail sites for example lock people out after so many attempts! ROFL! My advice is do not enable security at all.
I used the 'remove' program -- it worked! BUT now the USB storage device is NOT the original 16G that was purchased -- less than 4G!! What happened?!? peg4billh@yahoo.com P. Hoover
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And thanks for your text also >>> indeed very very stupid move of Sandisk, ridiculously irritatingly stupid product, has been left unused for ages, this kind of product should be condemned, you buy something and then you just cannot use it.
But thanks to you it now finally is released of its illness!!!!!!
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plug this USB device on any computer it has not been put on, it install some launcher program called U3. This program is not welcome by most IT people that have common sense. Its not good practise to have to install software for a usb jump drive, that is why windows has generic mass storage device drivers. The operating system takes care of being able to modify and access data on these types of drives.