Talk:Sandisk U3 Flash Drive Virus

U3 _is_ a virus because ScanDisk allows it to INSTALL without first ASKING the user if they want it. Software that modifies your system without your permission is a virus. You plug in the new flash drive, and it auto-installs. No where on the product or packaging was any mention of auto-installing propritary software that would add a virtual cd drive letter and impact system performance, which it did. U3 software will conflict with other popular software such as all varieties of CD/DVD burning software. This is somewhat like the Sony DRM Rootkit which got that company into a great deal of hot water. I have been looking for a group that is interested in seeking civil litigation against Sandisk. Companies that pull this sort of stunt do need to be held accountable.

some links

For removeing the u3 part ( cd-rom partion) on your u3 device:

SanDisk USB U3 devices: http://www.sandisk.com/Assets/u3/launchpadremoval.exe All other U3 smart drives can use the universal U3 Launchpad Remover downloadable from U3 here: http://www.u3.com/uninstall/final.aspx

manual removal

if you are using xp the backup location is in the following path. (application data is a hidden folder so you will need to set the computer to show hidden files and folders.)

C:\Documents and Settings\"your user name"\Application Data\U3\temp