Remove U3 Launchpad from a Flash Drive using a PC

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Mike Hynes
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Posts: 31
Joined: Mon Mar 24, 2008 8:10 pm

Remove U3 Launchpad from a Flash Drive using a PC

Post by Mike Hynes » Fri Mar 05, 2010 12:34 am

FOR PC USERS - Sandisk offer all this following information on their web site:
http://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detai ... 1834/sno/0



The methods are:
(a)
Backup any data on the drive that you wish to keep.
Insert the U3 flash drive into the PC's USB socket;
Click the U3 icon on the PC's system tray (bottom right-hand side of the screen);
Click 'Settings' then select 'Launchpad Settings';
Click on 'Uninstall' on the left panel and then click on the 'Uninstall U3 Launchpad' button on the right.
Click 'Next' to continue & choose whether you wish to restore data on the drive (Should be No);
Click on Format to begin the uninstall.

or
(b)
Backup any data on the drive that you wish to keep.
Insert the U3 flash drive into the PC's USB socket;
Download the U3 Removal Tool from the Sandisk site given above & just run it.

or
(c)
Uninstall U3 during initial setup
You should see a 'Welcome to U3' dialogue the first time you plug in your new flash drive.
Click on 'No. I want to use my Drive for storage only';
Then click the 'Remove U3' button to confirm uninstall.


MAC USERS SEE SANDISK SITE:
http://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detai ... 1834/sno/0


Mike Hynes

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David P
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2008 8:58 pm

Re: Remove U3 Launchpad from a Flash Drive using a PC

Post by David P » Fri Mar 05, 2010 11:41 am

Can you not just format the thing?
Cheers,

David.

Mike Hynes
Site Admin
Posts: 31
Joined: Mon Mar 24, 2008 8:10 pm

Re: Remove U3 Launchpad from a Flash Drive using a PC

Post by Mike Hynes » Fri Mar 05, 2010 5:00 pm

David P wrote:Can you not just format the thing?
That's the logical thing to do but I seem to recall that the flash drive resists that somehow - It's so long ago that I've forgotten the details.
Mike

Mike Hynes

Re: Remove U3 Launchpad from a Flash Drive using a PC

Post by Mike Hynes » Thu Apr 15, 2010 2:30 pm

Having just removed U3 from a Cruze flash drive, I can confirm that it’s not quite as straightforward as it should be. Apparently, the U3 partition on the drive is formatted as a CD drive and resists all normal attempts at deleting, reformatting, etc.
I found that the downloaded uninstall program (mentioned in the first post above) took an unexpectedly long time (some minutes) to recognise the flash drive plugged into the PC. However, when it did finally register it, the program worked satisfactorily and then the drive was easy to reformat, etc.

I recommend that option ‘C’ above is used to stop U3 starting - if Sandisk really give that option.

Mike Hynes

P.S. There are very many other people similarly frustrated at their inability to remove the U3 component from their flash drives. Just Google ‘delete U3 from cruze’. :x

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