Disable Auto-Run and Auto-Play of U3 Smart Drives Launchpad
If you have bought a USB flash drive that comes with U3 Smart Drives platform, such as Kingston U3 DataTraveler, SanDisk Cruzer Micro or Titanium, Verbatim Store ‘n’ Go U3 Smart Drive, Memorex Mini TravelDrive U, which enables users to install and use software, carry and transfer data beside share information seamlessly between multiple computers. However, not every U3 smart drives flash disks owner would like to use the features of U3, and U3 Launchpad application is not necessary to utilize the main function of a USB flash drive or thumb drive – that’s as mass data storage device.
You can always easily remove and uninstall U3 Launchpad that comes preinstalled and embeded in the USB flash drive or pen drive with U3 Launchpad Removal Tool. However, the problem is that, once you uninstall and remove the U3 Launchpad from the USB U3 smart drives storage device, it’s not possible to download the U3 Launchpad to install the U3 Launchpad into the ‘used-to-be-U3-smart-drives’ USB flash drive again.
So if you’re unsure or in doubt whether you will use the features and functionalities of U3 Launchpad in future, it’s better that you just disable the U3 Launchpad by preventing and stopping U3 Launchpad to automatically start when the U3 smart drive is inserted into the computer. Users can prevent the U3 Launchpad from automatically running each time the U3 flash drive is inserted by holding down the SHIFT key while inserting the U3 smart drive. Keep holding the SHIFT key until Windows has properly detect and enable the USB flash disk drive, indicating with the USB device started sound. Now the U3 smart drive has been recognized by Windows operating system as a normal USB mass storage device, which can be used and accessed just like a normal USB storage disk or memory key. If you want to start the U3 Launchpad after suppressing it, locate and right-click on the U3 smart drive’s CDROM drive letter in Explorer, and select AutoPlay.
U3 Launchpad emulates itself as a virtual CD drive in the Windows operating system and uses the built-in Autorun and AutoPlay features in Windows to start the U3 Launchpad automatically. If you feel that pressing the SHIFT key everytime during insertion of U3 smart drive is troublesome and forgetable, then you can disable the auto-run or auto-play features in Windows XP and Windows 2000 operating system. To disable automatically running CD-ROMs and Audio CDs, users must edit the registry value:
- Click Start -> Run.
- Type RegEdit in the Open text box, then press ENTER.
- In the Registry Editor, locate and click the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\CDRom
- Modify the value of the Autorun to 0 (zero) so that CD-ROMs and Audio CDs do not run and start automatically when inserted.
- Next navigate to the following registry subkey:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
- Modify the value of the NoDriveTypeAutoRun entry to 0xb5 value to turn off the AutoRun feature for CD-ROMs by right-click NoDriveTypeAutoRun and then click Modify to type B5 in the Value data box. Select Hexadecimal, and then click OK.
- Quit Registry Editor.
- Restart your computer.
Related posts:
- Disable, Remove and Uninstall U3 Launchpad
- Disable Auto Go To (Jump) To Read More Tag
- Verbatim U3 SmartDrive Review by Mobility Site
- Disable Compressed (Zipped) Folder Feature in Windows XP and Windows Me
- Kingston U3 DataTraveler Review by BIOS
Whatever you all do, if you decide to disable the auto-boot feature of the U3 drive, ensure there is no password set on the U3 drive because if there is, you won't be able to access the drive.
Also, I found out the hard way that if you can't remember your password, it'll give you about 5 tries and then it disables itself. The only other way to access it would be to tell U3 you forgot the password before it disables itself and it will then allow you to reset the drive. Then it formats itself, leaving only the U3 on the drive. And the information before hand will not be recoverable, well, at least not with PC Tools recover that is. That's what I attempted to use to recover the lost data.
I don't know if it does a zero-fill on itself or what, but I lost all of my data.
To disable autorun.inf and autoplay just download and run disable.reg and add keys to the registry.
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionIniFileMappingAutorun.inf]
@="@SYS:DoesNotExist"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer]
"NoDriveTypeAutoRun"=dword:000000FF
Download disable.reg here: http://uploading.com/files/VXNCGZ34/disable.reg.h…
Fix for when U3 Launchpad Cruzer Micro 1.0 removal tool does not work:
A friend asked me to remove the U3 software from three Cruzer Micro 1.0 disks. He said he wanted to use the disk on any
computer and as a standard USB disk to store and play music.
The first Cruzer Micro USB uninstalled perfectly leaving me with a regular thumb drive with no U3 software. I used the U3
removal tool that I downloaded from the Internet.
The other two did not. I kept getting a message that the software would only work the first time or something similar. I
would click on the executable file on the Cruzer but it did nothing.
I tried something counterintuitive. I downloaded the upgrade software for the Cruzer USB, re-installed the U3 Launchpad
software. After installation, I could click on the red square U3 icon on my desktop and I could see the options on the left
screen. I selected uninstall. The U3 Launchpad asked if I wanted to save the data or format the data and it would be lost.
I chose to save the data but uninstall U3. It worked without a hitch. His data was saved and the software, U3 Launchpad that
drove him crazy was gone.
I found that the U3 Sandisk Cruzer removal tool works only if the software on the Cruzer USB is still installed. I had three
Cruzer USBs with U3 technology on them.
The tool can be found on http://www.mydigitallife.info/2006/09/11/disable-…
thanks….
how do i install the U3 into my cuzor flash drive, i kind of lost it..
Protect your data! Deactivate USB storage…
Nowadays, USB storage is very popular and cheap. No doubt USB thumb drive give us many convenience, but it can also be used by data thieves to leak sensitive information. Worst case is others might
spread virus into your computer without your knowledge…
This is so not true!
"once you uninstall and remove the U3 Launchpad from the USB U3 smart drives storage device, it’s not possible to download the U3 Launchpad to install the U3 Launchpad into the ‘used-to-be-U3-smart-drives’ USB flash drive again."
I found this really nifty replacement which has more apps and doesn't require an extra drive and all sorts of nonsense that U3 comes with. PortableApps U3 is really annoying with the way it operates.
I have a better & easier solution than the above…
I made the mistake of buying one of these. I'm an IT professional, but I wasn't aware of this U3 nonsense. I just needed a device to move files, not some monolithic app that interrupts me every time I plug the USB stick in. If you're reading this you're probably like me…
Unfortunately this solution is not good for me since I use it quite promiscuously …but as a simpler/elegant solution to the above:
Disable the virtual CD in your device manager by:
1) Plug in the U3 drive
2) Start->Run compmgmt.msc
3) Go to device manager under CD/DVD Drives
4) Right click on Verbatim/Memorex CD ROM and select disable.
5) Unplug U3 drive, and test again!
This is will prevent plug and play from re-detecting the virtual CD drive that boots U3. This leaves you with just a regular old stick, provided its not your first time on the computer.
U3 is like a solution looking for a problem. Why on earth is this software not simply installed by choice on first run? Not everyone needs help maintaining a portable profile.
Hello and thank goodness for the tips on how to unistall the appalling U3 software. It crashed or bombed almost every PC I used it on. Imagine the joy of using it to load a presentation at a client and spending the next 1/2 hour trying to recover. It's bad bad bad
Hi for all
thank you befor
I have problem i deleted my u3 inside my smart drive and now can't open my flash or define it in computer.
How i do pls?
Thanks for the great write up This was a necessary thing to do on my end, because the Memorex 2GB Mini Travel drive U3 launchpad does NOT work in Vista. So I'm stuck using it only as a regular thumb drive. And often time, prior to fixing this AutoPlay function, it would try to automatically boot the U3 Dashboard, and just freeze up, staying on my screen, and making the drive itself un-usable even as a regular drive.
Wish they would hurry and make an update for this drive.. I know Kingston has one, as well as Verbatim, that updates the drivers to work with Vista, but sadly, memorex does not!!!
[...] Disable Auto-Run and Auto-Play of U3 Smart Drives Launchpad
[...] Because of the size of my collection, I could never get any music players to effectively manage the entire thing. Whether it was using Media Player, iTunes or Winamp, every system seemed unable to respond after I would import the collection into their software. To make matters worse, everytime my computer crashed, I could never prevent my external drives from trying to autoplay the entire collection everytime I restarted. [...]