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Mac Forum / General / Hardware / August 2007USB flash drives - what to look for?
Hello all - I'm looking to pick up a USB "flash drive", either in a 4gb or 2gb size. I've no prior experience with these things, and have been browsing around trying to learn more. There seem to be _A LOT_ of them available. I've heard that _some_ of the USB drives come with pre-installed Windows software and "security features" that of course, don't work with the Mac. But in some cases, I've also read that this stuff is installed in a way which makes that portion of space they reside on to be unusable - the flashdrives cannot even be reinitialized to "wipe the junk off". What I'm looking for is nothing more than a "piece of blank media" that I can use Disk Utility to reformat for the Mac. No other "stuff" on the drive to mess with. This will be used with a g4 (USB 2 card installed) and an Intel iMac. In all likelihood, it will never touch a PC. Any tips on "features to avoid" (see unusable Windows stuff above)? Any particularly good brands (i.e., Mac-friendly) out there? Thanks, - John Adding to my own prior posting: << I've heard that _some_ of the USB drives come with pre-installed Windows software and "security features" that of course, don't work with the Mac. But in some cases, I've also read that this stuff is installed in a way which makes that portion of space they reside on to be unusable - the flashdrives cannot even be reinitialized to "wipe the junk off". >> After some further investigation, I understand that some drives come preloaded with something for Windows (security software) called "U3". Others have commented that the U3 partition (if it is indeed a "partition") cannot be erased with Disk Utility. Perhaps there was some trick to using Disk Utility that they didn't employ. If it's true that Disk Utility can't get rid of the U3 stuff, is there anything _else_ on the Mac side that I can use to obliterate the U3 partition and "wipe the drive completely clean" so that it can then be reinitialized for "Mac only"? Or - does this require a PC in order to remove the U3? Thanks, - John > After some further investigation, I understand that some > drives come preloaded with something for Windows (security [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Or - does this require a PC in order to remove the U3? Barbarossa: I purchased one of these and could not get rid of the partition, so I returned it. I later read a note online that said that the manufacturer's site had a downloadable application that would reformat the jump drive, but unfortunately it was PC only. The security partition was made to look like a 'CD-ROM' so no normal utility would wipe it. Personally, if I wanted security on a jump drive, I would want something _I_ could control.  Signature________B___a___r___b___a___r___o___s___s___a________ Wayne B. Hewitt Encinitas, CA whewitt@ucsd.edu > If it's true that Disk Utility can't get rid of the U3 stuff, is there > anything _else_ on the Mac side that I can use to obliterate the U3 partition > and "wipe the drive completely clean" so that it can then be reinitialized for > "Mac only"? > > Or - does this require a PC in order to remove the U3? I think I got rid of that with a $ dd if=/dev/null of=/dev/disk1 count=20 disk1 being the USB device, as seen with the df command. This writes 10KB of zeros starting at the first possible bit. Corrections and other suggestions are welcome. _x. -- Only one "o" in my e-mail address > > If it's true that Disk Utility can't get rid of the U3 stuff, is there > > anything _else_ on the Mac side that I can use to obliterate the U3 [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Corrections and other suggestions are welcome. Well, Xavier, I tried this but couldn't get it to work--'access denied'. I tried it on the U3 drive (there is not just one USB drive, but two, the Flash quasi-partition you can write to and the 'U3 system' quasi-partition). When you look at the U3 partition in Disk Utility it says 'write only (unknown)'. Nice try though. I have to say I'm moderately impressed with whatever strategy they used to protect the U3 area. Perhaps there's a way to sudo hdutil to reformat it, but that's a little beyond my terminal expertise. --Fred > > > If it's true that Disk Utility can't get rid of the U3 stuff, is there > > > anything _else_ on the Mac side that I can use to obliterate the U3 [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > strategy they used to protect the U3 area. Perhaps there's a way to sudo > hdutil to reformat it, but that's a little beyond my terminal expertise. Sorry it did not work. Googling for "Mac U3 remove" you'll find links like http://www.talino.org/blog/u3_and_osx/ which will tell you that the only way to erase the U3 partition is to download and run a Windows executable. Strange. I did it with my Mac alone, in February last year, when I bought the largest available USB stick (4GB, $400) for my boss and it came with the U3. Maybe in earlier times the protection was softer... _x. -- Only one "o" in my e-mail address > Sorry it did not work. Googling for "Mac U3 remove" you'll find links > like [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > bought the largest available USB stick (4GB, $400) for my boss and it > came with the U3. Maybe in earlier times the protection was softer... No expert here but I have a Kingston 2GB USB flash drive and I did reformat it (sometime after Jan 2007) with my Mac alone Disk Utility 10.4.8 and it has no U3 partition now. I have messed around with this flash drive and currently has been set up with Protogo with a bootable OSX and troubleshooting utilities on it. No sign of a U3 partition on it either. I vaguely recall it came with some Windows stuff on it originally. As others (above) have said perhaps some flash drives manufacturers have some more robust protection pseudo partition scheme currently. G'Day Morenuf Signaturemorenuf@nobodyhome.com.invalid > Adding to my own prior posting: > << I've heard that _some_ of the USB drives come with pre-installed Windows [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > Thanks, > - John Another thing to look at is power consumption. If it doesn't need more than 100 ma, you can use it with oen of the USB ports on a Mac keyboard. Usually they don't specify power use, but if you buy at a store that has some Macs on display, you can try it. << Another thing to look at is power consumption. If it doesn't need more than 100 ma, you can use it with oen of the USB ports on a Mac keyboard. Usually they don't specify power use, but if you buy at a store that has some Macs on display, you can try it. >> The Sandisk 4gb "Cruzer" that I ended up buying works with the port on my (USB1) keyboard, at USB1 speeds, of course - but it does work. I will -guess- that it would also work with the newer keyboards that offer USB2 speeds. Seems like a useful gadget, once you get the PC software off of it... - John RE my previous post: << After some further investigation, I understand that some drives come preloaded with something for Windows (security software) called "U3". Others have commented that the U3 partition (if it is indeed a "partition") cannot be erased with Disk Utility. Perhaps there was some trick to using Disk Utility that they didn't employ. If it's true that Disk Utility can't get rid of the U3 stuff, is there anything _else_ on the Mac side that I can use to obliterate the U3 partition and "wipe the drive completely clean" so that it can then be reinitialized for "Mac only"? >> To followup to my own previous postings, I went to the local Circuit City and picked up a Sandisk "cruzer" 4g USB2 flash drive ($35, which seems a decent price for the 4gb drives right now). This particular drive came preloaded with "U3" software on its own partition. I paid for it, took it over to the "Firedog" tech there (essentially, Windowz-only guys), and asked them to run the small program that comes with U3 which "removes" it from the flash drive. After a little fiddling around to find the right menu choice, the guy ran the self-removal program, which actually 1) copies the relevant software to the host computer 2) re-initializes the flash drive, and 3) re-writes the U3 software as "ordinary files". Once done, there is no longer a separate partition for the U3 stuff. The tech guy even commented a couple of times while doing this, that he hated the U3 software, too - guess it isn't well-liked on the PC side of things. I took the drive home, and re-initialized it with Disk Utility. It now shows as a Mac drive with 3.69gb capacity. Thanks for the comments others posted, - John > Hello all - > [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > > Any particularly good brands (i.e., Mac-friendly) out there? 1. Local vendor, 2. lifetime guarantee, 3. good price. I happen to live near a Microcenter which sells generic 1GBs for $10 and 2GBs for $17 with a lifetime guarantee. Flash drives are every bit as vulnerable to data loss as are floppies, Zip disks, and cheap CDs/DVDs; but, wow, are they convenient! With Flash drives the culprit is failure from static discharge. You want to be able to easily replace the drive when it dies which is why I recommend local purchase IF a vendor is available. Otherwise, several of the well-known RAM vendors, Kingston et al., sell Flash drives. They may have buffering circuitry to help protect your data, but they are much more expensive. Of course, any warranty is only good as long as the guarantor is still in business, otherwise it's 'guaranteed for as long as it lasts'. --Fred |
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