How to easily Remove the U3 smart software from your USB flash pen drive. "The U3 Uninstaller" application. At one time a vast majority of USB flash pen drives manufactured by SanDisk were packaged with U3 software. While this software had some neat features and package includes, a seasoned computer user may not need or desire to use the U3 smart software.
About the U3 Uninstaller
U3 Smart Drives were USB flash drives that had a special feature which allowed them to run applications directly from the drive without needing to be installed on a computer. These drives came with a unique software launcher that facilitated this functionality. U3 Uninstaller refers to a tool offered by SanDisk which could be used to specifically remove the U3 launcher and associated applications from any U3 Smart Drive. This was useful if someone wanted to revert their U3 Smart Drive back to a standard USB flash drive without U3 functionality.
My main reason for removing the software from my SanDisk Cruzer micro drive was simply due to software annoyance. Every time I plugged in the drive, it would initiate a splash U3 software startup program and create yet another virtual drive on my system. Since my major concern is the installation and boot of Linux on these devices, I have no need for third party helper software. The U3 uninstall process has also helped free up some additional space on my pen drive allowing for even more storage flexibility.
Note: The U3 Uninstaller tool will remove everything you have saved on your USB Pen drive. I would recommend a full backup before proceeding. At this time there is no installer so you cannot easily reinstall the U3 Software once uninstalled.
Where can I Download the U3 Uninstaller?
If your pen drive contains the U3 software and you would like to simply remove it, your in luck. You can get it from the official SanDisk page.