SanDisk Cruzer Micro 4 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive SDCZ6-4096-E11
by SanDisk
|
List Price: Our Price: $5.60 You Save: $34.39 (86%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
|---|
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of SanDisk Cruzer Micro 4 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive SDCZ6-4096-E11
Customer Review: Crashes system -- still looking to find any solution
Summary: 1 Stars
See Postscript below. Initial review left intact.
--- Initial Review ---
I just received this unit and plugged it into my computer, an emachines T3406, running Windows XP Home SP2. I've used any number of earlier editions of Sandisk without problems, elsewhere and on this computer. I've now crashed at 4 times, just plugging it in. The behavior is that 60% of the CPU is continuously used up, other applications nearly won't run during this time (many minutes just to repaint a screen) and when I simply remove the device the mouse and everything locks up instantly. I've tried rebooting with the device installed from power-up -- same behavior once I make it almost to my desktop. I'm sure it works on some computers, but I cannot speak to that. At least on a few, it is without any value at all. So just be aware that it may not work in your case, despite having had excellent experience with non U3-smart enabled devices.
I am going to see about removing the U3-smart part of it to see if that can remedy the issue here. No idea whether or not that will pan out. In the end, I may need to simply return the unit, though, with all the hassle that involves for everyone concerned.
My choice of 1-star is based only upon my excellent prior experiences constrasted with the loss of data I experienced here, completely taken unaware of the possibility of crashing the computer. (This is a working computer and I'd been in the middle of other work I wanted to back up to the device.) The work is recoverable with some effort, but I had completely been unaware of the risks and hadn't anticipated any problem. Partly my problem, of course -- should have been smarter -- but also this is the kind of device that most of us have excellent experience using, too. So I also think placing some users at risk like this wasn't "smart," at all.
--- Postscript ---
It appears that the "U3 Smart" software, which is autmatically installed upon insertion, may (in my case, __does__) crash a computer that has the InCD software module installed, as part of Nero 7. There is a note on the Sandisk Support website documenting their recognition of this crashing problem. They say they are working on the issue. As it stands now, the only solution is to ask Nero 7 to uninstall the InCD component and reboot. At that point, it should work.
I've performed this operation on my Windows XP SP2 machine here and found that my experience confirms the Sandisk Support comments. I removed the InCD software component, following their detailed instructions, and then tried the Sandisk drive again. This time, things appear to work as advertized.
I'd modify by star rating to 2 or possibly 3 stars. U3 Smart is a laudable mission, but a complex one. I believe that given the fact that Nero 7 isn't uncommonly found on modern machines with writable CD and/or DVD drives almost a given now, and given the serious and invasive nature of the drivers involved, Sandisk should have planned a larger-than-usual testing regime and that this certainly should have included Nero 7 in their resulting, detailed testing plan. Apparently, that was not done beforehand. Given the scale of their ambitions, I can in some sense forgive them. On the other hand, I think they also should have recognized the size of what they were embarking on and planned to go the extra miles involved before releasing the product.
If you are considering using this product and have a need for InCD, do NOT buy this particular one or any Sandisk U3 Smart product. If you are considering using this product and have InCD on your computer, remove InCD first. (Go to the sandisk web site, select the Support link at the top of the page, and pick the product from the list, and find the discussion there on crashing computers with Nero 7 for details about how to uninstall InCD.) My experience ilustrates the problems, beforehand, and confirms that the solution appears to work.
Jon
Customer Review: Word of warning on these products...
Summary: 2 Stars
SanDisk makes great products, but these travel type drives have become an annoyance and a nuisance since they've gotten into bed with U3.
The company makes claim like easy access to files and available software's, but what they don't tell you up front is that U3 technology requires a section of your jump-drive, usually only a couple MBs, to be taken up by hardcoded software (which you cannot remove) and an auto-executable to run the U3 software (which can be removed), here's the kicker though, as soon as you remove the .exe from the drive your drive suddenly looses anywhere from 4mb to a whopping 50mb of storage space.
Also, these drives may be cheap, probably due to the fact that the anti-U3 movement has gotten a huge following since the Technology surfaces a year or so ago, but another thing that needs to be remembered is that if your working on a secured computer, e.g. preset drives, like you run into in businesses and at public access computers like College Labs, often you can't connect them because the computer isn't configured for them. These Cruzer's require 2 drive letters, 1 for the U3 drive and 1 for the data drive, if the computer wont allow the extra drive to be assigned this device will cause problems with your computer, if your lucky the U3 tries loading and it sticks, you can still save your stuff though to the Hard Drive and reboot, if your unlucky it'll crash the system and you'll loose any unsaved items.
Software removal, as stated above it's not really software removal, its just removes the .exe from the drive so the software wont run. Note though, U3 originally didn't have this option, this came along after several things occurred, their claim that the data drives themselves were usable on all computers turned out to be untrue (Macs don't like these at all and Linux can flake out because of it, then the security issues) and the companies that used them lost sales because of it. As for users complaining that they lost their data, not to be heartless about it, I feel your loss, but there are two things for you think about, next time don't buy an item based on price but by looking at reviews, all U3 items have good and bad reviews, and if you would have dug through them you could have determined if anything containing U3 was right for you, and its your fault you lost your data when you removed the exe, for all its faults U3 did design its software removal program right, and it does warn you to back up the contents of the drive before running it, because they have to format the exe off and make a marker so that the auto-reinstall doesn't put it back.
As for software, it is a long list they have available for themselves, but the software has to be designed for it, having never used a U3 drive for this purpose I don't know if its slow or not, but I suspect it is. Why? Because computers use program supporters like dll's to run the software, these files usually have to be located in very specific directories or the computer wont find them, the programs they have for this technology have either been made to use default versions of these files, relocated versions of these files (probably on the drive, you can do this yourself using a portable hard drive, but it can be kind of difficult to set up and get working) or don't even use them at all, which usually sacrifices performance over connivance.
To sum it all up nice and simple, I'm not telling you not to buy the products, these drives are just as usable as any other, I'm just telling you to consider what you want from the drive, if its for just carrying your files around get something else, if you want the option of having software on your jump-drive without the hassle of configuring it yourself this might be for you, though its limited right now, a list of software's are available at [...].
Customer Review: Great thumb drive, U3 software not as good as expected.
Summary: 3 Stars
The thumb drive performs well and is up to Sandisk quality. Having 4GB capacity is great, I had outgrown my 1GB Lexar device. I currently use 3.5GB to carry around software as a computer professional as well as some personal files. The drive is slim allowing insertion in 'tight spots' at the rear of computers.
The feature that attracted me to this unit is the U3 software and the bundled apps such as Avast anti-virus and Skype. Being able to run your favorite apps on any computer using your preferences is wonderful. The drive can be optionally protected via a password which is important to me since I keep scans of important documents on it 'just in case' they go astray.
The U3 software isn't as good as expected however, here are my findings about the U3 software.
It is slow to run on older computers. I have come across one computer it crashes on everytime I insert the drive (Medion brand computer). Since my files are password protected I can't get to them on that computer. To be fair I have run the software on dozens of other computers without a hitch.
The password protection works well, however I preferred the Lexar secure drives, they partition the drive into 2 areas, a protected and unprotected area. Making the entire drive secure prevents me 'passing on' my drive for someone to load a file on their system unless I type my password in, which of course gives them access to all my sensitive files as well.
Running software apps as part of the U3 platform works quite well, both Sandisk and U3 provide a wide range of software to choose from, much of which is free. I have Firefox, Thunderbird, Gimp, Avast, Open Office, an FTP client and much more available to me while I use another computer. I find the apps run too slowly to be my primary software platform as I hoped it would become, this is true even on USB 2.0 systems, on 1.1 systems it's hopelessly slow. Consequently I use the application software more as a troubleshooting tool or option of last resort. Both U3 and Sandisk 'certify' the apps they provide as true U3 applications which means when you run the software from the thumb drive it will not impact the host computer at all after it is unplugged. The downside to this certification is that the latest versions of apps are not immediatly available until they go through the certifcation process.
Someone else here complains that the U3 software cannot be removed. It can, there is a special removal tool available from U3 website. Warning - once removed it can never be reloaded on the device, they do not and will not provide a downloadable version of U3. I have updated the U3 software and apps from the Sandisk website without any hitches.
I would unload the U3 software if I didn't also lose the password security. If you do not need security and want a better option to run your apps, I suggest 'Portable Apps' (do a google search on portableapps) as an alternative to the U3 software. Using the PStart utility to replace the U3 launchpad you can make it run as well as the U3 software and gain the ability to run the very latest apps of your choice without waiting for U3 or Sandisk to certify it. You can also copy the entire contents to another drive or backup the drive to a personal computer. System transfer or total backup can't be done with the U3 platform. I run the portable apps software on my Sandisk U3 drive with great results, I rarely use the U3 certified apps anymore and have unloaded most of them.
Customer Review: This is NOT a 4GB Memory Stick
Summary: 3 Stars
I should have rated this higher... read futher to see why.
This opens up two drives, not one. One of them is detected as a CD.
I am sick and tired of these companies stuffing software down your throat that "they" think you need. Along with nagging upgrades for a price and commercials of things they just know you would want. Imagine buying a car and before it will start you have to listen to a commercial.
I quit buying HP printers and advising my customers not to buy them because a simple driver that should take about 30 seconds to install becomes a 30 minute exercise in answering questions that you don't have the slightest clue about such as, "Do you want to share your data with the Professional Viewer in a secure and encrypted manner?" No, of course I don't... I want to share it with a goofball hacker that is not secure and I want to read the data that I save."
Anyway, my frustration was maxed out by this. They take what could be a simple and pleasing device and turn it into a pain in the rear end that makes you hate it every time you use it and leaves you guessing each and every time if it will work on a particular computer.
Until a little man jumps out of the package of these harebrained schemes, that are dreamed up by a 12 year old game player, and copies the files that I want when and where I want, I'm going to boycott these fools that try to give you what "they" think you need instead of what you want.
I only bought this because it doesn't have a cap and the connector is protected while in your pocket. So much for totally screwing up a great idea. Someone should be fired for this numskull idea. This is like protecting toilet paper with a password that comes with a toothbrush.
The key to the behavior of this boondoggle is called "U3." Yes, U3. When you see it on any product, avoid it like the plague. Here is the criticisms from Wikipedia:
Freezing the Computer ('strong possibility' if certain software is installed on host computer)
Closed Platform
Uninstallation issues
Leaves Traces on Host PC
Data Security (The drive is supposed to seal itself after a certain number of invalid password entries, requiring a reformat)
Insufficient user privileges
Two Drive Letters
Windows requirement for removal
If your idea of a memory stick is one where a Skype logo comes up when you insert it, this stick is for you.
=== The above was my rant. Since then I found SanDisk offers free software to remove not only U3 but the partition where you can make it into a simple big memory stick with one drive. Thanks to someone who replied I ran is software suggestion and it worked flawlessly. My first attempt was either the wrong software or for a different model and it still booted two disks. I am now much more pleased and would give it a 3 star rating. Why no higher? Because SanDisk does not make it clear that you can convert this into a true memory stick but offers software that removes the Launch Pad. It (unless there is more than one program that they offer) actually removes U3 and the partition.
Thanks due to the reviewers on Amazon, I now have a device that I like much better. If I can not change my star rating for this product, I will eventually delete my review so as not to affect the overall rating unfairly.
Customer Review: Solid performing flash drive for the money, U3 optional.
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my first flash drive and it's been very useful at transferring large amounts of data between a partially crashed system to a temporary machine with no worry or fanfare. Two editions of Windows XP seamlessly installed the drive upon initial plugin, and it is recognized (and made available) in subsequent connections almost immediately - even in Safe Mode.
My informal measurements show it performing slightly above the advertised specs, but not a significant overachiever. It still works at USB 2.0 speeds and doesn't feel like a USB 1.1 connection at all - it easily met my transfer rate expectations.
The bundled U3 application launch environment certainly added to startup time after plugging it in for the first time, and the shipped applications didn't really do much for me. But, that's just me. SanDisk helpfully ships a U3 uninstaller with the U3 environment, itself - it's under Settings -> U3 Launchpad Settings from the launchpad. They also note in their online U3 FAQ that you *could* reinstall the U3 launcher after uninstalling it from your flash drive - code to do so is on their site.
I might also experiment with the alternative PortableApps Suite because it seems to offer more of what I might desire in temporary, mobile applications between PCs than U3. Having options for application launchers seems good.
I should add that the SanDisk U3 uninstaller removes the read-only partition that holds their U3 launcher+apps, and re-formats the *entire* flash drive as a single, blank partition up to its max capacity. Essentially, you get a blank slate after uninstalling U3 with their bundled utility. That was a thoughtful option, I felt.
The open/close slider took a few seconds of experimentation to get right: just press down on the raised "button" and easily slide it one way or the other . . . then, ensure it "clicks" into place when open. It is all housed in a plastic case, but still feels solid to use with our tighter USB slots. Plus, it's extremely light and conveniently small for carrying around a whole of 4GB (sure, 2 years from now that statement will seem horribly outdated), and I have it tied to the convenient lanyard in order to ensure that it doesn't get accidentally misplaced due to size. Dropping this doesn't cause trauma to it or me, fortunately.
I like the Cruzer's large, unavoidable orange glow under the sliding button when plugged in - there's no way to miss it as part of your computer, but it's also NOT so bright as to be annoying when next to your laptop's keyboard.
I'd wish for the writing speed to be a *little bit* faster, but it's not necessary. I'd expect to pay more for such speed, and that might also require a bigger form factor, etc. given today's technology. For the balance of what this product offers, it feels just right and not at all like a compromise.
After a day with this flash drive, it easily met all my expectations and worked without any external driver or other weird setup issues. Windows XP Professional and Corporate editions seem happy with it, and I am, too.