[Web4lib] U3 Devices: was IE7 security settings

[Carol Bean]

On Mar 24, 2007, at 2:55 PM, Andrew Hankinson wrote:

> On this note, I'd just like to pass something along that I have  
> recently experienced regarding U3 devices.
>
> I recently purchased a Memorex U3 keydrive, not knowing quite how  
> it worked.  When I first plugged it in, it started installing  
> various things which, to me, is a very bad thing to do.

It doesn't install on the host computer.  It installs itself on the  
keydrive, and configures itself to run on the host computer.  There  
are some windows XP machines that won't allow this, however (I  
suspect it depends on the type of "lockdown").  I've tried it on all  
of our public PC's (Win2000 and WinXP) with no problem, but it  
wouldn't load at all on a co-worker's WinXP machine (works fine on my  
older, Win2000 machine).

> Second, when I brought it home and plugged it into my Mac, it  
> mounted as TWO drives, both of which had to be ejected in order for  
> me to unplug the device.
>

heh, I did that, too. :-)  Then I found OSX Portable Apps (http:// 
www.freesmug.org/portableapps/) to install on it!  But first you have  
to create a Mac partition on it to hold the OSX Apps.  So I tried  
keeping the U3 part and adding a 500 MB Mac OS extended partition  
(seems to have worked), then installing some OSX Apps on the  
partition.  _Seemed_ to be o.k., but I couldn't actually get the apps  
to work from the keydrive. :-(

> I couldn't format the U3 partition without downloading a Windows- 
> only uninstaller, which had to be run with administrator privileges  
> (!) in order to wipe out the U3 partition.
>

Why?  It doesn't take up that much space, and you may find it useful  
later.  Once you uninstall, you can't put it back.  Of course, if  
your computer won't recognize the drive at all with it on there, you  
would probably want to delete it...

> So, overall, I'm not impressed with how U3 works, and certainly  
> wouldn't recommend it to anyone who 1) doesn't want to install  
> things on every computer they visit and/or 2) doesn't use Windows.
>

Ditto above.

> I've also been wondering what the difference is between a U3 device  
> and 'portable applications.'  It seems like all U3 does is provide  
> a 'start' menu for any applications on your drive, but again, I  
> didn't get much of an opportunity to use it.
>

The U3 site includes some of the portable applications available from  
http://portableapps.com/.  But it also includes commercial apps,  
which may have a free version or a demo/trial version.  Avast  
antivirus is included on the keydrive, which is pretty handy, except  
that it's a trial version that expires after three months.

> Cheers,
> Andrew

The only downside I've seen is the bigger apps (e.g., openoffice.org,  
gimp) run really slow on the keydrive.  Firefox works great, though.   
On the whole, it's been really useful on the occasions when I needed  
an app which wasn't on a public pc.  Other than that, it still has a  
lot of space to use it as a plain usb drive. :-)

Carol Bean

>
> On 24-Mar-07, at 12:52 PM, Erik Adams wrote:
>
>> I was adequately forewarned about Firefox responses BUT... do you  
>> have
>> access to U3 devices on your staff computers? If so you can always  
>> buy a
>> U3 smart drive http://www.u3.com/smartdrives/ and download the  
>> Firefox
>> for U3:
>> http://software.u3.com/Product_Details.aspx?productId=89&lang=en- 
>> US . I
>> love mine and I've been able to get around most IE problems at  
>> work with
>> it (and without asking the systems guys to change a bunch of settings
>> for me :) ).
>>
>> Erik
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
>> [mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Lynne Puckett
>> Sent: Saturday, March 24, 2007 9:36 AM
>> To: web4lib at webjunction.org
>> Subject: [Web4lib] Ineternet Explorer 7 security settings
>> override[Scanned]
>>
>>
>> Howdy, folks!
>> I know the answer to this is probably obvious but I can't see it for
>> looking too hard.
>>
>> Has anyone figured out how to override the security settings in  
>> IE7 so
>> you can go where you want to go? Without turning ALL of them off
>> completely? Not to mention that when you change the default security
>> settings it has that annoying little bar whining at you about  
>> changing
>> them back & you can't shut it off.  Answers I do NOT want to hear,  
>> thank
>>
>> you: 1-use Firefox (sometimes I can't); 2-shut off everything
>>
>> Here's my examples:
>> Trying to go to the secure side of www.bluetooth.com IE7 says there's
>> something wrong with the certificate. Click on go there anyway,  
>> install
>> the certificate, it still won't go there. I've installed the security
>> certificate 3 or 4 times now & still can't get to the site. It  
>> won't go
>> past the certificate thing.
>>
>> www.time.gov - US Government site (not that that is any guarantee of
>> security, but still!) IE7 says the publisher is not trusted; so I  
>> go to
>> the publisher tab in the security settings to tell it that indeed  
>> I do
>> trust that publisher, but no publisher is listed. So I can't check  
>> the
>> time, for crying out loud. I did update the Java etc & still could  
>> not
>> get thru, because IE7 doesn't like Uncle Sam.
>>
>> Any ideas? Thanks.
>> Lynne
>>
>> -- 
>> L. E. Puckett
>> Networking Systems Librarian
>> lpuckett at billings.lib.mt.us
>> Parmly Billings Library
>> 510 North Broadway, Billings, MT 59101 http://www.billings.lib.mt.us
>> Ph: 406-657-8258
>>
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