[Web4lib] U3 Devices: was IE7 security settings
Andrew Hankinson
andrew.hankinson at gmail.com
Sun Mar 25 11:12:05 EST 2007
>
> 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).
If it's dependent on 'lockdown' I would suspect something being
installed is taking place - it would 'install' the first time I
plugged it in, but would already be on there on subsequent plug-ins,
so something was happening.
>
>> 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 guess that's my point. I found it really annoying (plug in, wait
for it to do it's thing, popping up windows and bubbles and just
generally being a nuisance) without a valid payoff, i.e. I could get
the same functionality with a Portable Application.
>
>> 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...
See the response above... I'm usually a pretty patient person, but I
have little or no patience for technology that isn't seamless and
doesn't 'just work'. One of the things I like about key drives is
that you plug them in and they 'just work.' This U3 business, with
it's "installing U3," "configuring..." etc. was a nuisance.
I'm a student, and we often have to give presentations very quickly
in a classroom setting, one after another. When I plug my key drive
in in front of an audience, I don't expect to want to stand around,
waiting for something that I have little or no use for. I don't
expect I'll ever want to put it back, so I think I'm safe there. :)
I think it's also partially the 'arrogance' of U3 when you want to
uninstall it. When you downloading the uninstaller you have to
justify your decision to do so to them. There would be nothing
preventing them from making U3 a R/W partition on a keydrive and
allowing you to reformat it as you please.
>> 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.
Poking around the portableapps.com, I see that ClamAV has a portable
application (http://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/clamwin_portable)
that doesn't expire, if you're looking for a good Antivirus package.
I guess it all boils down to personal preference, like so many
things. I can see that I'm being picky about little things (it
doesn't really take *that* long to install it, in the grand scope of
things), but it's all the unnecessary steps I have to take, on my Mac
and on a PC, for very little benefit.
>
>> 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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>>
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