U3 smart drives are very similar to regular flash drives. The difference between U3 smart drives and USB drives is the fact that U3 drives can have programs installed on them and the data from those programs can be stored in the drive. U3 smart drives are like ultra-portable computers.
The company that first created the U3 smart drive was launched in January 2005. Since its inception that year, the U3 smart drive has become increasingly popular for use in carrying out various operations. Using U3-enabled flash drives enable users to take photos, documents, email, Internet favorites, address book, and website logins wherever they go.
While files can only always be backed up on a regular USB flash drive, rewritable CD or DVD, or any other removable device, the U3 smart drive has a definite edge. The difference in using a U3 smart drive is that the programs you store on the U3 drive can also store data related to that program alongside the program itself. So you don’t have to take your individual laptop or palm PC with you every time you want to complete an assignment. This can be very useful when you use a program that isn’t readily available on every computer.
For example, you can easily store spreadsheets for Microsoft Excel on a U3 smart drive. Not all computers have Microsoft Excel, so you can store the Microsoft Excel program on the U3 drive in addition to your spreadsheet. When you load the U3 smart drive on another computer, you can run Microsoft Excel from your U3 drive if the computer you load it on does not have Microsoft Office. This capability makes U3 smart drives very useful and superior to the USB flash drive.
A normal USB flash drive cannot be turned into a U3 smart drive, because U3 drives are designed with pre-loaded software that cannot be added to a typical drive. The U3 smart drive in effect incorporates two drives: a CD drive with system software and a removable drive used to store information. If you desire, you can remove the pre-loaded U3 software from a U3 drive to turn it a normal USB flash drive. Take caution when doing this, however, because this process cannot be reversed.
There is an alternative to U3 smart drives. You can use Portable Apps to create a drive similar to the U3 drive. Simply download the software from www.portableapps.com. Follow the installation instructions on the website to create the alternative U3 smart drive.
