U3 compliant applications can be (optionally) preloaded by manufacturers.A standard flash drive ( FAT formatted) that includes a hidden 'SYSTEM' folder with installed applications.A read-only ISO 9660 volume on an emulated CD-ROM drive with an autorun configuration to execute the U3 LaunchPad, and.This configuration causes Windows disk management to show two drives:.U3 platform U3 disk mounting: Hardware emulation Ī U3 flash drive presents itself to the host system as a USB hub with a CD drive and standard USB mass storage device attached. SanDisk began phasing out support for U3 Technology in late 2009. Microsoft and SanDisk created a successor called StartKey. Customizations and settings are instead stored with the application on the flash drive. Applications that comply with U3 specifications are allowed to write files or registry information to the host computer, but they must remove this information when the flash drive is ejected. U3 smart drives come preinstalled with the U3 Launchpad. Flash drives adhering to the U3 specification are termed ' U3 smart drives'. U3 was a joint venture between SanDisk and M-Systems, producing a proprietary method of launching Windows software from special USB flash drives.
