Not long ago, we gave you our basic advice on buying USB flash memory drives, also known as Jumpdrives, after the popular Lexar line. We commented we did not have enough funding to review a large selection of drives.

Then we moved on to some advice on security and data protection using these drives. We suggested you visit Portableapps.com for some applications that can run on a flash drive.

But, for those of us who don’t want to put together our own Windows-based selection of portable applications, there is U3. U3 is backed by various USB flash memory producers and is a system that “turns simple storage devices into USB smart drives.” Essentially, it combines data protection, portable applications, and password protection against a single standard several companies used.

We picked up a U3 smart drive, the SanDisk 1 GB Cruzer Micro with U3 ( SDCZ6-1024-A10, Retail Package) at our local Staples for $19.99 after a mail-in rebate. The Cruzer Micro is a U3 Smart Drive with a retractable USB connector. It has its issues. It certainly looks flimsy…although no one is going to try and run it over with a car. The retractable USB is nice, but with it being designed to go on a keychain, without a cover…the connector will likely fill up with lint and other pocket dirt.

The biggest complaint with this item for some is the U3. The U3 software can be uninstalled, turning it back into a standard USB drive…which you can then install the same portable applications on. What the U3 software does is link in built-in encyption as well as a menu launcher. The problem is that this software launches automatically and tried to reboot the computers we put it into. It also is Windows specific. Both of these can be showstoppers if you want to be mobile. The computers of your friends, as well as public terminals, don’t appreciate something that looks like malicious software.

Ultimately, for those users willing to put up with it, U3 is a nice and convenient way to run a good basic set of applications off of a USB drive with a minimum of difficulty. And you don’t have to use it if you don’t want to.