Stan's List

Ted Landau describes why “smart” flash drives give Mac users trouble. The drive includes special features in the form of software that only work with Windoze. These are contained in a separate partition and the .exe file is locked, thus preventing re-formating of that partition of approximately 60 MB. Read what not to do.

It is the reader’s comments that provide the solution. Mount the flash drive and open the 60.4 MB U3 System. Trash the LaunchU3.exe file and hold down the option key while emptying the trash. The entire flash drive can now be reformatted. The ’smart” flash drive comes in 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 GB sizes. Shop smart.