U3 Smart Drives

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Introducing ClipMate 7 > Installation... > USB / Portable Drives > U3 Smart Drives

What Are "U3 Smart" Drives?

These are specially branded flash drives with the "U3 Smart" logo, available from manufactures such as Sandisk, Kingston, Verbatim, Intuix, and Memorex.  They often included bundled software such as antivirus, backup, and sync.  They often include built-in encryption for security.  But the biggest feature is the launchpad, which automatically runs when the drive is inserted, giving you easy access to your installed software.  All U3-compatible software is required to store its data and settings on the U3 drive, and not bother the host system with unwanted files or registry modifications.  It also tracks the running processes so that it can issue shutdown orders upon ejection.  There is a nice installer, which installs files with the .U3P extension, adding them to its menu, and it has an update checker to alert you of new versions of the launchpad software.  You definitely want to ensure that your launchpad software is up-to-date.  More information on U3 can be found here:
http://www.u3.com


ClipMate is a certified "U3 Smart" application, having passed the logo requirements for XP and Vista.

Prerequisites

U3 Launchpad version 4,3,0,2 or later, running on Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP, or Vista.  To check the version of the launchpad, use Help & Support | About U3 Smart Drive.  There is also an auto-updater, which can update your launchpad software.  

Installation

Download and run the ClipMate U3 installer, either in .u3p or .exe format.
ex: ClipMate_7200_1331.u3p or  ClipMate_U3_7200_1331.exe

The .exe file can simply be run, and it will find the U3 device.  .u3p files are used with the "add programs" option in the U3 launchpad.

Once installed, ClipMate will appear on the launchpad menu, possibly under "more programs" if you have a lot of programs installed.  ClipMate does not set itself to auto-run by default, but can be set to do so in the program settings menu of the launchpad.

Operation

Run ClipMate from the U3 launchpad menu. It will copy/paste just as if it were resident on the system, but the data will be stored on the U3 drive.  Remember to close ClipMate before ejecting the drive, and use the U3 "safe eject" procedure.  Unsafe drive removal can cause data loss, so be sure to occasionally back up the database onto your hard drive.

Licensing and License Migration

See this topic.

Data Migration

If you would like to populate the ClipMate database on the U3 drive with data that you already have, please follow this procedure:

Using the copy of ClipMate 7.2 on the host machine:

1.Delete unneeded clips, empty the trash using File | Database Maintenance.
2.Run a database compaction with File | Database Maintenance | Repair/Compact Database.
3.Run a database backup, remember which directory the backup is written to.
4.Shut down ClipMate using File | Exit ClipMate

Using the portable ClipMate on the removable drive:

1.If you have any clips that you need to save, export them using the XML Export, for later import. See XML Import/Export for details.
2.Restore the database from the backup made above, using File | Database Maintenance | Restore from Backup.

Storage

ClipMate adheres to U3 conventions of storing the database in a sub-directory of the

Item

Location

ClipMate Program*

{USB Drive}:\System\Apps\E21B62F2-4CFA-4913-9B79-4F955F4F202D

Settings

See Above (ClipMate Program) +\Data

Language

See Above (ClipMate Program) + \Language

Host Executable "run" directory**

{Current user's "Application Data" directory on the host computer}\U3\0000060427028169\E21B62F2-4CFA-4913-9B79-4F955F4F202D\Exec\

Temp and Log Files**

See Above (Host Executable) + \Temp

Log files**

See Above (Host Executable) +\ Log

*  Note: Usually marked as "hidden" directory on the U3 device.
** Note: These are deleted when the U3 device is removed from the host computer, as part of the U3 cleanup.