u3 is that annoying feature on some usb thumbdrives that is designed to allow you to carry your programs / workstation from one computer to the next. a fine idea if you actually have a use for it. frankly, a properly configured network would do this much better and i personally don't want someone installing the platform needed for u3 to run on my computer, but the thumbdrive is very aggressive and once it sees a new computer it wants to sink its teeth in. but there is a way to remove this annoyance.

before pluging it in to your computer disable the cd autorun features of your machine. this is easy to do in vista. on the right-hand side of the start menu select default programs and then change auto-play settings. i think in xp you can hold the escape key while pluging in the drive to prevent the auto-run feature then right-click on the cd image of u3 from the computer drive window and select disable. once the drive is visible to your machine run this uninstall program for windows or this one for mac.

u3 is evil! it must be cleansed!

u3 info from the digital life blog
keeping u3 under control from pc magazine