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Lexar JumpDrive Secure II Gripes This is a thumb drive with password protection and encryption

Hardware Problem

March 11, 2006.  Lexar JumpDrive Secure II, 2GB model. 

In one of the worst product design decisions ever, the hole in this thumb drive (a.k.a flash drive, USB drive and pen drive) is in the cap. It's hard to believe, but a thumb drive whose main selling point is security can fall off whatever chain it is being carried around on. I checked 8 other thumb drives and each one had the small hole for a carrying strap in the actual drive itself, not in the cap. 

You can see this in an image at PriceGrabber 

Software Problems

The software was installed on a Windows XP machine. After creating a 1.5 GB vault and copying 100 MB or so of data files into it, the computer seemed sluggish. The Lexar security software was burning 99% of the cpu, even though it was doing nothing. The file copy had finished long ago. 

There is no drive letter in the address bar of Windows Explorer while viewing the secure vault. 

The security software does not automatically run when the thumb drive is inserted. Competing products do, which is more user friendly, especially for non-technical computer users. 

When the security software runs it does not ask for password. Instead there is a menu of functions. Finding a secure vault and opening it takes too many clicks to non-technical users. Competing products ask for password as soon as the software runs.  

As is typical of secure thumb drives, the security software requires you to be logged on to Windows as an Administrator class user. Kingston has a way around this, you can install a service that allows their secure Data Traveler Elite to be run from a restricted Windows userid. Lexar has no way around the Administrator requirement.  

FYI