U3 drives run from within Windows so, yes, the registry is scanned. We use U3 drives for this very purpose as they are easier to keep up to date than CD's.
The downside of using U3's is:-
- having to generate a unique GUID for updates of the same product.
- heavily infected PC's often have difficulty running the U3 auto-boot utility due to the amount of CPU cycles used by malware processes.
- U3 auto-boot is slow to create the menu, even on un-infected PC's.
- U3 menus are not sorted alphabetically automatically nor can groups be created. As a result it can be a right pain trying to find a specific utility if you have a lot installed on the U3 stick.
I'm currently evaluating dual-purpose USB sticks which can autoboot into XP run from the USB stick itself or, when used from within Windows, will autorun PStart.exe to pop up a menu of anti-malware tools.
The advantage of this is that:
- anti-malware tools can be kept up-to-date without having to amend U3 manifest files or generate new GUID's each time.
- a PStart.exe menu is far faster to execute than using U3.
- PStart allows the use of groups.
- Sorting can be carried by drag'n'drop quickly.
Hope this info helps...