Kanguru Defender Elite

I’ve been bimbling along with a 1GB Kanguru Defender Elite for several months now and have to admit that I really like the product. So much so that we actually sell it via our online store.

I’ve now upgraded to an 8GB unit and thought it may be of benefit if I was to share the entire experience of unpacking and setting up the unit.

Upon opening the packaging you are presented with a plastic insert which holds your Kanguru Defender Elite, a Kanguru lanyard, a User Registration form and a small fold out Quick Start Guide.

Kanguru Defender Elite Boxed

The Quick Start Guide has an Introduction which includes System Requirements (please see below) and sections on the Kanguru Defender Manager, How to Set Your Password, Logging Into Kanguru Defender Manager, Encrypting Files and Folders and How To Remove Your Device. Overall the Quick Start Guide is concise and to-the-point.

Minimum System Requirements

Operating Systems: Windows 200o SP4, Windows XP SP2 or SP3, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista with 32 bit and 64 bit OSes supported.
1 available USB port (with USB 2.0 recommended)
500Mhz Internal CPU
256MB RAM

Bearing in mind the Minimum System Requirements above, I think its pretty safe to say that the Kanguru Defender Elite will pretty much run on PC or Mac System.

One very useful feature of the Kanguru Defender Elite is that it has a physical write protect switch. Because I get involved in tidying up systems that can be absolutely riddled with viruses and malware, engaging the write protect switch means that my Kanguru Defender Elite will not become infected with the likes of the Conficker worm.

OK, let’s get things under way and set the device up.

Shortly after plugging my shiny new Kanguru Defender Elite into a vacant USB port, Windows notifies me that my new CDROM device has been setup and that I need to reboot my system for any changes to take effect. It’s worth mentioning here that setting the new device up as a CDROM means that it is read only. Inspecting the contents of the new “CDROM” shows 3 files including an autorun.inf, an icon for the Kanguru Defender Manager application and the Kanguru Defender Manager application itself.

Double clicking the Kanguru Defender Manager Applcation (KDME.exe), initialises and loads the Setup Wizard.

Kanguru Defender Elite Setup Wizard, Start

Select your required language from the pull down menu in the lower left of the screen (currently only English and Deutsch are options) and click the “Next” button.

Kanguru Defender Elite Setup Wizard, Antivirus Registration

All Kanguru Defender Elite devices are currently supplied with a 1 year BitDefender Antivirus subscription. If you would like to take advantage of this offer you need to enter the requested information amd click the Apply button.

If, as I am, you’re very happy with your current antivirus solution, click the Skip button. You will be prompted with a warning that Antivirus will be disabled (see below).

Kanguru Defender Elite Setup Wizard, Antivirus Disabled

If you’re OK with that, click the OK button. If you’ve had second thoughts and really fancy that free 1 year subscription of BitDefender Antivirus, click the Cancel button and enter your contact information as above before clicking the Apply button.

Kanguru Defender Elite Setup Wizard, Set Password

Enter and confirm your password before clicking the Apply button. Once your password is applied, click the Next button.

Kanguru Defender Elite Setup Wizard, KMRC Cloud

The Kanguru Defender Elite is a cloud managable device (please note that a separate, chargable Cloud Management annual subscription is required). Kanguru’s cloud based Remote Management Console allows for subscription based remote management of certain Kanguru flash drives that are remote management capable (some entry level drives do not support remote management). Kanguru Remote Management Console allows administrators to control configurable security policies, password requirements, IP and Domain restrictions as well as features such as remote wipe.

If you require this functionality, click Enable KRMC Cloud where you will be prompted for some extra information (see below).

Kanguru Defender Elite Setup Wizard, KMRC Cloud Enabled

Alternatively, click Disable KRMC Cloud.

Click apply to save your settings. Once applied, click Next.

Kanguru Defender Elite Setup Wizard, Contact

Now enter your contact information and click the Apply button. Once your setting are applied, click the Next button.

Kanguru Defender Elite Setup Wizard, Saving Settings

It only takes a few seconds for your security parameters to be written to your Kanguru device.

Kanguru Defender Elite Setup Wizard, Finished

The Product Registration form requires that you fill in some blanks and post it back to Kanguru’s Registration Services in the United States. There is no mention on the form of a Product Registration web address. After a couple of minutes searching Kanguru’s website, I found a Product Registration section here: https://www.kanguru.com/index.php/register

Registration is well worth the few minutes answering some basic questions in return for a 3 year product warranty.