Install XP on USB thumbdrive

[linyx]

Does anyone know how to install a full copy of Windows XP Professional on a USB thumbdrive? I have searched for a way to do this for a long time with no luck (except using BartPE, which I do not want to use). And are there other things I should know if it does work, like disabling the pagefile.
Thanks in advance.

[Dr.Khron]

It can be done, but it requires some trickery.

As far as I know, BartPE is the way to go... why do you not want to use that?

[linyx]

The reason for not wanting to use BartPE is that I would like to actually use the XP install on the thumbdrive as my permanent operating system (like you can with most linux distrobutions).

[B4tm4n]

Does anyone know how to install a full copy of Windows XP Professional on a USB thumbdrive? I have searched for a way to do this for a long time with no luck (except using BartPE, which I do not want to use). And are there other things I should know if it does work, like disabling the pagefile.
Thanks in advance.


http://www.ngine.de/index.jsp?pageid=4176

[mr soft]

Interesting thought , But I have doubts.
Are you also going to install and run the programs on the key?
The read,write speeds of usb keys are too slow for any kind of serious work.
I think Patriot has a 32 times speed, 8 gig key, which is the fastest at the moment.
I don´t want to imagine load times.
But hell, go for it and let us know.

[Zaphod_B]

Sorry this won't help at all, and mods please delete if I'm breaking any rules, but just out of curiosity, can I ask a dumb newbie question?

If it's going to be your permanent OS, why do you want to run it from a USB key? What would be the reason/benefit of doing so?

I know it's irrelevant and you don't have to justify yourself, I'm just curious :)

[linyx]

Thanks for the link, B4tm4n, I tried something close to that before and it did not work, but i will try this one and see.


To mr soft
The time it takes to boot from Ubuntu 7.10 (the only thing that I have got to boot from a thumbdrive) is INSANE, but once it is loaded it works pretty fast. So hopefully windows will be the same.


To Zaphod_B
Well I have a few reasons
1. It can be used to make a very durable computer without a harddrive.
2. It is the best way to keep your stuff set up exactly the way you want. Assuming the computers it is used on have the same hardware, it should work on all of them. Say you have three computers (running the exact same setup), you can use that one thumbdrive to run them all and when you use a program like Alcohol 120% that needs activated every time it is installed on a computer, it is kinda nice to just deal with it once.

[GrofLuigi]

It can be used to make a very durable computer without a harddrive.
USB thumbs are everything but durable.

GL

[burfadel]

USB thumbs are everything but durable.

GL

Too true, they're not recommended for backup purposes either. They're not ideal for readyboost either, thats really just a gimmicky marketing ploy. Whats even more gimmicky is having internal usb ports for readyboost, its absolutely pointless. A much better idea is to have your main memory, then have cacheing memory thats slower but much larger, say 8gb worth of the cheapest memory, which would still be over a thousand times faster than a USB drive and is much more durable.

A thumbdrive or whatever you want to call it are slow, have a limited lifespan, and are only designed for temporary storage of documents and files for transportation.

Windows on a dvd would be much more effective?... certainly cheaper, faster, and you can make say, 200 copies for the equivalent price of the good quality 4gb usb stick that would be required!

The other problem is registry writes, installing programmes, etc etc...

[smok3]

one would still have to have all the dynamic stuff on internal drive, pagefile, registry i guess?

[burfadel]

Exactly what I was thinking!

[Inventive Software]

A memory stick wouldn't be best, but a fast memory card on the other hand would help... a high capacity CF or SD card would work much better than a thumbdrive.

[smok3]

why not a usb2 HD disk? (like wd passport for example)

[tony62]

A full guide can be found here: Windows In Your Pocket (http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/09/09/windows_in_your_pocket/)
I have built several systems on USB sticks and booting times are surprisingly fast, providing you invest in a fast Stick. The old Flash Voyager by Corsair (3 years old now, is still pretty quick).

[tony62]

The reason for not wanting to use BartPE is that I would like to actually use the XP install on the thumbdrive as my permanent operating system (like you can with most linux distrobutions).
Apologies, missed this post:stupid: