Full operating system on HD/mem stick? is this even possible?

[beacytan]

as title, has anyone tried this? if so, is it possible? does it work properly? where i work theres loads of admin rights and rules on the computers that stop you doing various stuff, i tried to install summet today and it wouldnt let me but it let me install it, and run it, from my mem stick. this got me thinking, what about having a full operating system with all my progs and itunes etc on and just boot from that? any info/recommendations much appreciated. thanks in advance

beacytan

[Waka]

Definitely possible. I've had a play with XP and linux on a usb stick. There is a sort of standard for this called U3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U3

also check out portable apps
http://portableapps.com/

W.

[burner1]

I'd think you would first have to change options in bios to boot from usb device before anything else is relevant mate. And if you can boot from usb or admin haven't passworded bios... sack em lol. As for writing to the host PC, I would again imagine writing anything to the system folder was locked.

[greens117]

If its possible id imagine it would start up uber quick if you had usb ver 2 .

[BertRoot]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...cket,1113.html

Try that. It can work well. ;-)

[Over Carl]

http://www.digital-forums.com/showthread.php?t=353823

[beacytan]

thanks for all the replies chaps, i just had a read of over carls thread and it might be a bit "in-depth" for me!!! gonna give it a bash when i get home anyway, will let u know how i get on

[liveseytowers]

And if you can boot from usb or admin haven't passworded bios... sack em lol.

erm

[Abadon]

 - Windows XP Service Pack 2 integrated
 - All 133 Windows Updates (Windows is up to date to 12th June 2007)
 - All installs pass the "Windows Genuine Advantage" checks
 - Choose from four different installs of Windows XP
 - Includes 5th boot option: Acronis backup + restore environment
 - Added drivers to support CPU, Chipset, LAN, SATA and Wireless LAN
 - Windows Post Install menu with most commonly requested programs
 - Option to create your own bare ISO from any of the four installs
 - Windows Vista Aero Glass theme set by default on all installs
 - Windows Vista drive indicator (shows a bar under your drive icon)
 - VMware Tools automatically installed if you install in VMware
 - All software included is the latest edition as of June 12th 2007
 - More than 100 registry tweaks to make using Windows easier
 - All installs set monitor resolution to 1024 x 768 x 32 @85Hz
 - Services configuration files included to reduce memory use
 - eXPerience's ShrinkXP batch files to strip Windows "on the fly"
 - This release is kept to a CD sized ISO so anyone can use it
  ———————————————————————
  To install TinyXP from this CD, set your PC n the BIOS to boot from your CD-ROM drive.
 Only install this operating system onto a freshly formatted partition or hard disk.
There is no upgrade option available, because the option is removed. You do not need any product key in this release, theinstallation of TinyXP is unattended, apart from in the beginning where you choose which drive or partition to install to.
 All installations are set to US English. (This can be changed after installation)
 ———————————————————————
  [When you boot from this CD you have five options]
  1 - TinyXP With IE/OE/WMP (With Drivers)
 2 - TinyXP With IE/OE/WMP (Without Drivers)
 3 - TinyXP Without IE/OE/WMP (With Drivers)
 4 - TinyXP Without IE/OE/WMP (Without Drivers)
 5 - Boot Into Acronis Backup + Restore
  [Abbreviations from above]
  IE = Internet Explorer 7 Web Browser
 OE = Outlook Express Email Client
 WMP = Windows Media Player 11
  ———————————————————————
  [Automatically Installed Programs]
  - Service Pack 2 For Windows XP
 - 133 Hotfixes Up To 12th June 2007
 - Flash Player v9.0.28.0
 - Opera v9.21 (only installed on options without IE7)
 - Prio (Task Manager Priority Saver) v1.9.6
 - Royale Noir and Royale Blue Themes
 - Thunderbird v2.0.0.0 (only installed on options without OE)
 - Vista Aero Glass Theme v4
 - Vista Drive Indicator v3.1.1.0
 - VMware 5 Tools v5.5.4 Build 44386 (only installed in VMware 5)
  [Other added items in system32]
  - cdimage.exe (Lets you make ISO's on the command line)
 - CDR.exe (Right click of optical drives to close the CD tray)
 - lame_enc.dll (Many encoding programs require this for MP3 encoding)
 - layout.dll (This gives you the "Save desktop icon layout" option)
 - makecab.exe (More up to date version that actually works)
 - On-Screen Keyboard (osk.exe)
 - pskill.exe (Kill processes on the command line)
 - sleep.exe (Make a batch command file wait for a given period of time)
 - Video res changer to force 1024 x 768 on install
  **********************************************
  [Here is a breakdown of the five boot options]
  - For Microsoft fans…
 The first two options include Internet Explorer 7 Web Browser, Outlook Express Email Client and Windows Media Player 11 so Windows XP is up todate and as Bill Gates intended.
  - For people who don't like Microsoft programs… the second two options do not include Internet Explorer 7, Outlook Express,or Windows Media Player 11. In the second two options where IE/OE/WMP are removed, Opera v9.21 is installed to replace Internet Explorer and MozillaThunderbird v2.0.0.0 is installed to replace Outlook Express.
  - Automatic Driver Installation…
 Options one and three both include drivers to cover the following: Chipset,CPU, Ethernet LAN Cards, SATA (Mass Storage) and Wireless Ethernet.
 - No Drivers Included…
Options two and four do not contain those drivers - this is in case you have SATA problems with the first or third options, or if you just wantto install your own drivers.
  - Acronis Backup + Restore…
 Option five allows you to backup your existing partition(s) before installing Windows, or you can quickly restore a backup made previouslywith Acronis. This version of Acronis True Image Home is safe to use if you want to back up Windows Vista.
 **********************************************
  [Windows Post Install Menu]
  These programs are installable from the "Install Programs"
 icon on your Desktop. You need to have the TinyXP CD
 in your CD drive for these items to install:
  - DirectX DLL Libraries #24 to #33
 - FoxIt PDF Reader Pro v2.0 Build 1312
 - Java SE Runtime Environment 6 Update 1 v1.6.0_01
 - K-Lite Mega Codec Pack v2.10
 - NOD32 Antivirus v2.70.39
 - Nero Micro (Express and Burning ROM) v7.9.6.0
 - .NET Framework 2.0 v2.0.50727.42
 - Office 2003 SP2 Lite v11.6568.6568
 - Opera Browser v9.21
 - PeerGuardian v2.0 Beta 6b
 - Perfectdisk Defrag Server Edition v8.0 Build 64
 - Photoshop CS2 v9.0.2
 - Sygate Personal Firewall Pro v5.6 Build 3408
 - Sound Forge v9.0a Build 297
 - Thunderbird v2.0.0.0
 - uTorrent v1.6.1 Build 490
 - VMware Workstation v5.5.4 Build 44386
 - Windows Live Messenger v8.1.0178.0
 - WinRAR v3.70
  On the Windows Post Install wizard menu, you can hover your mouse pointer over any of the programsfor a detailed description of that program.
  **********************************************
  [Drivers]
  Bashrat The Sneaky Driverpacks (Options 1 and 3 only)
  - CPU (v7.04.1)
 - Chipset (v7.06)
 - LAN (Ethernet) (v7.06.1)
 - SATA (Mass Storage) (v7.06.1)
 - Wireless LAN (v7.04)
  These drivers will only install if you have the device plugged in and switched on so it is detected. Only the drivers that matchyour devices will install.
  ———————————————————————
  [ISO folder On Root Of CD]
  If you want to make standalone ISO's of any of the four Windows XP installations, you can do this by running one of the four batchfiles included in the ISO folder on the CD.
  None of these installations include any of the installable programs, but they do include the Vista Aero Glass Theme, Vista Drive Indicator
 Download Here 
 rapidshare.com/files/42401830/Windows_TinyXP_Platinum_Edition_2_June2007.part01.rar
 rapidshare.com/files/42265958/Windows_TinyXP_Platinum_Edition_2_June2007.part02.rar
 rapidshare.com/files/42276009/Windows_TinyXP_Platinum_Edition_2_June2007.part03.rar
 apidshare.com/files/42286655/Windows_TinyXP_Platinum_Edition_2_June2007.part04.rar
 rapidshare.com/files/42298169/Windows_TinyXP_Platinum_Edition_2_June2007.part05.rar
 rapidshare.com/files/42310647/Windows_TinyXP_Platinum_Edition_2_June2007.part06.rar
 rapidshare.com/files/42323062/Windows_TinyXP_Platinum_Edition_2_June2007.part07.rar
 rapidshare.com/files/42327099/Windows_TinyXP_Platinum_Edition_2_June2007.part08.rar

[Mr.James]

i've installed WinPE (700mb footprint) on a USB stick. slow as fook. 4gb corsair hi-speed read/write acces stick bought especially for it. wouldn't recommend it for anything except for playing about if you're interested or recovery purposes...

[Raptor]

linux live. end of chat.

[liaeb]

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/

[Kushty]

linux live. end of chat.

I'm considering using this, I assume it can read fat, fat32 and ntfs partitions?

[liaeb]

depends on the linux distro.. FAT & FAT32's ok, pretty much all upto date distros can read NTFS, most can write to them from the off but not all.

[Kushty]

Thanks. I've currently got a bartPE'd drive and it's for file recovery and windows apps that a foreign computer might not have (office apps, partition software etc.). If I could have a nice usable linux distro and still have the windows apps and access to fat's and ntfs that would be peeeeeeerfect!

[tombott]

Yeah DSL or Ubuntu on USB.
You can even run inside Windows using QEMU.
I wouldn't run Windows on a full PC let alone via a USB stick....

[coin-op]

.
I wouldn't run Windows on a full PC let alone via a USB stick....

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