 | By Mark Edwards Some users benefit from having a bootable version of Linux on a USB flash drive — but did you know it’s possible to do the same with XP? This week, I’ll tell you how and explain a few challenges that stand in your way. |
How to run a copy of XP from a flash drive
Windows Secrets associate editor Scott Dunn’s published an article on Mar. 20 with a very useful explanation of how you can carry an entire, bootable operating system in your pocket on a USB flash drive.
Scott listed several flavors of Linux that are designed to run from flash drives. I myself actually have a 4GB flash drive with a full-blown copy of Ubuntu 7.10, one of the most popular Linux distributions, installed.
It works great! The software runs much faster on a flash drive than on a bootable CD, and the thumb drive is defintely more convenient to carry around.
Scott also pointed out that you can install XP on a flash drive by using BartPE (Bart’s Preinstalled Environment). A writeup from Sept. 9, 2005, is available at the Tom’s Hardware site, if you’re curious. BartPE, however, has limitations as a solution.
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