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Title: Booting from flash drive (Win 7 - XP)
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URL Source: http://ChuckW
Published: Mar 2, 2015
Author: Chuck_Wagon
Post Date: 2015-03-02 15:53:26 by Chuck_Wagon
Keywords: None
Views: 39968
Comments: 123
Just suppose that I wanted to create a machine that would FYI - I am planning to create this thing on a new Zotac So what I'm basically trying to do is create a 'disk-less' Thanks for any help / insight! ZBOX 1320-U:
boot from a USB flash drive - a relatively big flash drive -
32gb to 64gb - or whatever is required.
And I wanted this thing to boot either Win7 or XP.
Anybody here have any experience with such an experience?
'ZBox' with a Celeron processor and 4GB of memory (which I
have - the memory - not the Zbox).
computer. Shouldn't be fraught with problems - Eh? 
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#1. To: Chuck_Wagon (#0)
(Edited)
You likely be better off with smaller notebook 2.5" flash drive that is designed for use as a system drive. Typically these have RAM for caching data and eliminating a lot of disk rewrites (that would shorten a USB flash drive's lifetime). And they have a true disk interface. USB just isn't as good. USB is also potentially a source for unstoppable computer viruses to hide out. Look at Amazon and you'll find 32GB Crucial solid-state drives with 3Gbps SATA interface for $38 or instead choose a 128GB Seagate drive with 6Gbps SATA3 interface for under $60 (I'd urge you to consider this one as it is a reputable drive with a good record, very fast, and will work quite well with these Zotac units you're considering and it is four times bigger with a better interface for only twice the price).
I agree. USB thumbdrives are great for portability, and using "your computer" on different actual machines (like a repair technician might do.) But USB drives are also very slow compared to an internal drive. I just received a ZBOX 1320-U with 4Gb of RAM on Saturday and put a Western Digital 320 Gb SATA II drive in it that I bought last year for $45. Today it's only $30 + shipping, and the newer/faster SATA III is $39 & FREE SHIPPING. Working great with mint linux installed. But running off the USB (thumb drive and external dvd) is noticeablly slower than the internal hard drive.
#4. To: TooConservative, Chuck_Wagon (#1)
You likely be better off with smaller notebook 2.5" flash drive that is designed for use as a system drive
#7. To: Willie Green, TooConservative, Pridie.Nones, cranky (#4)
...forget it.. The only reason I am considering this bootable USB I have a little problem - my right hand and arm are See, last time I had to do something like this, Staples So if I'm going to pack all of the parts into a box and ship Thanks for your help folks!
...noticeablly slower...
option is the problem of installing a 2.5 inch
drive in a little bookshelf case.
mostly paralyzed - which makes working on itsy bitsy,
teeny, tiny things like SATA connectors difficult
for me to do. So I was thinking: "If I can..." -
I'm sure y'all get the general idea I was getting at.
'Ease of assembly' was what I was aiming for.
charged me $40 bucks. Which isn't really that much,
but it annoys me to pay that to do something as simple
as install a hard drive. I have a friend who is competent
enough to do it, but I don't want to keep annoying him
with my problems. I have another friend who used to run
his own computer/electronics repair shop - but he and
wife and kids moved to West Virginia.
it to WV with a note and cash for return shipping, and
annoy HIM, I might as well grab my wallet and drive 2 miles
to Staples...
#11. To: Chuck_Wagon (#7)
A five minute job. Surely you could hire a neighborhood kid to do this for you. If you can handle opening and closing the case yourself, it's a two-minute job. Watch Willie's vids. A lot of laptops and tiny PCs with 2.5" drives are built so that the drive is almost self-guiding into a groove and onto the SATA data/power connectors. It is much much easier than messing around with IDE cables and power cords.
See, last time I had to do something like this, Staples charged me $40 bucks.
#12. To: TooConservative (#11)
I pay 'friends for favors' with beer. My neighbor won't take any money, but he will take a bottle of Canadian Mist. He's helped me more than a few times over the past twenty years. My friend's wife needed a ride to the tavern last week while he was working on getting his car's starter working. She wanted to buy me six beers (a bucket). One was sufficient for me. That's how we roll.
Surely you could hire a neighborhood kid to do this for you.
Replies to Comment # 12.
#13. To: Fred Mertz (#12)
That works too.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest I pay 'friends for favors' with beer.
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