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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: 40578
Comments: 123
Just suppose that I wanted to create a machine that would
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?
FYI - I am planning to create this thing on a new Zotac
'ZBox' with a Celeron processor and 4GB of memory (which I
have - the memory - not the Zbox).
So what I'm basically trying to do is create a 'disk-less'
computer. Shouldn't be fraught with problems - Eh?
Thanks for any help / insight!
ZBOX 1320-U:
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 31.
#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).
#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
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.
#7. To: Willie Green, TooConservative, Pridie.Nones, cranky (#4)
...noticeablly slower......forget it..
The only reason I am considering this bootable USB
option is the problem of installing a 2.5 inch
drive in a little bookshelf case.
I have a little problem - my right hand and arm are
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.
See, last time I had to do something like this, Staples
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.
So if I'm going to pack all of the parts into a box and ship
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...
Thanks for your help folks!
#11. To: Chuck_Wagon (#7)
See, last time I had to do something like this, Staples charged me $40 bucks.
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.
#14. To: TooConservative, Fred Mertz (#11)
Try doing it with one hand.
A pain in the zorch - trust me.
Many things are.
Try changing a tire one-handed. Ehhh.....
#16. To: Chuck_Wagon, TooConservative, Fred Mertz (#14)
Try doing it with one hand.
A pain in the zorch - trust me.
Don't do it yourself, you g**damned retard.
Well they lopped-off my left leg above-the-knee a-year-ago-Christmas, so I'm not as unsympathetic to your plight as Fred. But seeing as I actually have a Z-Box, I decided to conduct an experiment and accept your challenge.
And I am quite pleased to report: Success!!!
Using ONLY my left hand (and I'm right-handed):
- I opened the case of my Z-Box.
- I removed the hard drive
- I reinstalled the hard drive
- I removed 1 stick of RAM
- I decided removing the 2nd stick of RAM was unnecessary and wouldn't prove anything
- I replaced the 1st stick of RAM
- I closed the cover on my Z-Box and plugged everything back together.
Yeah, it is a bit more awkward than using two hands (especially since my left hand is all thumbs.) Nevertheless, the whole experiment didn't take me much more than 10~15 minutes, if that much.
But in the end, you'll have to judge for yourself whether you think you're up to it or not... Just don't go spending $40 for somebody to do it for you... it's waaaaaaay too easy... I'd say $5 max... or just buy him a beer...
#19. To: Willie Green (#16)
Okay.
Sorry about your leg.
#20. To: Chuck_Wagon (#19)
Thanks... it definitely slows me down a bit, but it's not as bad as I would have imagined... and hopefully I'll get approval for a prosthesis after my cardiologist gets a couple more tests done,
#22. To: Willie Green (#20)
Yeah - I have a MOFO brace on my lower right leg -
and braces on my right arm (Which I no longer wear).
Work out 3 times a week at the gym.
The exercises no longer seem to help a Lot.
But the leg presses got me out of the wheelchair.
So that's definitely something, eh?
So on I go.
#25. To: Chuck_Wagon, Fred Mertz (#22)
But the leg presses got me out of the wheelchair.
So that's definitely something, eh?
Yeah... being in a wheelchair isn't much fun, but I don't complain about it since I'm actually much better off physically than many others. For instance, I can pretty easily stand up and hop around on one leg using my walker (I call it my hopper.) I suppose I could use crutches if I wanted, but I don't trust them. The walker has more stability when I plant it solidly on the ground to help me hop.
So that's how I get myself to the grocery store:
- I wheel myself out to the car & open the trunk.
- I get my walker out of the trunk and unfold it.
- I stand-up and then sit on the lip of the trunk
- I fold up the wheel chair and stash it in the trunk
- I stand up, close the trunk & use the walker to hop to the driver's door.
- I open the door, plop my butt in the driver's seat, fold-up the walker & stash it in the back seat.
- Drive whereever I want (Thank goodness for automatic transmissions) & then reverse the process to get back in my chair.
Self-serve gas stations are a pain in the patoot, but I manage. At other stores, I can push around a full-size shopping cart if I have to, but I prefer the smaller carts or hand-baskets if they have them. And inside the grocery store, it's pretty easy for me to lock my wheels and stand up to get something off the top shelf... or to get my wallet out of my hip pocket at the check-out line.
So all-in-all, I have nothing to complain about... I get along very well... Just hoping a prosthetic leg will help get me accomplish things a little quicker... believe me, although I can do it, pumping gas is REALLY tedious right now...
#26. To: Willie Green (#25)
...being in a wheelchair isn't much fun...
Nope, it ain't.
I was in one for 22 months. Then I stood up.
Good luck to you!
I still use these for grocery and other shopping:
Can't decide which I prefer: The Amigo, or the Smart Cart... LOL
#27. To: Chuck_Wagon (#26)
The Amigo, or the Smart Cart... LOL
I've never seen the luxury model with the fancy armrests...
But then, I only use those things when I go shopping with someone else who can bring them out to the car for me to use. I rarely find one out in the parking lot that I can get to by myself, and once I get my own chair out of the trunk, it just isn't worth switching to the electric chair inside the store. Besides, if I do that, then what am I supposed to do with my own chair while I shop? Just leave it there where someone else might think that it belongs to the store & start using it?
#31. To: Willie Green (#27)
Just leave it there(?)
Shoprite (grocery store) has a policy that a bagger or
someone has to accompany 'riding cart' riders
out to their cars (then they ride the cart back) or at
least out to the front vestibule place (where all the
regular shopping carts are) in order to make sure that
it is plugged in for recharge.
I choose the 'vestibule' option, park the cart, and then
set out with my quad cane:
Replies to Comment # 31.
I choose the 'vestibule' option, park the cart, and then set out with my quad cane:
Yeah, that quad cane looks like it will be useful AFTER I get a prosthetic leg.
But right now, it just wouldn't provide enough support while I hop around on one leg. If I lose my balance, I'm doomed. That's why I use the walker. The walker works for short distances, but even then, I wouldn't trust it all the way from my car to the vestibule of the store.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 31.
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