[pankrationisfun]

I have a laptop with a toasted hd but its a great pc. has anyone booted from usb? I want to boot xp and be able to surf thus installing all the needed drivers.

[asian_XL]

best tutorial I have read so far...seem a bit lengthy, but it works perfectly, I just
installed winxp without a dvd-rom. However, windows does not auto detect the
language folder (if you want to use east-asian unicode), you can always copy folders to
your desktop first.

http://www.liliputing.com/2008/04/install-windows-xp-on-mini-note-usb.html

[Jmac]

USB is slow as molasses if you want to do anything that requires intensive reads and writes (especially writes) ...

Make sure you get a high-end flash drive. Your basic flash drives are slow as molasses ...

[shenmecar]

this will really wear down the lifespan for ur usb too.

[LC21]

I should really try this for my computer!

[asian_XL]

wait, are you talking about usb as your HD or install winxp with a usb?

[pankrationisfun]

USB AS HD...i figured it out on tomshardware

[jimzilla]

USB AS HD...i figured it out on tomshardware

link?

[LC21]

this is lame i cant format my USB using the petousb program

[Razor Ramon HG]

I wouldn't recommend using a USB stick as a HD since Window writes to the drive a lot.

[Raid3n]

why not just buy a new 2.5" drive? they're cheap as chips...

[LC21]

How do i work that? ^ So that i can use it as a bootdrive?

[LC21]

anyone wanna sell me a usb boot drive... =P

[m3thods]

I don't think people here understand that flash drives have a FINITE write cycle. Some of the people above have alluded and hinted to the fact that it isn't a great idea to boot off a usb drive, as Windows constantly writes and rewrites to the drive.

A great idea has already been placed with using a 2.5" drive. There's no additional power supply required, so this would be a much better solution.

[TekDragon]

Just to clarify for you LC21: what people are suggesting is REPLACING your old drive with a new 2.5" hdd.

[pankrationisfun]

thanks guys, all figured out