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In A Fit Of Absolute Bordom..


Leeky
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Sitting here in the office bored out of my skull...

i've got a 256mb USB memory stick in my hand and a pile of windows cd's...

So i've just had a thought.....is it possible to install windows onto a usb memory stick if the computer supports booting from usb???

Which would be cool as any pc that supports usb booting i could simply plug my stick into and load up my own OS :D

Hummm...... i think i'll give it a go as it will use up some of the day and make me look busy :lol:

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When you install windows it instantly partitions off around 3GB of memory on your HDD. Good luck installing it onto a 256 stick :thumbsup:

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When you install windows it instantly partitions off around 3GB of memory on your HDD. Good luck installing it onto a  256 stick  :thumbsup:

ok smart a$$ explain how windows 95 gets onto an 800mb hdd like my old pentium machines :P :lol::thumbsup:

The only problem i can see is that win9x requires additional drivers to support usb volumes. Thus im thinking you'd have to load the driver into memory before it could boot the os from the memory stick :wacko:

Going up to win2k i admittedly wouldnt fit the install onto 256mb but should be able to fully boot itself from the drive.

So i think i'll use my 60gb usb disc for this experiment :lol::thumbsup:

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Try sticking windows 3.1 on it dude :lol::lol: old skool :thumbsup: Reckon you can get 95 on it mate :thumbsup:

If I was not at work playing games I might just try it also :lol::lol:

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Because Win95 was the first windows with anything user friendly (if my memory serves me right ;) ). But being produced in 1995 the HDD space available for the install was still very basic so they had to make it compact.

Plus there isn't much to Win95 compared to XP, so it doesn't need much install space :D

You can install DOS onto a 80mb HDD ;)

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Because Win95 was the first windows with anything user friendly (if my memory serves me right ;) ). But being produced in 1995 the HDD space available for the install was still very basic so they had to make it compact.

Plus there isn't much to Win95 compared to XP, so it doesn't need much install space :D

You can install DOS onto a 80mb HDD ;)

Can install DOS on a lot smaller than that !!!

My first PC only had a 40Mb HD and still ran DOS and 3.1 with early versions of wordperfect....

trip down memory lane...

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Whats all this about a 3gb partion for win95??? pah I know nt4 had some :censor: about not being installed on a partion no bigger then 4gb :lol: now where talking legacy software :rolleyes: Cannot even remember the last time I installed 98 or 95 :help:

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iv got windows xp on a 8gbhard drive....

Very old computer lol!!

But leeky, YES you can boot from the USB, i have to make my boot disk from flash card for my medion as it doesnt have a floppy drive...

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Ok...so far no such luck. None of the Dell machines we have down here support USB booting even after i have flashed the bios's to the latest versions :censor:

Discussed this with others within my office and we have come to the conclusion that given a machine with USB boot support you can get away with windows 2000 and windows xp on a usb device with enough memory.

Windows 9x will only support USB media after you have applied the updates to support it. Thus booting and running 9x is not possible without MAJOR configuration - even then its 80% likely it still wouldnt work.

So there you have it people...incase you ever wanted to know :lol:

And for my next trick i shall attempt to run Linux on a toaster :hokus-pokus: :lol::thumbsup:

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Try windows 98 second edition dude :D go on give it ago...

Why not install Microsoft virtual machine on you pc then install 98 and then put the image on the USB key? you will then be able to run win98 from the image on the usb key from you pc :thumbsup: only thing you will need to have virtual machine to run it :lol::lol:

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I used to have Linux on a Zip disk, pop into into a machine and boot (with the zip in the boot up profile) and it'd drop straight to a Linux prompt ..

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I used to have Linux on a Zip disk, pop into into a machine and boot (with the zip in the boot up profile) and it'd drop straight to a Linux prompt ..

Better to use Knoppix as it runs from CD, and all machines have a cd drive. It's a compressed live filesystem so you get several gigs of programs.

There is also an initiative to get linux to boot from usb flash memory or even compact flash cards hooked up to an ide connector. Can't remember the url, though.

Cheers

Paul.

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And for my next trick i shall attempt to run Linux on a toaster  :hokus-pokus:  :lol:  :thumbsup:

what, like red dwarfs talky toaster?

Howdy doodaly doo!

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Well I've just read through this thread and don't understand a f :censor:  word of it :blink:

Ahhh ignorance is bliss :lol:

I am with you on that one Daz

*wishes she had paid more attention to Red Dwarf :yes: and knew a little bit about computors. :rolleyes:

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