installing an OS on a thumb drive

[deadrats]

i just thought i would share this nice little app i just ran across that allows you to install any linux distro or windows vista/7 on a thumb drive:

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/

even though it only mentions linux, if you use a windows iso it will also work, just in case anyone was feeling any windows 8 envy (it's rumored you'll be able to install it on a thumb drive).

[Moontrash]

only issue with installing an OS from a thumb drive is that you'll keep rebooting after the install and installs again. Normally when you install an OS with a cd/dvd it gives that BIOS message, "press any key to boot from cd rom"....but when you boot from a usb drive, you can have it load from the USB_HDD in the BIOS but after it installs, it cycles again and just keeps re-installing over and over again cause it doesn't ever give you that option after restart. There is a work around in that after it installs the first time and it starts to reboot, you can remove the thumb drive and wait until the windows logo appears (windows 7 in my case) then put it back in the USB slot...then it will continue and finish the install. If you leave it in after the restart, it just keeps cycling.

I've never tried it with Linux so i have no clue on how it would do. Maybe a live boot would be fine.

[deadrats]

only issue with installing an OS from a thumb drive

not from a thumb drive, on a thumb drive, i.e. the OS is installed on the thumb drive and runs from the thumb drive as it would from a hard disk.

[Moontrash]

ah ok...yeah thats possible...thought u meant booting/installing...I havent had any luck with thumb drives...they never last too long for me

[jman98]

I havent had any luck with thumb drives...they never last too long for me

Please accept my apologies for temporarily hijacking this thread, but if it's OK I'm curious about this.

I hear this all the time. It's not just you. Lots of people say the same thing. I have quite a collection of thumb drives going up to one that's 128 GB and I've never had one fail on me. Hard drive issues? Oh yeah. I've had way more than my fair share of those. I feel almost cursed when it comes to them. But thumb drives always work for me. What problems have you had? Have the drives just stopped working? If so, were you able to reformat and reuse them or not? Or are you one of those people who snap off the connectors and refuse to admit it was their own fault? Hopefully not, but I have read about that too and those people act like the drive broke itself.

[Moontrash]

I had a 4gb die last week...had maybe, 14 months..almost full of stuff (no loss, i just re-grabbed all of it somewhere else)...3.3 gb's...i've had an early sony 128mb die..lasted 6 months...i had a sandisk and an a-data 2gb die...less than a year...most of these were the ole "this device needs to be formatted"...regardless of doing it, they still don't work. I've had others but the brands escape me. I don't break em. The don't ever leave the range of the PC desk and they don't get dropped. I see a lot of the reviews at newegg for those who break off the tips and the other abnormalities. I'm not familiar with that cause mine rarely ever get used more than a few feet from the PC desk to the PC.

Been using these jokers for about 6 or 7 years and i have about a 70% failure rate. What's odd is that I've only used one of these (4gb model that just died last week) with any consistency. I can't even say how many Compact Flash cards I've had die. I won't go into that discussion.

ATM, I have 5 working ones that do well speed and read wise. 2 Patriot 16gb's...1 XT model I've had over a year and 1 regular I've had a week..1 Kingston 8gb, maybe a year...1 A-Data 8gb around 7 months...1 PNY 4gb over a year

maybe it's the quality of the flash..brand wise...my kingston is my most consistent one so far...wicked fast and reliable so far

[deadrats]

i'm with jman, i've never had a thumb drive die on me and i have abused them like you wouldn't believe, with constant read/writes, formats and i even put the page/swap file on them with both linux and windows, even with win 2k, never any problems.

[lacywest]

Okay I see the thread here is for running a OS from a Thumb Drive ... ooops ... well anyways ... here is how to install ... WIN 7 from a Thumb Drive.

A month ago or so ... I had a computer here .. laptop I believe and it only had a CD drive in it ... would not read DVDs.

I tried to connect my USB DVD Drive to it but it didn't take.

I did a search on the Internet and found a topic and instructions on how to re-format a thumb drive and such ... should be no problem to find it again for you all.

Here is the webpage >>> http://www.windows7news.com/2009/04/06/how-to-install-windows-7-from-a-usb-hard-drive/

Instructions ... WORKED !!

How To Install Windows 7 From A USB Drive

1. Find a standard 4GB USB Drive and plug it into your machine
2. Click Start in your enter ‘cmd’ in the run field. Once cmd is open type in ‘diskpart’ and a new window will open
3. In the new diskpart window type:

• ‘list disk’ : This lists all the disk drives attached to your machine
• Look for your USB drive and note the number and then type: ‘select disk #’, where ‘#’ is your USB disk number
• then type ‘clean’
• then type ‘create partition primary’
• then ‘select partition 1′
• then ‘active’
• then ‘format fs=fat32 quick’

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Once you’ve finished these steps you then need to copy your Windows 7 files to the USB. To do this you have to mount your Windows 7 ISO as a virtual DVD. Doing this is easy:

1. Install MagicDisk (free)
2. once installed, right-click on MagicDisk in your system tray click on ‘Virtual CD/DVD-Rom’, select your DVD drive
3. then ‘Mount’ and in the dialog window that opens up, select your Windows 7 ISO
4. Now in windows Explorer, click on your DVD drive and you should see all the Windows 7 Files. All you have to do now is copy and paste all the files to your USB key and you have a Windows 7 USB Installation Stick!
5. Install the stick in the PC you want to install Windows 7 on and boot up. Remember to change your bios to allow booting from USB

If you follow the steps above then you should have no problems installing Windows 7 from a USB key. But if you do, leave a comment below, or even better visit the Windows 7 Forum for even better Windows 7 support.

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I did it ... and all went well ... Windows 7 got installed

As for getting the files from the WIN 7 Setup disk ... I just simply ... copy and paste them on to the USB Drive.

As for thumb drives dying on me ... nope ... I've got some Memorex ones [at Bestbuy] ... 1GB ... 1GB ... 4GB ... bought them around 2006 ... once in awhile I lose them and think somebody stole them ... but then they turn up again ... LOL.

I also got another 4 GB and a 8GB ... bought at ... Staples - Walmart.

The one I put the WIN 7 OS on is a PNY 4 GB thumb drive.

I dont buy Sandisk ... they pull too much power from my little ... USB 2.0 HUBS ... self powered ... no DC power connected.

[Nelson37]

I think only one or two have actually died, lost close to a dozen, snapped the connectors on at least 5 or 6. I have started using a short USB cable to attach to the PC, this way there is no rigid attachment point. But then, when I lose the stick I'll lose the cable, also.

The OS idea is good but still too many PC out there that won't boot from a stick.

[AlanHK]

See UNetbootin http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

UNetbootin allows you to create bootable Live USB drives for Ubuntu, Fedora, and other Linux distributions without burning a CD. It runs on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. You can either let UNetbootin download one of the many distributions supported out-of-the-box for you, or supply your own Linux .iso file if you've already downloaded one or your preferred distribution isn't on the list.

I used this; booted a Thinkpad (without a CD drive) from a 128 MB Linux distro on a thumb drive.