USB Key/Flash Drive Guide: More than just portable storage. List your favorite portable apps here!

boosted said: SeriusBlack said: sc0rpio said: Try this tutorial

I haven't tested it personally. It's just an article I was able to find. Let me know if it works out for you.
OMG it works! Hahaha...that's awesome. So you can take your Windows with you wherever you go, store downloads, and sync @your house/office. It works, I printed the pages out & followed the steps with XP Home. I wonder about XP Corporate. Did this on a 2GB Sandisk flashdrive.

It didn't work for me. After selecting the flash drive to install to, it complained of not being able to access the drive. What version of XP did you use? What laptop?
I was missing this line:
"usbehci = usbehci.sys"
in all of my inf files from my XP pro. (no sp1 or sp2)

Got it working. I had to format with another HP tool using FAT. It's called "HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool". Didn't install to it yet, since I only have a 512mb at the moment. Waiting for the 8giger to get here.

IAmStingRay said: 2) Question: Do you need a "U3" USB drive for these software programs to work right?No.If not, is there an added value in getting a U3 version or is it better to use a standard USB drive? Thanks!U3 creates a virtual CD drive, which makes autorun programs work on systems which have it enabled.

Why don't you like the U3? You can replace stuff on that (small) partition & can have it start PStart when you first plugin the drive...

noksagt said: Why don't you like the U3? You can replace stuff on that (small) partition & can have it start PStart when you first plugin the drive...

i'm totally new to portable apps but wanted to know also if there is anything inherently wrong with U3 vs the others (pstart, asuite)? tia

Your Apps In Your Pocket - Macworld Article

The link to the Full Version of XP On 2gb USB drive doesnt work, and Im unable to find an article on the net. Could anyone point me in the right direction? I have a bunch of 2gb drives and dont like the dumbed down version.

The website was acting up earlier, thought the link was broken.

For anyone thats interested - the FULL XP install DOES work if you follow the guide. HOWEVER, it is EXTREMELY slow (even for the fast Verbatim 2GB drive I had). You are better off making the slimmed down version using Barts (much faster boot as well).

Hope this helps.

Portable Firefox works fine for me & always has. There is no cache, so things won't load as quickly as the standard configuration of firefox on the desktop. You're also limited by the read speed of your USB drive.

noksagt said: John released the Portable Apps Suite, which is an easy way to get started with a good selection of free/open source software (including a nice app launcher, pre-configured ini files for auto-launching, etc.

Cool! That suite is a perfect way to use the best free softwares along with keeping your computer free from the rapid registry decay.

Thanks noksagt!

PC-De-Crapifier: 256kb
http://www.yorkspace.com/pc-de-crapifier/

The PC Decrapifier is designed to remove a specific list unwanted software in an unattended fashion. Before running, the user may select exactly what software should be removed. Currently, it is targeted for use on most Dell machines; however it will theoretically run on anything that has the software listed below.

Foobar2000 (Advanced audio player)

How to make it portable:
- While installing Foobar make sure you uncheck (Per User ...)
- Once installed, just copy all files inside your Foobar except for uninstall.exe to your USB drive

ComputerWiz said: Anyone know what is the best filing system for a USB flash drive? NTFS, FAT, or FAT32?

Should I just go with the most recent, or is there an advantage of going with an older one for a small flash drive? I've seen a few articles from googling it, but I'd rather ask for opinions here.

Edit: It's for 128MB and 64MB. Yeah, I know it's small and old, but I got it for free.

How did you get it for free? If its still available, where can I get it for free?

thanks

mjgroves said: The website was acting up earlier, thought the link was broken.

For anyone thats interested - the FULL XP install DOES work if you follow the guide. HOWEVER, it is EXTREMELY slow (even for the fast Verbatim 2GB drive I had). You are better off making the slimmed down version using Barts (much faster boot as well).

Hope this helps.

Even better than that is Mojopac

Full desktop on a stick and you can install any program without a problem.

Give it a shot...I have and works great.

dannyliu138 said: Great thread!
I checked a couple articles linked in this thread but I think I have a few nuances untouched by them. I'm hoping someone can point me to the right direction. Btw, I was thinking to ask this in the official enclosure thread, but that seems to be mainly about purchasing enclosures.

I want to install xp and various apps on a hdd via usb 2.0 enclosure. My work has a computer but I don't want to add anything on it. So I thought I can plug in a portable xp + apps on top of my work computer and work within that enclosure. I'm not looking for a bootable xp (like the articles describe). I just want to add a functioning xp + apps in an enclosure. Is this possible? Tia...

So you want to run XP + apps from your USB drive from your work PCs desktop? Not rebooting but running XP within XP? You would need a Virtual Machine to do that. Microsoft gives out for free the Virtual Server software to do that. Once that is installed you can run as many different OSs, each within their own workspace, as required and as long as the hardware can support that amount of activity. The are also other tool like VMWare. The problem there is that you do have to install the server software on your work PC.

The alternative is to look at the post above yours. Mojopac does exactly what you want. Once the Mojopac software is installed on the USB drive (HD/Thumbdrive/iPod/cell phone) then you can plug it in to ANY XP PC and start your own desktop. All your own applications and data are installed within the Mojopac environment and it does not touch the HD of the local machine, unless you copy data across between the two of course. It does not require installing XP either. You do, however, need to have a fast USB drive so not all Thumbdrives for example will work fully and the performance will not be as fast as a regular XP installation.

Mojopac said: Every time you plug your MojoPac-enabled device into any Windows XP PC , MojoPac automatically launches your environment on the host PC. Your communications, music, games, applications, and files are all local and accessible. And when you unplug the MojoPac device, no trace is left behind – your information is not cached on the host PC.

Mojopac now do a Freedom version which is free but there are also for pay versions that have extra features.

yassix said: I really needed that Portable XP application. My computer has this problem about every two years in which I have to erase my hard drive with no chance of recovering the files. It would be great to save myself the trouble next time it happens.Wouldn't just backing up with Arconis be better?

Clamwin Portable and GIMP Portable are my favorites...

Can someone who uses Mojopac explain it a little more?

Does it make a copy of your Windows installation onto a USB drive?

When you use it on another PC, do you boot up off the USB drive, or does it run as an application within the second PC's Windows environment?

Is it "phoning home" via the internet to your original PC?

I am debating between this and the Full XP install mentioned in the posts above Mojopac. I want to be able to boot up off the USB drive so I can use it to clean malware off an infected PC without the PC booting up off the hard drive and potentially loading malware into memory. I have found that the new malware is replacing system files so it loads even in safe mode. Using the USB drive would be easier than taking the HD out of the infected PC, connecting it via USB to another PC and scanning it.

Thanks.

forbin4040 said: Mojopac isn't want you want it to do...sounds like you have a nasty little virus there.Not on my PC, thankfully. I volunteered to fix a neighbor's PC. Yes it was nasty. It loaded in safe mode and blocked the installed McAfee AV. Also blocked anything I tried to install/run like Spybot, Adaware, AVG, Hijackthis, everything I tried it blocked, wouldn't let the process start. I even used a script I wrote that kills all non-Windows processes in a split second. It was still running. It was integrated into the mouse software, the userinit.exe file and more. Had to connect it via USB to my PC to scan it.

Thanks for the reply. I'll have to try the full USB installation on the previous page.

mjgroves said: The website was acting up earlier, thought the link was broken.

For anyone thats interested - the FULL XP install DOES work if you follow the guide. HOWEVER, it is EXTREMELY slow (even for the fast Verbatim 2GB drive I had). You are better off making the slimmed down version using Barts (much faster boot as well).

Hope this helps.

I have 4GB Portable USB Hard Drives (not Flash Drives). Will it work on them?
Thanks

mjgroves said: The website was acting up earlier, thought the link was broken.

For anyone thats interested - the FULL XP install DOES work if you follow the guide. HOWEVER, it is EXTREMELY slow (even for the fast Verbatim 2GB drive I had). You are better off making the slimmed down version using Barts (much faster boot as well).

Hope this helps.

I have 4GB Portable USB Hard Drives (not Flash Drives). Will it work on them?
Thanks
minidrag said: Yes - as long as your BIOS supports booting from USB it won't care if it is a flash drive or a hard drive.

I was asking more in terms of the speed of the application loading (FULL XP install boot time ?) as mjgroves reported it to be EXTREMELY slow.