Boot XP From Flash Drive

Deposit@Home http://www.paymentsnews.com/2006/12/usaa_launches_d.html

Would Home Bank, available in Ubuntu, not work?

You could try installing Windows XP in a virtual machine. I'd recommend VirtualBox: http://www.virtualbox.org/

I can give you more help setting it up if you'd like.

Then you won't have to restart your computer to do your finances.

I just formatted my 2GB flash drive (FORMAT G: /FS:FAT /S) and tried it on my laptop. Did not work. Checked the boot sequence in the setup utility and this is what I found: 1. Diskette Drive 2. Internal HDD 3. USB Storage Drive 4. CD//DVD/CD-RW Drive I will just reverse this list i.e. 1 will be 4, 2 will be 3, etc. but I wonder why my laptop with no diskette drive has the HDD as number 2 in the boot sequence.

I liked what I read on Virtual Box until I noticed that there is a different download for each release of Ubuntu. Does this mean before I can add a new release for Ubuntu I have to wait for a new update of Virtual Box? If I have installed a few windows programs and drivers in the virtual box, would I have to reinstall these also?

Typically any application will have separate downloads for each release of Ubuntu. So yes, before you upgrade to a new release of Ubuntu, you may have to make sure there is a new version of VirtualBox. However, that new version of VirtualBox will probably be available before the newer version of Ubuntu is officially released, so really there would be no waiting.

As for the second part of your question, no, you would not have to reinstall Windows programs and drivers within the virtual machine. All of that information will be stored on your virtual hard drive, which is just a big file that VirtualBox can boot from, and which will not be affected by version changes.

Changed the boot sequence in the BIOS and booted up with USB flash drive. Screen said something about no operating system. The system files are on the flash drive but I suspect the software on the flash drive has put these files in a folder where they cannot be seen on bootup. I know XP can be put on a flash drive but for now I will put my energy towards VirtualBox. This appears to better accomplish what I want.

I don't think a virtual XP is what you want. I don't think a flash drive will do what you want. If you still wanna try it, do a google for "Barts PE" & "pebuilder" and "UBCD for Win" (2 searches there). But like I said, this isn't what you want. You could try wine http://www.winehq.org/ (in fact, all linux users should install wine) What you want is to dual boot. Put XP on a small (6 gig) partition that is big enough for XP and your other win programs. (I got Vista on a 15 gig partition) It is easiest to install XP first (on the first partion) and then install (k)ubuntu on the second partition. When done in this way, (k)ubuntu's boot loader (called GRUB) will find XP and add it automagically to the boot menu.

Windows XP under VirtualBox + Guest Additions is very fast. In full screen mode, it feels like Windows XP is running natively just as long as you don't need to use 3d acceleration. There is no mouse lag, and no slowdown when dragging windows around. Plus, you don't have to restart your computer to use XP. You don't have to worry about partitioning, and the disk image (your C: drive under XP) will grow as you fill it, rather than initially taking up a specified size.

Additionally, compared to WINE, programs are a lot easier to install and more likely to work in Virtual XP.

[edit]my specs:
Athlon XP 2800+
1024 MB PC3200 RAM
500 GB HDD, SATA1, 7200 RPM, 16MB Cache
Nvidia Geforce FX 5950+ [/edit]

Message Edited by tor528 on 07-13-2007 08:47 PM

Gonna have to argue with you.

I run backtrack2 in a VMware player. There is a mouse lag. Maybe it is just the combination of kubuntu on backtrac2, but Running 2 OSs at the same time is rather resource intensive. And the OP never described his specs. Configuring hardware, particularly wireless (or wired for that matter) connections in a VM isn't real easy. The virtual machine doesn't seem to be able to access my actual machines hardware properly. And configuring in a non virtual setting is a lot easier, almost plug and play ;-) I don't know how much skill the OP has, but setting up a dual boot is a lot easier than setting up a VM.

Lets not forget that the virtual install still takes disk space. It is just cluttering up your linux partition. If all the OP is using XP for is his tax program and a few other progs, then his XP partition wont be growing much. And a dual boot is a lot easier to set up , configure, and get up and running.

VM, compared to wine is easier to install. But if you are running (k)ubunut, a virtual machine, and a resource hungry app (like most games) you will need some good hardware specs. In wine, you can run (k)ubuntu, and just the resource hungry app and have better performance. Granted, wine is a bit harder to set up and configure. But I've had a lot of success with it. there is also Crossover and Cedega that, although not free, they offer more support and more apps that run in linux without virtualization.


BTW: 945GM Video (inntegrated using 256MB of system RAM)

Message Edited by ant2ne on 07-14-2007 12:52 PM