Boot Windows or Linux from USB Flash drives

USB Flash drives (UFD) now have enough capacity to transport a veritable mobile office. Whether it’s an office suite, graphics program, web browser, email client or virus scanner, all kinds of applications will run straight from a UFD, on any computer.

There is no need to carry installation CDs around any more. This doesn’t just apply to programs, but extends to your personal working environment: desktop settings, Internet bookmarks and folders such as My Documents can all be copied to the Flash storage device and used on any convenient PC as if you were working on your own machine.

Performance isn’t bad, either; top-of-the-range models such as the Buffalo Firestix can read data at 31Mbytes/sec, as fast as a 2.5in hard disk.

One of the great advantages of a UFD is the ability to load a complete operating system onto one device. In the event of a system crash or virus infection with no recovery tools to hand, this kind of emergency boot device can be a lifesaver.

With Windows or Linux on the UFD, you can run the utilities from an easy-to-use graphical front end, which is very handy if you want to make backups or rescue important data.

Also, almost every PC has a spare USB port, but not all have a disk drive for an emergency boot floppy.

It is possible to install numerous applications, such as web browsers, office tools and multimedia programs, straight to a UFD without installing on the hard disk first.

This is practical and saves time. Software on your UFD can give you access to your favourite programs, anywhere, at any time.

Potential hurdles

You may be able to install any piece of software on a UFD, but starting isn’t always so straightforward. Lots of software, such as Microsoft Office, stores its settings in the Windows Registry.

This is not a problem as long as the software is being run from the hard disk or a local UFD. But if you plug the UFD into a different PC, the program will search in vain for the missing Registry entries.

The solution is that, for a program to work correctly from a UFD on any computer, it has to store all its settings in its home directory on the UFD. An example of a program that does this is Open Office. 

Another hurdle concerns privacy. When they start, some programs create temporary files that they need while running. When you remove the UFD, these files often get left behind on the host PC.