wnaplay1647545503 Posted November 26, 2009 Report Share Posted November 26, 2009 Is it possible to run some sort of os from a thumb drive or other disk? Not load it, but run it essentially bypassing whats on the computer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Jones Posted November 26, 2009 Report Share Posted November 26, 2009 Is it possible to run some sort of os from a thumb drive or other disk? Not load it, but run it essentially bypassing whats on the computer? Yes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wnaplay1647545503 Posted November 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2009 Would this in fact bypass any corrupted hard drive that is currently on the computer? Essentially freeing me of whatever spam or virus' my kids have managed to get on its harddrive? And would this cause the computer to act as though its a brand new computer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaSSon Posted November 27, 2009 Report Share Posted November 27, 2009 Pretty much. There are Linux distros specifically for booting from USB, and it's possible to boot XP from USB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wnaplay1647545503 Posted November 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2009 What needs to be done to do it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitrousbird Posted November 27, 2009 Report Share Posted November 27, 2009 Very easy: - Set your Bios to make sure the PC will boot from USB (may say external device or something like that - Have your OS disc ready - Boot the PC with the OS disc in, when doing the install, choose to have it install to the jump drive. Make sure it has enough space to install to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wnaplay1647545503 Posted November 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2009 This wont install anything will it? I want to run it from a thumb drive or disc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wnaplay1647545503 Posted November 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2009 Weird reason. I want to be able to go to any computer and run an os off a thumbdrive and have it be free and clear of any chance of a virus or spam of which the computer may currently have. And then when I am done I want to pull my thumdrive out and walk away with it clear of any viruses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supplicium Posted November 27, 2009 Report Share Posted November 27, 2009 Just use a knoppix cd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Igor Posted November 27, 2009 Report Share Posted November 27, 2009 Here's a link on how to do it with Ubuntu. Start from step 3, http://www.instructables.com/id/Boot-and-Run-Ubuntu-from-a-Flash-Drive/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRed05 Posted November 27, 2009 Report Share Posted November 27, 2009 I hear that knoppix is the way to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akula Posted November 27, 2009 Report Share Posted November 27, 2009 Another one for Knoppix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twistedfocus1647545489 Posted November 27, 2009 Report Share Posted November 27, 2009 +3 I have used both an older CD version and the recently released DVD sized version and they both work very well. Beware, though, if you are unfamiliar with Linux it can be a little weird to use at first. I usually use it to retrieve/backup files when I get conned into working one someone's computer that has a screwed up boot sector or a pile of viruses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STEVE-O Posted November 27, 2009 Report Share Posted November 27, 2009 also if it is bad like corrupted with virus bad as soon as you lof in and gain acess to your info on your old hard disk the virus may be able to attack your thumb drive also... why not jsut buy a usb hard drive copy the info you want to keep onto it and clear your old drive then reload the pics etc onto the drive again ( given the virus is not imbeded itself in the files you want to save) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorne Posted November 27, 2009 Report Share Posted November 27, 2009 OSX can be ran from athumb drive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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