A USB that can make .exes self-contained?

[I Am Herenow]

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[Exidus Maximus]

well, technically all of those do the same thing.. they store info... they dont really allow you to launch things in them or anything like that... these seem to be alot like the new HD that i hear about that use actual flash memory to store TONS of info, instead of the disk that conventional ones use...

so, no, u cant make it run ONLY on the USB (at least not any way i can figure) cuz you would need it to be a concrete path for the computer to recognize, not something you just "plug and play"

in order to plug it in and be able to play the game or whatever on there, you would need to not just store the info there ( they are to store stuff in) you would need to install it and make it launchable thru ur computer... i just dont see how you could use them to run stuff by them selves. store games, yes, 8GB could do that, but not run them by themselves or anything like that... it would still need to be installed in ur comp.

[Erik]

USB sticks work just like external hard-disks.
You can install software on them, and some (simple) programs will run right off the stick (for example: utorrent, cpu-z), but most programs/games need to be installed in windows as well (for example: M2TW, Oblivion).

You can install Linux plus some Linux games/applications on an USB stick, and create a completely self contained system like that, but Microsoft Windows won't allow this.

[GrnEyedDvl]

It would depend on the application. Erik mentioned that some things have to run in Windows, this is partially true. You can install ANY program you want on a USB drive, there might be some performance issues with speed and stuff like that, but they should run as long as the path to the drive is the same every time you run in. The problem you will run into is trying to use that program on another machine, which is the only reason to install it to a USB drive.

Most programs will install information to the Windows registry, such as CD keys and pathway information. Other programs will install stuff to either the Windows/System or System 32 folder that they need to run such as .dll or directx files, not to mention all the shortcuts and save file directories that are created in your user profile. Then when you put your USB drive in another machine all that stuff is missing and the program wont run.

[I Am Herenow]

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[GrnEyedDvl]

QuickTime most likely wont run on a flash drive because of all the registry stuff relating to browsers.

[I Am Herenow]

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[King Edward I]

actually you could, i have an 16Gb SSD Flash Drive; and it boots windows from it - its merely a ghosted copy put on there. My 4gb flash survivor also runs an OS fine

[I Am Herenow]

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[King Edward I]

the 16gb SSD (solid state disk) is expensive but a flash survivor isnt too much just google it