OS off of HD?

[MattErickson]

Is it possible to run an operating system, say Windows XP, off of a portable hard drive?

I have a 500 GB portable hard drive, constantly plugging in through a USB2 to my main computer. I was wondering if it was at all possible to upload WXP onto so I could run it off at my mom's house, still holding all of my files, information and programs. Now I realize some of the programs might not work (insufficient parts and/or drivers) or not at all.

Do I need to post any information about said portable HD?

1) Is it possible?
2) Is it plausible?
3) Do I need a special program(s)?

[drak10687]

My friend tried doing this... however, as you may notice when using other usb devices, usb connections only seem to start working after windows boots. At least that was the problem for my friend, and for me when I needed to enter into BIOS (I always had to plug in my old keyboard on my old computer, because it would not recognize the usb one before it booted)...

[Ummagumma]

It is hardware dependant. Some motherboards allow you to select usb devices in the boot priorities in the bios. It is possible, it is plausible, you would need no special programs. Unfortunately all the drivers etc. from your Windows installation would tie it to one specific machine (so why use a removable disk?), and data transfer across usb2 is slow enough to have a painfully long boot-up time. A page file operating over usb would be.. interesting!

You could use a 'Live CD' distribution of Linux though. I have a few pen drives hanging around with various live distributions, you never know when they might come in handy.. (But my pc will boot from usb).

[MattErickson]

I have a mandriva linux CD but I prefer Photoshop and 3ds max over GIMP and what ever else is used to do 3D on linux.

And how would I be able to get the BIOS to boot everything up from the HD.
Enter that blue screen and set it up on the computer I intent to overtake?

[Dick]

Usually access to the bios is through pressing delete vigorously before windows starts loading. Then you should see an option for boot devices, simply change the first (there is probably more than one) to the device you want.

[Ummagumma]

Yes, They normally give a list of 4-6 options, just change the boot priorities (USB if available, floppy disk, cd, hdd,)

Try Blender, it is a very good open source 3D app. You can try it on Windows too. Nice to meet a fellow 3D Max guy though! (though Blender and GIMP are looking like my software choices when I first go freelance.. saves a few thousand pounds for hardware from the initial investment!)

[Simetrical]

data transfer across usb2 is slow enough to have a painfully long boot-up time. A page file operating over usb would be.. interesting!

Do you have any figures on this? I haven't seen a big decrease from looking at the theoretical bandwidth figures, given that disks today tend to give you 50 or 60 MB/s maximum throughput.

I have a mandriva linux CD but I prefer Photoshop and 3ds max over GIMP and what ever else is used to do 3D on linux.

Maya works on Linux. Photoshop doesn't run on Linux natively, but Photoshop 7 (yes, quite outdated) works flawlessly on recent versions of Wine. Not as good as Windows, but pretty close.

[Ummagumma]

Do you have any figures on this? I haven't seen a big decrease from looking at the theoretical bandwidth figures, given that disks today tend to give you 50 or 60 MB/s maximum throughput.

Sorry, no figures, there might be something on Toms. I just use them a lot. You know what 'theoretical figures' mean anyway, I'm sure! Transferring uncompressed video footage it takes over 4 times longer than the 'theoretical' speeds. It seems to take a bit less when shifting several smaller files, but that could just be because there is a lower volume. Firewire is always much faster. I've not used eSATA yet, I'm probably getting a new caddy soon though.