I've gone Linux - Le Gasp!

[Sora]

You actually created a USB bootable version of XP?
Wow.

[coldReactive]

Well, I'm going back to linux soon, in a week and a few days, when Ubuntu 9.10 comes out, I'll be testing Kubuntu seeing if it can install my nvidia drivers via jockey.

[Vash342]

You actually created a USB bootable version of XP?
Wow.

Shamefully I answer yes.
I'm going to go cry like a beaten stepchild with breathing problems in that corner over there.

[Alex S]

That's actually quite impressive.  I mean, I've got a friend who's written his own USB drivers for his TI-84+ calculator, but bootable XP on a flash drive? That's something I want to see.

[Vash342]

That's actually quite impressive.  I mean, I've got a friend who's written his own USB drivers for his TI-84+ calculator, but bootable XP on a flash drive? That's something I want to see.

Very narrow work space let me tell you.
I recommend anywhere from a 2 GB to a 512 MB flash drive.
Other than that I used HP's Flash Drive Format tool, and PE Builder to create the XP image I wanted to use. If I remember correctly you need the three system files from your Main drive, usually C:\.  Install it all through built in DOS and boom. Theoretically it should work.

Keep in mind all of the above is no method to the madness, so don't blame me if it doesn't work.  If you want just madness, google it and you will most likely come up with something very similar.

I'm not promising anybody that this works and proceed at your own risk.
After all, it is Windows.

[Sora]

Vash 342 must be a very good programmer.

[Vash342]

Vash 342 must be a very good programmer.

ROFL, I just pay attention.

If you know what you want to do, then all you have to do is either research it or find someone else to do it for you.

All I did was found that FAT32 has some troubles booting over USB on XP so back to FAT16 because that's floppy media format.  Floppy boot was all the rage about ten years ago.

Then I found a tool to do that for me, AKA HP USB disk format.

Then I found a way to chop off everything off the XP install disc to make it small enough.  Pe builder.

Useful tool trust me.

If you downgrade from Vista and have SATA, most every american release of XP Pro didn't come with SATA controller drivers.  Took me a month to figure this one out.  Then I used Pe builder to slipstream the SATA controllers into an install.  Works like a charm now.

[Sora]

OS's used to be small enough to fit on a floppy drive? Scary.

Added after 2 minutes:

So why did you make a USB bootable version of XP anyway?

[coldReactive]

OS's used to be small enough to fit on a floppy drive? Scary.

USED to be?!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mini_Linux#Floppy_disk_distributions

[Sora]

That's mainly server OS's though.

[NejinOniwa]

He did it because of SCIENCE.

[Vash342]

Science is starting to see a very bleak future then...

[Alex S]

So why did you make a USB bootable version of XP anyway?

My guess: Because he could.

Also, having portable XP could be useful if it isn't too annoying to use, because it can address other Windows systems as Windows systems for diagnostic purposes.

[Sora]

But aren't most windows systems fundamentally different?

[Vash342]

OS's used to be small enough to fit on a floppy drive? Scary.

DOS 6.1 was 3 floppy's

3.1 was 6 I think

95 emergency boot was 1

98 was 16 Floppys, IF you didn't get the brand new limited edition sacred technology of CD-ROM

I have all of these except 98.
Ironically, the DOS floppies I have are the Harley Davidson Floppies, ha ha ha

But aren't most windows systems fundamentally different?

9x series was very similar.
2K and XP are extremely similar, most drivers are the same between the two.  Vista and 7 i'm not entirely sure, but I would assume they are because 7 is Vista without the suck attached to it.