Windows 8 Can Be Stored and Run on a Flash Drive

[Guest]

You can finally take Windows 8 with you on the go...

Windows 8 Can Be Stored and Run on a Flash Drive : Read more

 

[math1337]

Wow. This feature has only been around since the release of the Developer preview. Last Year.

Great timely reporting here.

 

[beayn]

[citation][nom]math1337[/nom]Wow. This feature has only been around since the release of the Developer preview. Last Year.Great timely reporting here.[/citation]
I didn't know about it. Not everyone finds every single piece of info that's out there before coming here.

 

[dtemple]

I didn't know about it yet, and clearly there were enough people who didn't know about it, that Microsoft decided it was a feature worthy of showing off JUST THIS WEEK at a conference.
Cool feature, and one I might use.

 

[whimseh]

Yes because installing it onto a real hard drive is just too damn hard

 

[Guest]

Windows 8 is the biggest pile of crap since ME, I have it running in vmware and absolutely hate it. Swipe the right then hit settings then power then shut down, What! new wner of "who designed this cap?" title

 

[A Bad Day]

[citation][nom]whimseh[/nom]Yes because installing it onto a real hard drive is just too damn hard[/citation]

Drop your USB stick one meter onto a hard surface.

Now do the same with a HDD.

 

[danwat1234]

This is METRO to go, not win8 to go. Right?
I can't turn on a driveless computer and have it boot to the stick, boot up windows and then proceed to install bloodshed C++ and start programming.?
But I can boot to the stick and play angry birds or some app(crap) like that

 

[altriss]

[citation][nom]danwat1234[/nom]This is METRO to go, not win8 to go. Right?I can't turn on a driveless computer and have it boot to the stick, boot up windows and then proceed to install bloodshed C++ and start programming.?But I can boot to the stick and play angry birds or some app(crap) like that[/citation]
I don't get your point here...
You still can use Visual studio and for what I've seen so far you can also run any other software.
If you're saying that on a tablet it would be a crap to code, I agree but no one will force you to do so. And if this a try to say that you don't like metro, I think it's not the best way to do it, don't you think so?

 

[jhansonxi]

[citation][nom]A Bad Day[/nom]Drop your USB stick one meter onto a hard surface.Now do the same with a HDD.[/citation]
Could do it easily with a SSD or a HDD in a shock-resistant enclosure.

[citation][nom]math1337[/nom]Wow. This feature has only been around since the release of the Developer preview. Last Year.Great timely reporting here.[/citation]
It's actually older than that. SanDisk developed something similar called U3, later StartKey, that was abandoned: http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StartKey

According to the article they were working with M$ on a more comprehensive solution and WtG may be it.

Knoppix has been able to do the same for almost 10 years now...

 

[alidan]

[citation][nom]math1337[/nom]Wow. This feature has only been around since the release of the Developer preview. Last Year.Great timely reporting here.[/citation]

probably because no one knew if it was a final product feature or not.

i know there is code in the dev preview that wont make it over to the final release, many probably thought this was it to. so anounceing it like this is a good thing.

 

[jhansonxi]

The problem with WtG is that there isn't really anything protecting a PC's primary storage drive (SDD or HDD) from a malware-infected USB drive that is booted from.

 

[K2N hater]

People have been running Windows off thumb drives since XP. Back then it was not an "approved" practise as MS was afraid of piracy and it was required to edit some files prior to install and mess with usb driver startup. Win8 just made the process a walk in the park. Limitations remain though - drivers must be reinstalled once you plug it on a different PC and in some cases the OS may crash.

The actual purpose of using that is not to violate MS copyright but it's shady indeed. Keeping the whole thing including the OS onto a tiny encrypted thumb drive makes it rather easy to hide unlegit deals.

 

[AidanJC]

Ah great, now i'm going to have smart ass teenagers running around the school booting from flash drives and playing games.. Great for home users though!

 

[monkeymonk]

i had heard a rumor about this but I was not aware it was a for sure thing.

 

[memadmax]

Still not gonna buy Win8...
But I'll stick it on a phone or a pad(it's intended platform).......

 

[alextheblue]

[citation][nom]jhansonxi[/nom]The problem with WtG is that there isn't really anything protecting a PC's primary storage drive (SDD or HDD) from a malware-infected USB drive that is booted from.[/citation]I'm not sure what you're driving at here, but this isn't a WtG-exclusive issue. Physical security is number one.

 

[f-14]

very cool but the main thing i can see myself doing with this is asking to borrow the mac from a guy next to me for a few minutes and post something on toms about how i just turned a mac into a pc!
EVERY TIME I SEE A MAC
kind of like a new game like slug bug.

 

[f-14]

oops forgot to add:

PC guy:hello i'm a PC.
Mac guy: hello i'm a Mac
PC guy sticks flash drive into Mac usb port: no man, you're not, you're a PC now too

 

[joytech22]

[citation][nom]AidanJC[/nom]Ah great, now i'm going to have smart ass teenagers running around the school booting from flash drives and playing games.. Great for home users though![/citation]

Just go into the BIOS and remove USB boot option and set a lock password on the BIOS.
Problem solved!

I did that when I was working as a TSO.