Boot And Run Windows Xp From A Pen Drive

There are times when a minor error in the Windows Registry or a Virus Infection, can make your system unbootable. In such a condition a properly configured USB drive on hand with Bart Lagerweij's free utility (BartPE), is a handy replacement for windows operating system.

BartPE will give you a complete Win32 environment with network support, a graphical user interface (800x600) and FAT/NTFS/CDFS file systemsupport.

Don't confuse BartPE with Microsoft's Official Windows PE. BartPE has got some interesting features as compared to Windows PE and it's a freeware.

Requirements To Install BartPE :

• USB Flash drive with at least 256 MB of storage capacity.
• The files from your Windows Installation CD-Rom.

How It Works :

• PE Builder, condenses the original setup data for Windows XP into a slender operating system that is ready to run from or a USB flash drive.
• This compact, portable version of Windows includes all the important system tools for dealing with a PC emergency.
• You can even add other programs to this collection, such as the media writing tool Nero Burning ROM or an anti-spyware package such as Ad-Aware SE Personal, during the installation process.

Steps Involved :

• Download the latest PE Builder version (self-installing package) and install it.
• Start PE Builder (pebuilder.exe) and insert Microsoft Windows XP installation/setup CD, it will condense the setup files into your pen drive.
• At the main PE Builder dialog, select the "Pen Drive" option. Hit the "build" button. PE Builder will now ask you to create a BartPE directory, answer with "yes".
• PE Builder will now start building BartPE. This will take a few minutes. You will see a lot of files getting copied and/or decompressed, into your pen drive. If the data verify was correct and there where no errors reported you can boot the Pen Drive.

If you have any problems or questions about PE Builder post a comment here.

Related: Automate the installation of Windows XP