Hi,

I'm currently having fun messing with bootable USB keys since I recently found out there were programs to boot Linux from a USB key. My goal currently is to successfully boot Linux at school (where they only install Windows XP).

At first, I looked at loadlin, but was disappointed because, as of what I understood, it can only boot Linux from DOS (I believe they didn't mean OSes such as Windows XP).

Then, I found out about syslinux and extlinux and thought I could give extlinux a try. So, I partitionned my USB key, made the first partition an ext2 ~3GiB and installed Slackware 12.1 with the CDs on the USB key, as if it was an HDD. I almost got it working, but it will only boot in BusyBox when trying it on my box. As of what I understand, I need to 'mkinitrd' with some USB modules, but I can't figure out how I'm supposed to add those modules and/or know which modules are needed.

Now, I tried my half-working USB key at school only to find out the computers won't boot from USB (BIOS is password-protected). Now, I'm wondering: Is there a way I could boot Linux on my USB key from a running Windows XP (without installing much things on the host computer as my USB key only has a ~1GiB fat32 partition and I don't have root access to the host).

In short, my questions are:
1- Is it possible to boot Linux on USB key from a running Windows XP?
2- If not, how to know what modules are needed to boot from USB and how need I specify them to mkinitrd 1.3.2 ?

Thank you for your attention.
Regards,
Vhann

hi

let me rephrase Q1.

Can I boot an usb stick that has a hard drive install of windows? yes if bios allows it.

The simplest way to get linux onto a usb stick is to try the various live cds...that have a button to click...but I prefer slax for usb
http://www.slax.org/get_slax.php

You are free to choose.

Q1 part 2...I boot into windows...can I insert a linux usb stick and have it booted within windows?
maybe...I can't with virtualbox but maybe vmware for windows can?

Thank you for your answer, but that doesn't answer my question (or, at least, doesn't solve the issue).

The fact is I don't have root (call it Administrator or whatever) access to the Windows install. Therefore I can't install any such things as VMWare or virtualbox (plus these would take quite a few time to even install... really not an option I would consider.

Second, I can't use slax because, as I mentionned previously, the computer has a password-protected BIOS and won't boot from USB. Still, for my own interest, I would like to know what are the modules needed in order to have full USB support and how do I find/know about these?

Regards,
Vhann

Ok, this question doesn't make sense (I know, I asked it).

In fact, I was mostly searching for kernel modules needed to boot on USB.
Anyhow, the way the question was asked, aus9 was right, Slax does the job (and it's a very convenient USB/LiveCD solution).

Anyway, I'm 'solving' this now.