Booting from USB
by: Sal Cangeloso
Booting a computer from your USB flash drive may seem like a daunting task, but it is actually quite easy. With the right equipment and some basic knowledge, this very useful technique can be taken advantage of in all sorts of different circumstances.
The first thing you will need to do this is a compatible USB flash drive. Most drives are bootable but some are not, so it pays to ask before making a purchase or to do a bit of research online before picking your drive. This is not something the average salesperson will know nor do most companies make it clear on the packaging, so the internet is your best source here. Try to find a drive which has been used successfully in the past, like Corsair's Flash Voyager. The size of the drive is going to be an issue depending on your requirements. If you need to place an entire operating system on the drive, for example, you may need something a bit larger than what you have lying around.
The next step is to make sure that the motherboard which you are working with supports USB booting. To do this simply enter the BIOS (this can usually be done by press the Delete key while the computer is posting) and go into the menu selection titled something like, "Advanced Features". This process is a bit different for every BIOS so you may have to search a bit. Once here look for the boot devices, which will be placed in order: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and so on. Normally the computer will attempt to boot from the CD-ROM or a specific hard drive first, but you want to change this to the USB drive. The proper selection to do this varies depending on your BIOS version but it be USB RMD-FDD, USB ZIP, USD HDD, USB CD-ROM, or something close to these. Once these is chosen as the 1st boot device you can move your hard drive and/or optical drive down the line (so they will be used if a USB device is not present) or remove everything (so that the computer will only boot from USB). A little trial and error may be needed here to make sure you have chosen the right boot device.