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USB ' flash' drive usage.

dabow
Rising Star
Posts: 111
Thanks: 10
Registered: ‎31-07-2007

USB ' flash' drive usage.

I am new to using USB memory sticks.
I can copy/back up basic files i.e. photos etc. but cannot see how to copy /save a complete program like, e.g. an antivirus or firewall program to the stick.
Is it also possible to download programs off the internet directly to the USB stick ?
Any guidance for this novice would be appreciated !
9 REPLIES 9
pierre_pierre
Grafter
Posts: 19,757
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Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: USB ' flash' drive usage.

What operating system are you using?
I have a stick that I use for travelling that has a complete system on it,  then I can plug that into say my sister machine and not interfere with her progs
dabow
Rising Star
Posts: 111
Thanks: 10
Registered: ‎31-07-2007

Re: USB ' flash' drive usage.

I am using Windows XP with SP3 and have recently aquired a couple of Sony 4Gb sticks for general back up and storage use.
pierre_pierre
Grafter
Posts: 19,757
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Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: USB ' flash' drive usage.

just use Win Explorer, drag and drop from one location to you stick, it will copy and not move doing that.  You can specify where you want to place files downloaded from web, when you are in explorer you stick might be any drive from D upwards. but you should not need to know that, just browse for location when you are downloading
Santiago
Grafter
Posts: 3,291
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Registered: ‎10-08-2007

Re: USB ' flash' drive usage.

If you would like to run applications on your usb drive you might find this site useful http://portableapps.com/
I have Thunderbird and Firefox portable on my USB drive.
dabow
Rising Star
Posts: 111
Thanks: 10
Registered: ‎31-07-2007

Re: USB ' flash' drive usage.

Thanks ' pierre_pierre' and 'satiago' for all the information.
I will explore all the options, when time permits,to see how it works.
Thanks again for the replies. Smiley
Santiago
Grafter
Posts: 3,291
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Registered: ‎10-08-2007

Re: USB ' flash' drive usage.

You're welcome
If you need more help give us a shout Smiley
7up
Community Veteran
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Registered: ‎01-08-2007

Re: USB ' flash' drive usage.

You can't really store an anti-virus or firewall program on a USB drive and just 'run' them on any computer you plug into. Sure, you can put the SETUP programs on there and install from the USB drive but you can't directly run the actual programs from there. AV is supposed to be installed directly on the main computer and so is a firewall. They are not portable applications.
What you can do is install a virtual OS on there with player software. I'm sure it'll be a while to boot it via USB but even then you still won't be able to use the programs inside the VM on the main PC system or hard drive.
You can use things like web browsers and email clients etc on a USB stick but they are not critical system programs that depend on the local computers registry.
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gswindale
Grafter
Posts: 942
Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: USB ' flash' drive usage.

Firewall I can understand, but I cannot see any reason why it would not be possible to install an anti virus program onto a flash drive.  They used to fit onto 3.5" floppy disks after all.  Maybe not for "real time" protection, but for a recovery toolkit drive, it would be great - have a main PC where you d/l the updates from and away you go.
7up
Community Veteran
Posts: 15,824
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Registered: ‎01-08-2007

Re: USB ' flash' drive usage.

Some AVs will allow you to install rescue files to floppy so I would expect this to work on a thumb drive but you won't get live protection.
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