India Broadband Forum

Outlander

I want to install the OS onto the pen drive so that I can carry it around, and boot the computer from it, and this should effectively kill keyloggers, as I won't be running the OS from the computer's hard disk which might be infected (in a cyber cafe for example).

At present, I don't have any pen drive. What I'd like to know is what all stuff you have to look for when you are buying a pen drive. Is there a limited number of times you can read / write to a pen drive?

Second, if there is malware in a computer, and you do not boot from the pen drive but just connect it to an already running computer, will the pen drive immediately get infected or is there some sort of protection so that nothing can be written to the pen drive without permission?

And there are external hard disks available these days; anyone on the forum has any? What do they cost and would they be a better option given the need to install an OS? I just want to install the OS and antivirus, and check mails, that's all - not download stuff and all.

Thanks.

newprouser

1. Booting from pendrive :

Installing and booting OS from pen drive is OK for ocassional system recovery or emergency but not for use in cyber cafe coz( assuming u hav linux/ Windows PE)

Becoz n/w settings have to configured everytime u run the os and it may differ from one shop to another.

Usually owners will not agree to this coz they have softwares which enforce time restrictions.


IF you run Win PE as your OS u can have traditonal antivirus s/w or other portable av's.

If you run linux from pen drive you don't have any issues with viruses.

2. Choosing a pendrive :

You are looking for a pen drive which has good read/ write speed. Another important factor is the durablity of the casing which determines how carefullt you have to handle it.

Yes, all kinds of flash memory have limited read/write cycles but the life of pen drives can be over 5 yrs based on moderate usage.

Either install linux or look for a pen drive which has write protect latch (costly & rare).

3. External disk ?

For your purpose a pend drive will do..

Outlander

Thanks. By the way, suppose you don't boot from the pen drive, but go to a cyber cafe and plug it in and open a portable browser from the pen drive, and that browser has your username and password saved in itself, then no keyloggers on the cyber cafe computer would detect anything, isn't it?

newprouser

Ya thats true...

amitkool21

be sure to buy an original Pen Drive with the bill bcoz my brother got a PD of 32 GB without a bill and it have no serial no. and nothing on it.....and now he cant claim for it........so plz by a geniune one.....my preference is of Kingeston.....

Harshytkage

Go for high read and write speeds...u are booting an os from it...i recommend the ducati series from transcemd..crazy transfer speeds too!

newprouser

Mine too. But as far as I know most of them have slower transfer rates, but good durablity. And the ones by transcend are exact opposite

ag_prasun

generally pds with 8gb or more have good speeds (above 20mBps).
there are also verisons of xp and vista that can be carried on a pd.

ShAdOwCoN

Yes if you connect to a computer with malware in it , it ll be transferred to your pen drive . Pen Drives are notorious at spreading malwares .

Make a habit of scanning your pen drive with an anti-virus right after u plug it in ........

Yeah i use an External HDD ...But for your needs i feel a pen drive will serve your purpose .... Pen drives are more economical in the sense that You can get [standard] pen drives for as low as Rs500 or lesser [4GB] ....You can never get any hard drives for that cost .

I recommend

Transcend
Kingston
as far as flash memories are considered they are the leaders of the pack

ag_prasun

cumon guys!! 8gb kingston's available for 450!!!
160gb external wd hd for 2700.

ShAdOwCoN

o_O where in the devil do you get it for that dirt cheap of a price...i mean shop ?

ag_prasun

you wont believe how prices of pds fall.when i bought my first 2gb pd,it cost me 700!! now for 700 u could get 16gig pd.

ShAdOwCoN

DID u buy it from Nehru Palace ??

ag_prasun

sorry!
i meant 250gb.160 gb is around 2100.

ha from np.
even dc in janakpuri and wazirpur have such wolesale markets.wazirpur is the best after np.

amitkool21

u r talkin bout the DC in janakpuri near the uttam nagar metro station........i never heard bout any wholesale market at this place........nd no idea for wazirpur

ag_prasun

i have never seen anything there either.i have heard that computer accessories are pretty cheap there.

ag_prasun

wazirpur is also pretty much lyk np.lots of shops.so naturally more competition and lower prices.

ag_prasun

if u have seen np,you wont like wazirpur.np is like the heaven for every computer-junkie!!

amitkool21

ya i also think so but whats the big deal just to check over there.........

hello now dear lets stop our discussion here coz we r going too much offtopic............we'll talk bout it on some other time on our messengers.........

ag_prasun

yeah u r ryt!
pm me where u r from in delhi.