PC Magazine has an interesting article on making a bootable USB key using BartPE. There are obvious benefits for having a Windows liveCD or rescue disk, but if you are hooked onto your USB drive then you’ll know the value of having everything you need on one little portable drive rather than a bunch of CDs: USB drives are readily rewritable and small. Most new computers can boot from USB drives, but you should make sure to check your hardware. I am hoping for a portable VMware Player to solve these kinds of needs, but until then a bootable BartPE USB key is cool. B.t.w. Flashboot costs around $27, so use this solution if you want it free.

Looking at my Google Analytics reports I noticed that a lot of people are finding my site by searching for terms like “WinXP virtual appliance” and “windows live CD”. My guess is that they’re hoping to find a free download. Well, they are available – but, they’re not legal. Besides not being legal you shouldn’t trust them because it can’t be from a trusted source and who knows what’s installed on there. If it was a trusted source – like a friend – then it’s an illegal copy but hey at least you trust it

However, you can create your own VMware Windows virtual appliance or live CD if you had a windows installation CD. You really need a fresh Windows installation CD (with an unused license) to create a legal Windows VMware virtual appliance. However, you can legally create a Windows live CD from your original Windows installation CD using BartPE. But wait, you can run a live CD virtual appliance so then you do have a way to get a free WinXP virtual appliance! (more…)

Live CDs have become quite popular, but I’ve always argued that it’s easier and more convenient to run virtual machines inside a host OS because it gives you the Internet and file access that you typically need when experimenting with something new. Never mind the hassle to actually burn live CDs. However, there are many more live CDs available than there are VMware virtual appliances. Here’s a neat little script that will enable you to launch a live CD, as an ISO image, inside VMware Player. Here’s what you need to do: (more…)