Tech Tips and Tricks

I really love some of the awesome tips and tricks from Scott Dunn of Windows Secret. Here is another trick from him on how to Carry an entire operating system in your pocket.

Let me summarize and shorten the points for you;

Running applications from a USB flash drive on a public computer is convenient but exposes you to malware and other limitations of the host PC. By installing a Windows-like version of Linux on a flash drive, you can take a complete operating system wherever you go and work in a safe, secure environment, even in an Internet cafe.

A simple and powerful solution is to install one of the many versions of Linux that are specifically designed to run from a bootable flash drive or CD.

Let’s consider the advantages of carrying a portable Linux system in your pocket:

• Reduced risk from infected host systems. Booting a computer from a flash drive means you have no interaction whatsoever with the host computer’s operating system. For that reason, your removable media is far less likely to be infected by any virus or other malware that may be running on an Internet cafe’s.
• Greater security. In part because there are fewer people trying to writing malware for it, Linux is considered a more secure operating system than Windows. Consequently, your removable drive is unlikely to face the same kinds of threats that you face when using a public machine running Windows.
• Document privacy. Running a system off your own flash drive usually means you don’t need to write to or read from the host system’s hard drives. You won’t have to extract encrypted files onto the system’s desktop or shred them afterwards.
• Computing your way. By running your own customize copy of an operating system, you don’t have to put up with a different system configuration every time you use a different computer. All your customizations and settings go with you wherever you go.

This is the easy way to Linux, so Relax!

Despite its geeky reputation, today’s versions of Linux sport a graphical user interface that’s just as intuitive as the Windows you’re used to. In many cases, Linux can be customized to look even more like Windows.

1. You’ll Need

• A 1GB or larger USB flash drive.
• A computer capable of booting from a USB device or CD.

2. Download

Download a version of Linux suited for flash-drive computing — Knoppix, Slax, Puppy Linux, Pendrivelinux 2008, MCNLive Toronto or gOS.

3. Finally, a full OS in your Pocket!

Pendrivelinux have detailed instruction on the installation for Knoppix, Pendrivelinux 2008, MCNLive Toronto, and gOS. Follow the installation steps carefully, for your choice of OS. Make sure that the batch files are executed properly, else a wrong way could damage your ability to boot from your PC’s hard disk. Once Installation’s Done and you have your flash drive set to boot up Linux, turn off your PC, insert the flash drive, and turn the power back on.

Press the appropriate key (F8, F9, F12 or check your boot screen carefully) to display the boot menu. As explained in the installation instruction of your particular OS, there will be few additional steps to take, which will ensure that your session settings are saved. Give your new Flash-Drive-OS system a test run and verify that your configuration works. The installed OS comes built-in with many common softwares that you might not need any additional applications.

Note: One should remember that using Linux on a remote computer, you’ll need to boot from your flash drive on your main computer when you get home to transfer files. That’s because Windows can’t see the folders on your Linux desktop or its file structure. Linux, on the other hand, will have no problem mounting your computer’s hard drives. This enables you to copy files from your flash drive to a hard disk.