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**TheShadow** · 08-21-2008

Quote: Originally Posted by bassfisher6522

I have this 2.0 gb thumb drive that was given to me. How can I tell if it's bootable or not. It does not have a brand name on it.

Fresh out of the box, so to speak, NO Flash Drive is bootable. It does NOT contain a boot sector or the System Files for an OS.

But like any other media, since the floppy disk, you can make it bootable if you like.
I even have a 64meg Flash Memory Card, like's used in my Kodak camera, that I've made bootable.

EDIT:
But the question comes up, "Boot to what?"
You must provide the source for the boot information. A DOS boot disk is the preferable source. If you've never had a DOS boot disk and/or you don't have a floppy drive, either internal or USB, then you may have (DO HAVE) a problem.
Once you start 'coloring outside the lines', not having a floppy drive and knowing how to use floppy disks, puts you at a serious disadvantage.

I've suggested to many a user that they buy themselves a USB External Floppy Disk Drive. They sell for somewhere in the $19 to $29 range and are indispensable for the PC tech, enthusiast, nerd, geek or weekend putzer. There are just SO many things that you absolutely CAN-NOT do without a floppy disk drive.

There is a neat little Utility from HP that makes any Flash Drive bootable.
But, it asks you for a source for the boot sector.

I just use one of my bootable floppy disks for that boot info.
You can also use a DOS bootable CD.

Check it out. Just Google for, "HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool"
and you'll have a choice of several sites where you can download the file.

Good Luck,
The Shadow

08-21-2008	#3 (permalink)
TheShadow XP-Pro-SP3-32bit, Vista Ultimate-64bit 109 posts	Re: bootable thumb drive Quote: Originally Posted by bassfisher6522 I have this 2.0 gb thumb drive that was given to me. How can I tell if it's bootable or not. It does not have a brand name on it. Fresh out of the box, so to speak, NO Flash Drive is bootable. It does NOT contain a boot sector or the System Files for an OS. But like any other media, since the floppy disk, you can make it bootable if you like. I even have a 64meg Flash Memory Card, like's used in my Kodak camera, that I've made bootable. EDIT: But the question comes up, "Boot to what?" You must provide the source for the boot information. A DOS boot disk is the preferable source. If you've never had a DOS boot disk and/or you don't have a floppy drive, either internal or USB, then you may have (DO HAVE) a problem. Once you start 'coloring outside the lines', not having a floppy drive and knowing how to use floppy disks, puts you at a serious disadvantage. I've suggested to many a user that they buy themselves a USB External Floppy Disk Drive. They sell for somewhere in the $19 to $29 range and are indispensable for the PC tech, enthusiast, nerd, geek or weekend putzer. There are just SO many things that you absolutely CAN-NOT do without a floppy disk drive. There is a neat little Utility from HP that makes any Flash Drive bootable. But, it asks you for a source for the boot sector. I just use one of my bootable floppy disks for that boot info. You can also use a DOS bootable CD. Check it out. Just Google for, "HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool" and you'll have a choice of several sites where you can download the file. Good Luck, The Shadow Last edited by TheShadow; 08-21-2008 at 09:06 AM..
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