Going for Solid State memory options

Emo · 11-24-2006, 08:10 AM

OK.. I'm sick and tired of my hdd problems.. just few days ago as i was driving along my pc just freezes and goes into a BSoD... fine.. i restarted and now every time it gets to the Windows Boot screen, the hdd clicks and restarts and starts another endless loop..

this is my 3rd time a HDD has been a major problem in my system so I'm looking for other ways to go with..

I see Compact flash are very popular and another way I was thinking is USB memory sticks.. (will those even work?) I just got the new Windows XP USB version so I don't know if that's for the USB drives or not.. the installation is about 150MB

anyway.. would you all care to tell me if I should go with a IDE to CF converter and a CF card... or try this USB way? I really don't wanna mess around trying to get another HDD in there and having the same problems 3 weeks down the road

Thanks
Emo

SFiorito · 11-24-2006, 08:23 AM

Both will work....I don't know what this "XP USB version" is. You can make XP boot from USB, but you need the right hardware. Search the forums for more posts by me about what's necessary. CF is probably the easier, safer way. You need to get a good CF card, specifically a SanDisk card. For compatibility reasons you should stick to UltraII or ExtremeI cards. I'd go for a 2GB card minimum since they're pretty cheap these days.

See my installation instructions here: http://osf1.gmu.edu/~sfiorito/eXPinstall.htm

Emo · 11-24-2006, 08:34 AM

Thanks for the reply..

By XP USB version, in the description it said:
Windows XP Live USB stick Edition
This is a miniature version of Win XP, just like a Linux LiveCD.
Just enough to get your up and running so you can restore from backup, access your files, or do whatever you have to do.

So I dont think this is a regular version, just for troubleshooting

anyway, yeah a CF seems more easier and safer way to go like you said... my friend works at SanDisk so he might be able to hook me up on a nice deal for one of their CF cards...

thanks a lot for the info

SFiorito · 11-24-2006, 11:27 AM

ask your friend about making the ExtremeIII and/or ExtremeIV cards "fixed" under XP! SanDisk released a utility to make UltraII and ExtremeI cards "fixed", but said they wouldn't support that for future cards. unfortunately, this means certain functions aren't supported when using those "removable" cards when running XP on them (most importantly ACPI stand by and hibernate).

kwchan · 12-03-2006, 01:33 AM

Any idea which are the motherboards that can boot from CF?

I read in one of the review that those VIA EPIA MII boards cannot boot from the CF slot because it is connect to the PCI slot, not the IDE slot.

On the other hand, Jetway board confirm can boot from CF but these board are hard to find.