Windows 8 will run from live USB stick

[Unique]

Not as much as I expect I have to say - I've a number of times (for a laugh) rebuilt a PC with all new shizzle and been amazed 7 coped. It's certainly better at it than older versions but yes, i'm not claiming it's infallible by any means.

It's also not a good idea - you keep all the crap you used to have etc - but can be great when you've just done a rebuild and CBA to do it over. If I'm planning to do this i'd generally uninstall every third party drive in add/remove just before I shutdown for the last time on the old hardware. If anything will stuff things up it's a third party driver that's a bit iffy. I'd still eventually reinstall but, I have to say, the last time I did this i got away with it and i'll be damned if I can find anything wrong with the thing.

Generally the biggest issue is drivers for boot disks - this usually trips stuff up - but often you find that the new kit has the same underlying controller (e.g. an intel raid controller) and if that doesn't work then letting the Windows disk boot and self repairing startup a few times often gets you in anyway. We can expect robustness to improve with 8 IMHO given the work that's going on in all areas to do with boot and now, Win To Go.

We've come a long way since the utter hell that was XP in that regard.

so that wouldn't work with xp, just win 7?

i'll have to try it when i'm bored. i've got enough computers lying around

[dangel]

so that wouldn't work with xp, just win 7?

i'll have to try it when i'm bored. i've got enough computers lying around

In *theory* it works with XP but there's a world of difference between the two - 7 has a different driver model (with user mode drivers) and concurrent driver installs and eight billion more drivers baked in to start with and a repair windows util on the DVD etc etc. In other words 7 is up to date, more robust by design and less of a pain in the arse. XP is the dribbling step-child in the corner beating his head against the wall thesedays (the one with 15 different infections and who's constantly on the phone to the Russian mafia with your bank account details).

[shaithis]

Well, for me the XP way was better for one reason:

You could always repair your install from the install disk.

When the Vista/7 way works, it is faster, sleeker and fairly seemless......but if it fails, it's virtually useless.

[dangel]

Well, for me the XP way was better for one reason:

You could always repair your install from the install disk.

When the Vista/7 way works, it is faster, sleeker and fairly seemless......but if it fails, it's virtually useless.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials...r-install.html

Which, I think, is more or less the same thing - and of course XP doesn't have system repair at all to fit boot issues etc. Note that MS are making this a whole lot easier in 8 too. Oh, and of course, XP wouldn't recognise your SATA controller, raid array, etc which meant feeding it a driver via.. a floppy disk(!) or integrating it with the installer (yay) because it wouldn't read the hard drive, a USB stick or a CDROM. Lovely.
Just let XP die. Please. Please. Please.