This guide will show you how to install and boot Windows XP from a bootable USB Flash drive. USB Flash drives are available in capacities ranging from 256MB to 8GB. But for booting Windows XP from a flash drive make sure you don’t use a drive more than 2GB since it would be FAT-16 formatted. USB 2.0 is recommended for a faster boot process. Also your motherboard BIOS should support booting from a USB drive.

Other requirements include:

- Windows XP SP2 CD
- HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool
- Bart’s Preinstalled Environment Bootable Live Windows CD / DVD (to customize the XP installation if needed)

1) Format the flash drive by using the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool (download SP27213.exe)

2) Once the drive has been formatted, you must make it bootable. To do so, you must copy the BOOT.INI, NTLDR, and NTDETECT from the root directory of your PC’s boot drive to the flash drive. These files are hidden by default, so you will either have to configure Windows Explorer to show hidden files (including protected operating system files)

3) Configure your PC to allow you to boot from the flash drive from the BIOS. Depending on this BIOS, it may be listed as USB ZIP or USB Floppy. Then, you need to change boot device priority and set USB at the top

4) Install Windows XP to the USB Flash drive after customizing it with BartPE, if needed.

Now you can carry Windows XP in your pocket!