# USB flash drive: bootable?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usb-flash-drive-bootable/216848>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 4, 2003, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usb-flash-drive-bootable/216848 "2003-12-04T02:36:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![aerodave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f08c70/32.png) [@aerodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aerodave)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usb-flash-drive-bootable/216848/1 "2003-12-04T02:36:55Z")

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I just got a new USB flash drive, a [PNY Attaché](http://www.pny.com/products/flash/attache.asp). It’s USB 2.0, and 128MB. I’m running Windows XP Pro.

Under the FAQs for the device, for the question that asks if the drive can be made bootable, it says this:

> [@](#):
>
> PNY’s Attache can be made bootable with Windows 98 Operating System only. Please visit the Microsoft support site for more information on how to make your USB drive bootable.

Why only Windows 98? And the Microsoft knowledge base doesn’t have anything that I could find with a logical keyword search. If you right click the drive in My Computer, and select “Format…”, the option for “Create MS-DOS Starup Disk” is unavailable, in contrast to the box being checkable for floppies. Chaning file system and volumelabel options doesn’t make the option available. Only “Quick Format” is checkable.

My BIOS supports USB bootable devices. I know that other brands of flash drive have utilities to make them bootable (tried them on the PNY, they don’t work). ANd PNY says the drive can be made bootable…so what’s the scoop?

What do I need to do? I can’t find instructions or software anywhere to help me. As I said before, PNY points me to Microsoft, and MS doesn’t seem to have the answer.

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**Author:** ![leenmi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f1d935/32.png) [@leenmi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leenmi)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usb-flash-drive-bootable/216848/2 "2003-12-04T02:58:03Z")

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This [link from pny](http://www.pny.com/support/faqs/readfaq.asp?mainid=323&row=6&urlRef=%2Fsupport%2Ffaqs%2Freadtopic%2Easp%3FmodelID%3D18) suggests that besides a BIOS that supports booting from a usb flash drive, the operating system’s driver must support it, as well.

PNY makes a driver for Windows 98, so they handled it. But the link suggests that the driver is provided with the operating system. My guess is that the driver doesn’t allow booting from the device.

Now, why the Win 98 driver allowed it, but the NT drivers don’t, I have no idea.

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**Author:** ![aerodave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f08c70/32.png) [@aerodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aerodave)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usb-flash-drive-bootable/216848/3 "2003-12-04T03:14:02Z")

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Well, the XP drivers are published by Microsoft. The only drivers you get from PNY are 98/98SE. So that may have something to do with why I can’t make it bootable in XP. The generic XP drivers apparently weren’t written with bootable USB drives in mind. That sucks. I need a way around that.

Unfortunately, there is no “format _drive:_ /s” in XP’s command prompt =[