How to Boot MSWindows Dev Environment from 4GB SD card?

[heintze]

I just purchased a 4GB SD card from TigerDirect.com only to discover that it would not work with my new USB 2.0 adapter in my PC.

After phone calling the manufacturer, I discovered that I had a 4GB SDHC which is a fundementally different format that a normal 2GB SD. The "HC" stands for "high capacity" and won't work in devices only designed for normal SDs. So I sent the SDHC card back to TigerDirect. Hopefully they will refund my money soon.

Here are my questions:

(1) What can a software developer like me fit in 4GB? I assume all of Windows xp 2003 server would fit. How about eclipse and java and emacs and perl and python and httpd and Microsoft Office and Visual Studio 2005 and ruby and much of cygwin (probably not)?

(2) What memory hardware do you recommend? The only reason I bought a SD card instead of a flash stick is that the 4GB SD card had a hefty rebate on it. Do 4GB flash sticks exist? Do you recommend them over SD cards?

(3) Where can I get a USB adapter that can read 4GB at a time? Perhaps you can post a URL?

(4) Can someone point me to a good URL that explains how to install the OS and development environment on a SD card or flash stick?

Thanks,
Siegfried

 

[ArizonaGeek]

I'll warn ya now about rebates from Tigerdirect, don't plan on them. They still owe me about $150 from a few things I've bought and I doubt I'll ever see them. They make it about impossible to get one.

On that note you can get a memory stick as big as 64 gigs (if you are willing to pay the $2800 for it) but you can buy 4gb and 8gb sticks for a reasonable price ($150 to $200) and Windows/Linux would install on them if you have a PC that can boot from/to a USB device. Most newer motherboards will do it.

I found this link that explains how to install Windows XP on a key, I am sure an 8 gig key would work for 2003 if you weren't going to install a bunch of programs. You can google for more links. Good luck!

Cheers
Rob

 

[ArizonaGeek]

Oh, BTW, check Newegg.com and PCConnection.com for 8 gig and higher keys. They both also sell 16 gig keys for around $300-$350 so if you wanted to go bigger you can. It just depends on how much you want to pay.

Cheers
Rob

 

[Drewsoftware]

One question you asked is "what can a software developer fit on a 4 gig?"

Dunno about a 4 gig... but I was able to fit all of my portable development tools on a 2 gig with room to spare. All the things I used to carry around on a CD I now have on an SD card.

The thing I probably use it for the most is transferring info between my 2 desktops and my laptop. While hooking up an ethernet cable is just as easy, or plugging into WiFi, I invariable don't have my laptop on when I'm on the desktop and vice versa. So I just transfer info to the SD, take it with me, and plug it into the laptop when I reach my destination. Far easier than using a CDRW.


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[LawnBoy]

I'm holding a 40GB usb portable drive that's no bigger than a pack of cigarettes... Any reason why it has to be a stick?

 

[MonkeyX]

One thing to keep in mind with an embeded system like this (if I am understanding your questioning) is the swapspace/pagefile there is a lot of read/write cycles involved those. Flash memory is only rated at so many write cycles before going bad. Linux has provisions in the kernel and through external modules for working around this (it scatters the information around to prevent certain memory locations be reused excesively). Does it have to be win 2k3? WinCE/Mobile may be better suited for that. Not sure as I have really only ever worked with Linux in embeded systems.

If it is just the Dev softare you are looking for just make sure EVERYTHING is installed on the usb/flash device including all .dll and header/include/etc. files.

good luck
Monkey