FlashBoot can create bootable USB drives. It takes advantage of the fact that modern machines support booting from USB devices. What this application really does is formatting the USB device to make it bootable and then copying the operating system installation files to it. Luckily, it supports multiple operating systems, including various versions of Windows and Linux.
The application has an intuitive wizard-like graphic interface. However, some advanced users will probably consider good news that the program can also be used from the command line. Therefore, you will be creating a bootable USB device in various steps with no trouble at all. You can convert a bootable disk into a bootable USB device by simply choosing the source disk reader. Likewise, creating a bootable device from a floppy disk or another USB device is also possible. Fortunately, you do not need to tell the program the type of source, as the program can automatically recognize if it is a CD, a DVD, a floppy disk or a USB device. Moreover, you can also import the installation files from an image file. The application also allows installing reduced versions of some operating systems that can start right from the USB drive. These systems include minimal DOS (FreeDOS), minimal SysLinux, and minimal GRUB4DOS. Likewise, you can also import system files from an external source. In addition, the program can perform other operations, like quick formatting and wiping a device.
To sum up, FlashBoot allows you to use USB drives as an alternative to other bootable media, such as DVDs, CDs and floppy disks. USB drives can have several advantages, like being handier, faster or bigger than other conventional media. In addition, the program lets install an operating system when a disk drive is not available. Finally, it permits accessing your PCs contents by using an operating system based on a USB drive when the default system cannot start properly.
v2.2 [Feb 26, 2013]
Apr, 2 of 2013 Minor update 2.2c released.
Installation of Windows 8 to USB thumbdrive: This version fixes problems with non-functional Windows Update and inability to create System Restore Points.
Feb, 28 of 2013 Minor update 2.2b released.
FlashBoot now supports conversion of Windows Vista/7/8 installation DVD to USB thumbdrive with NTFS filesystem. This feature is useful for customized DVDs with 4Gb \sources\install.wim file.
Volume labels with whitespaces no more cause 'invalid parameter' error for NTFS formatting.
Feb, 27 of 2013 Minor update 2.2a released.
FlashBoot now turns off swap file (in registry settings) when installing Windows 8 to USB.
Feb, 26 of 2013 New version 2.2 released.
FlashBoot now supports installation of fully-functional Windows 8 to USB (so you can carry your OS, your apps, your documents, your browser in the pocket, run it in public library, in internet-cafe, work-from-home etc).
Full version of FlashBoot now can upgrade USB thumbdrive or USB HDD formatted in the demo version (no full reformatting required anymore).
GUI version of FlashBoot now can dump non-VFAT USB thumdrives to image files in RAW mode.
Abandoned version of NT password editor (taken from old version of EBCD) was excluded from FlashBoot to reduce size of downloadable file.
Retail price was permanently decreased by 10 EUR.
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