# Boot Off Flash Drive



## #1 Rhapsody (Apr 14, 2009)

How reliable is booting off a flash drive?  I have a Kingston 4GB that I want to boot off.  Could I boot off of it regularly?  I am installing Tiger on it now.

Thanks


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## nixgeek (Apr 14, 2009)

Not sure how well OS X manages with writes to the flash drive, but most USB flash drives are not meant to last on constant writes to the flash memory.  SSD drives last a little longer in this regard, but they also succumb to the write limits of flash technology.


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## ora (Apr 14, 2009)

Also some don;t seem to perform at anything like full USB2 speed. I'd go for a cheap USB-powered 2.5" external HD instead.


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## Giaguara (Apr 14, 2009)

Intel based Macs can boot from USB devices - so in theory, an Intel based Mac could boot from a flash drive too. And PPC based ones from a firewire one.


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## ElDiabloConCaca (Apr 14, 2009)

Yep, make sure your computer supports booting from USB first... like Giaguara said, Intel-based Macintosh computers (MacBook, MacBook Pro, Mac Pro, aluminum and some white iMacs, etc.) can boot from USB, but not firewire.  PowerPC-based Macintosh computers (G3, G4, G5, etc.) can boot from firewire, but not USB.


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## fryke (Apr 14, 2009)

intel computers boot from FireWire just fine.


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## #1 Rhapsody (Apr 15, 2009)

I know it is bootable, but is it reliable.  Will the flash stop working after X amount of boots (where X is a number 25 or lower)?


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## ElDiabloConCaca (Apr 15, 2009)

#1 Rhapsody said:


> I know it is bootable, but is it reliable.  Will the flash stop working after X amount of boots...


Yes, eventually, the flash drive will fail.  All hardware will fail given enough load and enough time.


> ...(where X is a number 25 or lower)?


No, you'll be good for much more than 25 boots.

Of course, this depends on the quality of the flash drive, too.  Some are manufactured better than others, some use higher quality memory in them, etc.  If you paid less than $20 USD for the flash drive, it's probably not the highest quality flash drive available and may (or may not) have a shorter life span than a more expensive (or, rather, higher quality) flash drive.


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