Known "Good USB Sticks" for USB OS installs?

MichaelD

Lifer
Jan 16, 2001
31,528
3
76
Anyone who has tried to install an operating system from a USB stick knows that not all USB sticks are created equal. Some work great for transporting files from one place to another, but will fail or give errors when trying to install an OS from them.

Are there "Known good USB sticks" that are just better than others/higher quality for OS installs? I used to think "flash memory is flash memory" but now I'm not so sure. Thanks.
 

lehtv

Elite Member
Dec 8, 2010
11,897
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91
All I have to say is that I would have USB 3.0 as the first requirement. I installed Win 8 on a USB 2.0 stick recently, it is painfully slow to install (several hours) and using it is a bit hiccupy.
 

pauldun170

Diamond Member
Sep 26, 2011
9,142
5,089
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Anyone who has tried to install an operating system from a USB stick knows that not all USB sticks are created equal. Some work great for transporting files from one place to another, but will fail or give errors when trying to install an OS from them.

Are there "Known good USB sticks" that are just better than others/higher quality for OS installs? I used to think "flash memory is flash memory" but now I'm not so sure. Thanks.

Having just gone through similar lists for MicroSD cards (CM10 on a Nook Color) and finding some interesting data on various cards\classes out there I'm going to keep an eye on this thread.
 

Remobz

Platinum Member
Jun 9, 2005
2,564
37
91
Anyone who has tried to install an operating system from a USB stick knows that not all USB sticks are created equal. Some work great for transporting files from one place to another, but will fail or give errors when trying to install an OS from them.

Are there "Known good USB sticks" that are just better than others/higher quality for OS installs? I used to think "flash memory is flash memory" but now I'm not so sure. Thanks.

Just curious as to what benefit you would find by installing an OS to a USB flash stick?


Oh and check this link out for the fastest USB 3.0 sticks on the market. Once you settle on a few contenders then you can do some research as to how reliable they are to suit your needs.

http://www.whoratesit.com/Best-Flash-Drive/Comparison/1
 

fuzzymath10

Senior member
Feb 17, 2010
520
2
81
I think the OP is looking to install from a usb drive rather than install to one. I haven't had any trouble with the regular Kingston data travelers for Windows 7. For installing to a usb drive many have bad random write speed which makes them a no go.
 

MichaelD

Lifer
Jan 16, 2001
31,528
3
76
Benefits to installing OS from a USB stick:

1. Don't need to have a CD Rom drive (some laptops and all netbooks don't have one)
2. Don't need to have CDs/DVDs on hand or waste one
3. Install is considerably faster...IME, about 1/3rd the time vs. installing from a disc. Installing from a USB stick to a SSD is just stupidly fast. :biggrin:

*edit*

And yes; I mean installing an operating system FROM a USB stick ONTO a hard drive/SSD. Not "running the OS" from the USB stick.
 
Last edited:
Feb 25, 2011
16,905
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I wouldn't want to run off of a USB stick - even a relatively premium USB drive will be much slower than even an HD.

But I only use USB drives for OS installs. Even a cheap-o one is faster than a DVD, and they don't much care if they get scratched.
 

Torn Mind

Lifer
Nov 25, 2012
11,897
2,716
136
My "free from a promotion" Micro Center sticks installs Windows 7 32-bit no problem.
 

piasabird

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
17,168
60
91
Maybe jsut purchase a Portable DVD Drive. So do you just create an image or are all the install files copied to the hard drive?
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,552
10,171
126
Now, now, vailr, the proper way to post that would have been to create a thread in Hot Deals (if there isn't one already), and link directly to the deal at Newegg, and then link that thread in this thread. Lazy much?

(Didn't SD used to be a banned site on this forum before anyways?)
 

SpeedDemon3

Junior Member
Feb 3, 2013
7
0
0
The main thing you "should" need is decent read speed, primarily sequential but that would depend on the exact install. As far as I can tell, for windows, lots of large archive files are first copied onto the fixed drive and then subsequently expanded and used for the install. Write speed should not factor into the equation at all because the install packages are designed to be run from CD's which are read only.

So thats the theory ...

A few weeks ago I tried to install Win8 onto my revo L80 from both a Sandisk Extreme and a Jumpdrive triton but both installs failed because the motherboard/Bios didn't recognise the drives correctly! I ended up using my old Datatraveler G2 which worked just fine and only took about 30 mins to do the install. (once windows was installed, the L80 had no issues with either of the two flash drives)

The G2 is rated at 120MB/s sequential read and ~8MB/s 4K random read:
http://www.whoratesit.com/Kingston-DataTraveler-Ultimate-USB-30-16GB/Rating/1271

Assuming compatibility I would go for the Sandisk Extreme which won the previously linked comparison hands down.
http://www.whoratesit.com/SanDisk-Extreme-USB-30-16GB/Rating/1301
 

mfenn

Elite Member
Jan 17, 2010
22,400
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www.mfenn.com
I wouldn't use a USB 3.0 stick to install the OS because most OS pre-install environments (except for very new Linux kernels) don't have USB 3.0 chipset support. You could of course plug the USB 3.0 stick into a USB 2.0 port and it'd work, but what's the point?
 

SpeedDemon3

Junior Member
Feb 3, 2013
7
0
0
I wouldn't use a USB 3.0 stick to install the OS because most OS pre-install environments (except for very new Linux kernels) don't have USB 3.0 chipset support. You could of course plug the USB 3.0 stick into a USB 2.0 port and it'd work, but what's the point?

USB 3.0 is fully backwards compatible, so if you are going to go out and purchase a new USB stick for whatever reason, you would do well to make sure it's USB 3.0.
 

lehtv

Elite Member
Dec 8, 2010
11,897
74
91
USB 3.0 is fully backwards compatible, so if you are going to go out and purchase a new USB stick for whatever reason, you would do well to make sure it's USB 3.0.

Indeed. If you only use it to install but not run Windows, you can install it once, then repurpose it for other uses. If you need to install Windows again, you've already got the image and whatever else you need ready, it's a few minute job to make it bootable
 

MichaelD

Lifer
Jan 16, 2001
31,528
3
76
I bought a couple of the AData sticks linked to above. I got a kick out of a "Hot Deals" post in the GH forum and appreciate the linkage. I don't have any USB 3.0 devices, but since 2 of my 3 systems have USB 3.0-equipped motherboards, I figured "it's time."

Lively discussion here and it's all interesting. Please continue. :D
 

KentState

Diamond Member
Oct 19, 2001
8,397
393
126
All I have to say is that I would have USB 3.0 as the first requirement. I installed Win 8 on a USB 2.0 stick recently, it is painfully slow to install (several hours) and using it is a bit hiccupy.

That is not the fault of a USB 2.0 stick. I have the same Patriot Xporter since 2008 and it only takes a few minutes to get the install files onto the computer for it to expand. All in all, Win7 and 8 take around 15 minutes.
 

lehtv

Elite Member
Dec 8, 2010
11,897
74
91
What do you mean to get the install files onto the computer? I installed the OS onto the USB stick, not from it.
 

mfenn

Elite Member
Jan 17, 2010
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USB 3.0 is fully backwards compatible, so if you are going to go out and purchase a new USB stick for whatever reason, you would do well to make sure it's USB 3.0.

Cheap USB 3.0 flash drives that are comparable in price to USB 2.0 drives don't have enough flash or smart enough controllers to actually benefit from USB 3.0.
 

akugami

Diamond Member
Feb 14, 2005
5,986
2,307
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I wouldn't use a USB 3.0 stick to install the OS because most OS pre-install environments (except for very new Linux kernels) don't have USB 3.0 chipset support. You could of course plug the USB 3.0 stick into a USB 2.0 port and it'd work, but what's the point?

For part of my work, I occasionally back up and re-image drives. Copying to and from a USB 3.0 stick and USB 2.0 stick is just a huge difference even on a USB 2.0 port. That's assuming you don't get the crappiest USB 3.0 stick you can find of course. It's about 30% to 40% faster using my ADATA USB 3.0 stick vs a Corsair Survivor USB 2.0 stick when backing up a HD.