Windows – Installing Windows on an SD Card

installationsd cardwindows

Assuming you have a built-in slot, is it feasible to install Windows 7 (Vista, or XP for that matter) onto a 32gig SD card? By install, I mean house your windows folder and any OS required folders and files on the card. Program Files and User directories could go elsewhere.

If so, what specs do you need to consider for the card and would their be any major drawbacks?

Update

For the sake of argument, my target machine would likely be a Dell Inspiron 1720 which has a built-in SD slot. The A9 BIOS revision can boot from that slot, USB or the ExpressCard bus.

Best Answer

It's definitely doable, but there are two concerns that you'll need to address if you want to boot and use Windows 7 off of an SD card regularly.

  • Transfer speeds; a run-of-the-mill SD card is going to have mediocre read/write performance. I'd try to invest in a faster model. Any of the ones designed for SLR cameras (like SanDisk's Extreme line) should provide a boost, but I wouldn't expect hard drive or SSD-like performance out of a memory card.
  • Flash memory cells eventually 'burn out' and stop working. If you have your Windows swap file on the SD card, it will likely wear out faster than it would on a hard drive or SSD. Dan's Data says it's not as big of a concern as it used to be though!

Let us know how it goes!

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