Motherboards and USB?

MrCoo · Feb 11, 2008, 12:13 PM

Hello All,

I was wondering if anyone knew how to boot from a USB, if your Motherboard does not support it? I have a Asus A7M266-D Motherboard, any help?

-Thanks in Advance

**Grace** · Feb 11, 2008, 02:03 PM

If the motherboard doesn't support booting from a USB device through the BIOS, you simply cannot do that I'm afraid.

BlueMak · Feb 11, 2008, 02:10 PM

I checked the manual for the motherboard and the only thing even remote to booting from USB was for the use of USB Floppy/Zip drives. Which I find weird cause the board is not THAT old to not support usb stick.

I read the manual and at one point it says if you have Windows 2000 you must not have connected more than 2 USB devices while booting up the system. In case you do use Windows 2000...

Have you tried using the BIOS option of booting from USB floppy and/or Zip and plugging in a USB stick?

MrCoo · Feb 11, 2008, 04:23 PM

In my BIOS, they (USB Floppy/Zip drives) are not in any of the lists at all...

Would you suggest updating the BIOS?
I'm kinda scared to do that, I've heard you can seriously screw up your comptuer if you mess up...should I, or is there an alternative.
I think I've heard of a floppy you get get (downloadable) that lets you boot from a floppy.
If that is the case i need to find my floppy drive.

BlueMak · Feb 11, 2008, 05:15 PM

The site had 2 different revisions of the specific motherboard. I only checked one of them, so PERHAPS if the other one doesn't have this option, you will be out of luck.
I can't advice you to update your BIOS. I hate doing it and I can't tell you to do it either. Don't know if it will even help you with that.
Read your manual page to page to see if you have missed it.
Also check the support section of the ASUS site for your motherboard.

MrCoo · Feb 13, 2008, 10:13 PM

You know, I was thinking. I'm going to hold off on USB booting. It just isn't popular enough. I'm going to wait till it's more widely supported.
Plus, one thing I heard was that the USB connector (USB Thumb drives in particular) has only 10,000 writes to it. The reason being because of something to do with the way information (electricity) flows through the connector. Booting from a USB, if I am correct, must really use up your writes wouldn't it?

P.S.- Thanks for your help guys anyway.

MrCoo · Feb 13, 2008, 10:15 PM

Plus, CD's are more widely used. So it would be easier, for example to save your files on a USB thumb drive and be able to work on them on almost any computer (using Linux for example) being that CD Booting is extremely popular.

BlueMak · Feb 14, 2008, 04:02 AM

I don't know about the limit, I have heard something similar about the duration, but not the limit for actual writes on it.

Btw, usb booting is quite popular and all the mainboards support it now and for at least a couple of years, you just happen to have an old motherboard, not that they are not supported widely by the motherboards.

CD booting is fine too.

**dj_stick** · Feb 14, 2008, 04:51 AM

the write limit is for the flash memory itself, as for the USB port - i doubt there'd be such a limit

MrCoo · Feb 14, 2008, 07:29 PM

Probably it's the memory not the connector, makes more sense, I'm usually around old computers, except for a couple so in my case it isn't so popular. But even with some of the new ones I've heard on the internet some BIOS still don't support USB booting. I think Dell supports it the best if I remember correctly.