Booting Windows XP from a USB drive

For those of you who are planning to run Windows XP on the Asus Eee PC 701, a quicker way to implement it is to turn the Asus into a dual-boot system that boots Windows XP from a USB (when attached) or Xandros when there is no attached USB drive.

However this assumes two things:
1. The Asus Eee PC 701 can boot from a USB drive.
2. Windows XP can boot from a USB drive.

As of now, we are not sure about the first, though there is no compelling reason why it won't be able to.

As for the second, despite Microsoft's insistence that Windows XP can't boot from a USB drive, there are several implementations already. One such implementation is Ngine Software, which provides a good step-by-step guide to creating your own bootable Windows XP USB drive.

There are also existing programs that pretty much automate the process. In fact nLite has been around for quite some time and has attracted quite a following, given how bloated Windows XP has become.