I am terribly sorry, GravitySphere, but you misunderstand.

Microsoft sells their Operating Systems to be legally installed on 1 computer. A USB stick is not a computer, therefore not acceptable for an installation.

Please refer back to the Microsoft EULA referenced by Wolfeymole.

Legalities aside, you're still going to run into driver issues when switching between computers with different brands of hardware and/or form factors.

True, but maybe there would be a way to by pass that. I know you guys have some good skills, and maybe I could get help on fixing that issue, and make it possible. I know I sound might sound a bit too excited, but I am dead serious.

I believe a hard drive placed inside a computer is not a computer either, so that means every computer in the world is illegally running a copy of Windows. Also, if you are quoting the EULA properly, you are saying "installed" on one computer. To talk non sarcastically with you, this process would indeed involve the installation of one operating system on one computer, so I really don't so a major difference. A USB flash drive is a hard drive, just to remind you. All we install OS's on are internal hard drives. But like you said to, I will make sure to read all of the End-User license agreement because I don't want to go to far with this without having my facts straight; so I'll print and read it at school. Talk to you guys later.

And thank you, this is a really good discussion, and it alone is helping me to make the right decision. I guess it has to start with the legal issues so no one gets in trouble (you guys!).

Here's the simple facts ok Gravity which you seem to have trouble grasping.

A hard drive is an integral part of a pc, a usb stick is not.

You need a computer with a hard drive that contains windows so you can transfer any material from a cd or dvd disk on to a usb stick.

As Cobra said you will have system hardware parameter errors in attempting to transfer an operating system between multiple computers when it was originally installed on just one.

Oh dear, I really opened a can of worms when I spoke out of turn, didn't I?

I should have defragged my brain before I installed Thoughts. If only I could do a restore to yesterday...

Let me clarify some things and try to set my own record straight.

This information you gave proves that if I were to attempt to install the software on a USB flash drive and then use the drive on another computer, it would be legal."

NO it does not. The information I gave you does not prove a single thing. I said it was my interpretation which does not necessarily mean it would stand up in court. Please do not take what I say as gospel. (in this instance anyway).

Because the legalities can be interpreted in so many ways it would be unwise of this forum to suggest that you can legally do it. What I said on this forum was my opinion, and my opinion only. Not the forums. What the good folks on this forum are saying is that it may/may not be legal and until that is clarified - legally - this forum could not endorse your actions.

When I said " go for it", what I really meant was that people should think outside the box, they should challenge the status quo but they should also look at the legal, social, financial, political and whatever other ramifications their actions may have.

This is an excellent forum for helping each other with computer problems, questions and ideas but it also has guidelines which must be maintained. I may have overstepped that.

LOL! That's a good one, GS. I feel safe in guaranteeing the driver incompatability issue has been wrestled with by better minds, and there STILL isn't an answer. Fact is, driver incompatability between brands and form factors is a good thing for manufacturers. Good thing = money/sales/exclusivity. Why would company 'A' want their drivers to work on company 'B' equipment? They don't. How many questions on this site alone deal with driver searches? LOTS! Believe me, if a bypass was available someone would have created it and made a boatload of cash off the solution by now.

As for the legality issue and interpretation of the whole drive/computer discussion, why not just email Microsoft and bounce your idea off them? I have no doubt this brainstorm has crossed their collective desk more than once already. My educated guess is that their response will be, "Why of course you can't do that you little whippersnapper!", or 4 letter words to that effect. It's not in Microsoft's best interest to allow anything which resembles running one O/S on multiple computers, even if the particular bypass appears to be used on only one computer at a time. Unless of course a person is willing to come off some cash. Microsoft has that aspect covered, too.

As we run a friendly "ship" here and this type of debate always has the opportunity to go skywards, Cobra's idea is the best so far.