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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Posts
    1542

    Install W7 on USB flash drive

    Is it possible to install Windows 7 on to a USB flash drive? And then boot from that drive. At 32 gig they are plenty big enough for the OS. If somebody could tell me how, I would surely appreciate it.

    OK, here's the reason. The latest Camsoft software requires recent firmware upgrades to the Galil cards to run at all. BUT, it is not possible to install Galil Tools for the firmware upgrade without crashing Camsoft. The drivers for the Galil card from the two companies are incompatible. This has been a known issue for years.

    If the above idea is not possible, I could use another suggestion. I'll have three machines to maintain this way.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Posts
    5717

    Re: Install W7 on USB flash drive

    Is Galilsuite compatible? Uses different drivers than Galiltools.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Posts
    1542

    Re: Install W7 on USB flash drive

    Nope, Camsoft developed proprietary drivers just for their software.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Posts
    5717

    Re: Install W7 on USB flash drive

    I have all of my computers set up as dual boot, WinXP/Win7. There is another trick I use, load both drivers on your computer, then in the device manager, uninstall the card, and install again with the other driver. Both are on the computer but only one is active. Manually choose which to install. I do this for switching between legacy programs and more modern versions in the same OS, especially in WinXP. Sometimes I also have to go back to the old Galil SmartTerm, which won't run on Win7.

    To answer your question, yes, I think it can be done. But may not work well on different computers unless they are identical. I have had some problems getting Win7 to boot up when using a hard drive out of a different computer.

    EDIT: One other thing comes to mind is to set up a virtual machine from within Win7

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Posts
    332

    Re: Install W7 on USB flash drive

    We wrote our own drivers to make the CNC system better.

    We didn't spend the time and money just to be different.

    Early on, 20 years ago when Galil came out, they had a good product for factory automation but nothing for CNC. We switched over from some other brand motion cards to Galil and we're glad we did.

    The benefit to writing our own drivers is having complete control. We can out perform the Galil drivers cutting speeds and also make the I/O handling reliable these days. This came about for a reason. We originally made this effort to avoid various Windows interruptions & delays. We are now able to do multiple task at the same time. This is important in CNC. The end result is the we avoid all of the common problems others have had. Most people think it's something they did or their computer is doing to cause random missed I/O events, sluggish stop & go jerky cutting, strange error messages etc... and sometimes it is Windows or the computer but we can tell. We have heard them all and can recognize these problems straight away when we here them. You got to put in the work to be better.

    We do not require that anyone use the latest Galil motion cards or require they use the current firmware. Quite the opposite. The firmware does not need updating because it's old. The card and firmware can be as old as Galil themselves . Our drivers are backwards compatible to when Galil started. It is when the firmware has been customized to a non-standard version then we do require that the firmware be reset to factory defaults.


    Tech Support
    CamSoft Corp.
    [email protected]
    PH 951-674-8100
    Fax 951-674-3110
    CNC Controller, PC Based CNC Controls

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Posts
    1765

    Re: Install W7 on USB flash drive

    Quote Originally Posted by Karl_T View Post
    Is it possible to install Windows 7 on to a USB flash drive? And then boot from that drive. At 32 gig they are plenty big enough for the OS. If somebody could tell me how, I would surely appreciate it.

    OK, here's the reason. The latest Camsoft software requires recent firmware upgrades to the Galil cards to run at all. BUT, it is not possible to install Galil Tools for the firmware upgrade without crashing Camsoft. The drivers for the Galil card from the two companies are incompatible. This has been a known issue for years.

    If the above idea is not possible, I could use another suggestion. I'll have three machines to maintain this way.
    Absolutely not. I used to remember why but do not now. Just install a virtual box.

    Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

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