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IronKey Releases Windows 8 Certified Bootable Flash Drive

Posted by timothy on from the who-needs-a-hard-drive-anyhow dept.

Lucas123 writes "IronKey has released a thumb drive certified to be used as a bootable Windows 8 device, enabling users to use Windows To Go — an enterprise feature of Windows 8 — to deliver a fully portable desktop. While Imation doesn't promote this feature, users can also boot up this USB on any Intel-based Apple computer. The flash drive has its drawbacks. It's not yet FIPS certified, it can't be provisioned as storage, and it lacks admin management features. The IronKey Workspace drive comes in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB capacities. It offers either 128-bit or 256-bit full disk encryption. Users must purchase the Windows 8 software separately. According to Imation's specifications, the IronKey Workspace has a maximum average read speed of 300MB/sec. and an average write speed of 100MB/sec. to 200MB/sec. When I timed the boot-up times, the initial boot-up from the USB drive was slow — 3 minutes and 40 seconds — but the drive was configuring itself. Subsequent boot-ups took a mere 35 seconds. Shutdown is near instantaneous — about 2 seconds. The flash drive is priced from $129 to $389 depending on capacity."

44 of 66 comments (clear)

  1. Apple Hardware by phrostie · · Score: 2

    and by using Apple hardware you don't have to worry about Secure Boot!

    that just makes my head hurt

  2. What a non-story by KillDaBOB · · Score: 5, Funny

    So they made a USB 3.0 flash drive that has a decent amount of space on it, priced it at a multiple more than the competition, and that's it? It doesn't even come with Windows 8, which is the purpose of buying this product. Great story brought to you by /., now advertising products that many will never, ever need (or want)!

    1. Re:What a non-story by camperdave · · Score: 5, Funny

      It doesn't even come with Windows 8, which is the purpose of buying this product.

      No, this device is designed to enable users "to use Windows To Go — an enterprise feature of Windows 8 — to deliver a fully portable desktop". Obviously this device has some sort of cable management and advanced transdimentional physics capabilities. Imagine it! You plug this device into your desktop... and it becomes portable!

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    2. Re:What a non-story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I must be going senile--not clear why this post was modded Funny when it is seriously true. I've got a thumb drive that has Ubuntu and Windows 7 (don't ask why) VirtualBox images so I can run them concurrently on any of my fanboi MBPs--can I get a shout out too?

    3. Re:What a non-story by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 2

      Agreed, at those prices, it's Patriot Magnum for me.

      Except if you're really interested in doing the "Windows To Go" thing, that drive probably won't work. The 120MB/s write and 200MB/s read speeds are more than twice as slow as this IronKey drive, and it will likely present itself as a "removable" drive (most USB sticks do), which means Windows To Go won't even install on it.

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    4. Re:What a non-story by PCM2 · · Score: 1

      So they made a USB 3.0 flash drive that has a decent amount of space on it, priced it at a multiple more than the competition, and that's it? It doesn't even come with Windows 8, which is the purpose of buying this product. Great story brought to you by /., now advertising products that many will never, ever need (or want)!

      The part they seem to have glossed over is that this is a secure USB key. Most of the storage is AES encrypted, with just a tiny unencrypted boot partition to handle the encryption.

      Mind you, I saw this press release on Friday and it didn't sound particularly interesting to me, either.

      Here's something interesting, though. Imation, which has been buying up various companies, including IronKey -- because apparently floppy disks aren't selling as well as they once did -- has managed to shed 88.5% of its share price since 2006.

      --
      Breakfast served all day!
    5. Re:What a non-story by ntropia · · Score: 1

      Do we get a discount if we use the SLSHDT code wien purchasing the product?

    6. Re:What a non-story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      THAT'S AWESOME!!!!

    7. Re:What a non-story by OutputLogic · · Score: 1

      Exactly. I interviewed with that company a couple of years ago, and didn't quite understand how the product was better than lots of other flash drives. The selling point was highest security certification, that allowed using it in government, military, etc.

    8. Re:What a non-story by jfengel · · Score: 1

      Isn't the whole point of a "Windows-to-go" type system that it should be able to, ya know, go?

      I'm serious. Why would Windows To Go want a device to present itself as non-removable? Doesn't that defeat the purpose? I can see that it woudn't want to be removed while in use, but is this device physically locking itself into the drive? If not, what makes it different from any other USB stick?

    9. Re:What a non-story by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 2

      It's just a firmware setting that informs the operating system of the type of device. It informs the OS how to perform write-caching and file operations. It doesn't create a lock or anything. A USB attached hard drive, for instance, would present itself differently, so you could always use that as a "Windows To Go" device, but of course that's not as convenient as a thumb drive, and more susceptible to shock damage.

      The fact is, Windows 8, booting and running entirely from a removable drive, is going to require better performance on a removable drive than a trimmed Linux distro. And it's for a different use. It's intended for a different use, too - in some use cases, companies can provide floating workers with a USB stick instead of a laptop, and they still have their customized settings, their applications and data, organization logins and identity certificates, etc. Which is why using an IronKey makes sense, too, because the whole thing can use drive encryption so it's useless the finder if the stick gets lost. Plus the setup disables access to the host computer's local drives - it's intended as a standalone environment, not just an alternate way to boot the computer.

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    10. Re:What a non-story by jfengel · · Score: 1

      Cool! Thanks.

    11. Re:What a non-story by hairyfeet · · Score: 1

      I just don't get why this is such a big whoop, 20 minutes on the web will show you how to make a USB bootable Windows and has had the articles for over a decade, its just MSFT didn't support it. Frankly I don't know how much "support" you'll get from MSFT on Windows to go either so I don't see what the big diff is.

      Hell maybe I'm missing an angle but to me Windows to go seems more like a solution in search of a problem, we geeks have already known how to make bootable CDs for years and what would Joe Average do with the thing? Most coffee shops aren't gonna let you reboot their PCs and in an office wouldn't roaming profiles make more sense?

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
  3. A 'Downgrade' USB Stick? by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 2, Funny

    Why would you downgrade a computer that presumably has a functioning OS on it by plugging this stick into it and rebooting?

    1. Re:A 'Downgrade' USB Stick? by chronokitsune3233 · · Score: 1

      Don't forget the severe reduction in the life of the drive as a result of all the writes being performed on it. And since it's for Windows, it would benefit from antivirus software. Got multiple computer viruses that just can't be gotten rid of, no matter how many times your AV software moves files and kills processes? No problem! Just kill the flash drive with all of the write operations that are performed as a result of the file moving!

      --
      I have been a captive in America my entire life. Everybody and everything uses customary units instead of metric.
    2. Re:A 'Downgrade' USB Stick? by Mateo_LeFou · · Score: 2

      This will come in *very* handy when Windows 9 is released

      --
      My turnips listen for the soft cry of your love
    3. Re:A 'Downgrade' USB Stick? by RicktheBrick · · Score: 1, Redundant

      What happens when one purchases a new motherboard and tries to boot up from the original hard drive? I used to do this with 95 and 98 but since xp was introduced, I find that the computer will not boot and the only thing I could do was to install the operating system and all the programs again. That would mean that one had to have a cd or a flash drive with the ability to install the operating system. Most new computers do not come with this capability. This is why I find it hard to believe that Microsoft would allow one to boot several computers with a flash drive. At a minimum one will have two computers that could be running windows 8 at the same time with only paying for one license. Allowing this would probably bankrupt Microsoft or at least mean that Bill Gates would lose a small chunk of his fortune. Just a couple of days ago I had a 6 year old computer that the motherboard or the microprocessor went bad. The computer was on at least 80% of that time and was using 100% of all four of its cores most of that time so I guess I got enough use out of it. I still do not believe that I could buy another motherboard and install it and boot from the ssd and have everything work.

    4. Re:A 'Downgrade' USB Stick? by JoshRosenbaum · · Score: 1

      I've switched motherboards out at least two different times in the past and reused the current Windows install (XP both times I think) when I did it. So it's definitely possible for it to work.

    5. Re:A 'Downgrade' USB Stick? by EETech1 · · Score: 1

      I've run into that issue as well, but so far, this has worked every time.

      support.microsoft.com/kb/314082

      It's actually much easier to do before the computer dies, or right before you do your clonezilla backup. I have VM images of all of our SCADA PCs so I can test changes before pushing them out onto the line, and I have to do this every time I clone a disk to move it to my VM. After fighting this on the first PC that crashed on us with no backup, I went around and did it to all of our PCs. They now have the additional entries already in the registry so they are ready to go and can be cloned to different computer, and boot so they just have to install the plug-and-pray devices that are different.

      For a more complicated switcheroo, you can tell windows to reexamine and repair the install on the next reboot by setting the appropriate registry keys.This article is sometimes helpful:

      support.microsoft.com/kb/249694

      I really like the way Linux just works, and examines the hardware during boot. It eliminates the BS you have to go through when swapping a HDD from one computer to a different one!

      Hope this helps!

      Cheers

    6. Re:A 'Downgrade' USB Stick? by adolf · · Score: 1

      I really like the way Linux just works, and examines the hardware during boot. It eliminates the BS you have to go through when swapping a HDD from one computer to a different one!

      That's not a Linux feature -- that's a distribution feature. The distinction seems small, but it is an important one.

      And even amongst different distributions, support for some important things can be hairy.

      (I once had a hell of a time finding a CD/DVD bootable distribution that would properly support a simple RAID 1 built with md on a bog-standard Intel chipset. And the only reason I needed that was because I needed an temporary environment that I could boot, mount the array, chroot over to the real system, and build a new kernel...specifically just to add drivers so that it could boot itself without help.

      Yes, it was Gentoo. But it was also Linux. Hence why the distinction is important. And for the record, Damn Small Linux got the job done neatly, while the then-current incarnations of Knoppix were an improbable pain in the ass -- got figure.)

      --
      Kid-proof tablet..
    7. Re:A 'Downgrade' USB Stick? by EETech1 · · Score: 1

      Agreed.

      Prior to switching to Knoppix and it's hardware detection magic, I recall having similar nightmares on Linux way back when.

      I have a tendency to just call it Linux, and lump the distro in with the kernel (and skip the GNU (sorry RMS))

      Cheers!

    8. Re:A 'Downgrade' USB Stick? by matthiasvegh · · Score: 1

      What generally causes problems with the replacement of the motherboard beneath the operating system is generally the storage drivers. CPU you cant swap no problem, same goes for memory, video card, but the motherboard is tricky in that (generally speaking) it also is responsible for the communication with the hard drives, and behaves in a certain way depending on its make etc. If you can, install the appropriate drivers for the new motherboard before switching, and you'll be fine.

  4. They don't really try to hide it anymore, do they? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    These Slashvertisements are getting so blatant that it's not even funny anymore.

  5. that sucks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    For that price you can get a starter laptop, or a chrome book. Or you can spend 30 bucks on a decent sized drive and throw Ubuntu on it.

    1. Re:that sucks by Joce640k · · Score: 1

      It is a particularly fast thumbdrive...

      --
      No sig today...
  6. Slashvertisementitis by Adambomb · · Score: 5, Informative

    I know it's pretty cliche to scream slashvertisement whenever there's an article involving a purchasable gadget, but jebus tapdancing christ guys when you advertise the price including a link to their store for something like this it really is getting sad.

    If it ISN'T intentional you sure are letting submissions take you for a ride.

    --
    Ice Cream has no bones.
    1. Re:Slashvertisementitis by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

      As a longtime member here on Slashdot, I don't mind the the occasional "slashvertisement" so long as two criteria are met.
      1. The published Slashvertisement is labeled as such in it's own category. It must be blatant and up-front.
      2. They are kept occasional.

      Truth is, I have an Iron key basic. There are many features I like about them such as ease of use, self-destruction of data if the password is entered wrong too many times, and FIPS certified. Yes, there are free roll-your-own solutions out there. But the decision I made to purchase a solution was personal. However, Slashvertisements are a welcome IMOH as as reader I value the options that other members have to say about them. That includes the good, the bad, and the ugly.

      BTW, why isn't this new product FIPS certified? Is it pending certification, or has their product line been dumbed down after being bought out by another company?

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
  7. Re:drawbacks for $129-$389? by jones_supa · · Score: 2

    Look at the transfer speeds. It's a damn fast flash drive.

  8. Booting USB on any Apple intel systems? by Richard_at_work · · Score: 1, Informative

    I wonder how they achieve that, since for many configuartions the Apple UFI flat out refuses to boot anything other than OSX on an external device - I had this issue evenly when trying to install Windows as my primary OS on my 2010 MBP, using both an internal HD and SSD, so the DVD drive was external and the MBP refused to boot anything other than the OSX install meda from the DVD drive or a USB stick.

    I ended up with a 10GB OSX partition on the SSD which never gets booted into these days - there was no way to just install Windows :/

    External booting is enabled on some platforms, but its a far cry from "any" intel Apple.

  9. finally! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    An OS that can boot from a USB key! Amazing! Microsoft truly is a magical ccompany that their OS allows such amazing functionality. Meanwhile if you boot linsux on your computer most of the time it will be bricked. That is the difference between real software engineering skill and amateur hour.

  10. Re:Got that for £7.50 by Joce640k · · Score: 1

    Can it write 200Mb/sec...?

    --
    No sig today...
  11. Re:drawbacks for $129-$389? by camperdave · · Score: 4, Funny

    Do they really think people are so stupid to spend $129 for a 32gb thumb drive? With drawbacks?

    Why not? People buy Windows 8.

    --
    When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
  12. Re:drawbacks for $129-$389? by Osgeld · · Score: 1

    and it all has to be encrypted so whats practical speed?

  13. Cool! But no click for you! by water-and-sewer · · Score: 1

    This interests me. I've got an old/regular ironkey and like it. But I'm intentionally going to not click on the single most blatant slashvertisement I've ever seen on this site.

    Christ, every time Slashdot gets sold it gets worse.

    --
    If this were Usenet, I'd killfile the lot of you.
  14. Re:drawbacks for $129-$389? by datajack · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's an Ironkey. The encryption is in hardware. The quoted speed is with the encryption.

  15. 35 seconds to boot? by 0123456 · · Score: 1

    My netbook boots Ubuntu in about fifteen.

    1. Re:35 seconds to boot? by jfengel · · Score: 1

      My new Chromebook boots in about two.

      Doesn't do much else, but it does do that.

  16. Re:drawbacks for $129-$389? by theedgeofoblivious · · Score: 1

    They do?

  17. Re:GNU/Linus had this for quite a while by maugle · · Score: 2

    Yep, Slashdot could really use a "-1, obviously only read the first sentence" mod.

  18. Great!? by GNUALMAFUERTE · · Score: 1

    Now I can throw away that inexpensive, generic 2GB USB drive I've been using to boot GNU/Linux systems for at least a decade and change it for an overpriced drive that boots an inferior OS that just finally got support to boot out of USB!

    --
    WTF am I doing replying to an AC at 5 A.M on a Friday night?
  19. Can't a Mac boot from any USB device? by gig · · Score: 1

    I don't think you need to use this one to boot a Mac. Any USB volume (or FireWire, or SD, or network volume) should work.

  20. subject by Legion303 · · Score: 1

    Windows 8 will fit on 32GB storage? Seems like that's the real story here.

  21. Another Virus in the Wild by kdubrick · · Score: 1

    WOW Really ...do we really Need another way of spreading viruses and Malware. Windows on a stand alone machine with an Internet connection is BAD enough, but to actually have one that can travel.. THIS IS GOING TO FAR NOW. hehehehe I have NO problem with the ability to put an OS on a Flash Drive... In Fact I have Fedora on a 4gb stick. If you REALLY want an OS on a Stick, then Use an OS that actually is USEFUL BUT NOT Windows .. NO NO NO NO... Haven't you retarded people learned you lessons yet,,, WINDOWS DOES NOT WORK ANYWHERE. STOP .. JUST STOP

  22. Re:drawbacks for $129-$389? by Lanforod · · Score: 2

    Find a ironkey flash drive for under a 100 bucks with hardware encryption. That's impossible, especially at those sizes. A coworker of mine recently purchased several ironkey hardware encrypted 4 GB flash drives at more than 100 each. And they were USB 2. Things are pretty darn heavy, like a chunk of lead. For 32 GB, Ironkey hardware encryption, USB 3, these are actually well priced. Sure, you can find so called hardware encryption for cheaper, but not certified FIPS 140.