How do you make a computer without a hard drive to avoid the plauge of viruses or where to buy one?

Question

How do you make a computer without a hard drive to avoid the plauge of viruses or where to buy one?

Answer 1

You can make any USB device bootable (create a bootable partition) - stick a copy of Linux on there and it will give you a full operating system on there complete with office apllications, web browser, messenger, media player and CD burning software - then you can store your files on the other partition.



Now there are large sized USB drives out there it is feasable. It may get on your nerves though waiting for it to boot every time.



Either that or buy an Apple Mac !!! - No Viruses !!



To all those people who ridiculed you for asking a very feasable question - get your facts right first !!



YOU CAN boot a PC without a HDD...

Answer 2

Yes you can.



But keep a wheel barrow next to you with a lot of floppies. It is impossible nowadays to work without a hard drive. All this, to get rid of virus?



It is like burning the house to get rid of house bugs...!!



But, wait .... there is a solution. Buy an external harddrive that connects to your USB port. Periodically back up your harddrive inside your computer to this external one. This way, at least you are current upto the time you were hit with a virus. This is the only suggestion I can make and it is entirely do-able.



Or, you can back up your data files to a CD. You will need a CD writer. Blank CDs are cheap. So, throw the old one (punch a hole first) and keep only the new ones.



Another way: partition your hard drive. Always save your data in the second partition, so that, if you are hit by a virus only the system partition needs to be formatted and the operating system need to be reinstalled. Your data is still protected.



Nowadays some software allow you to automatically archive your data to a second partition - on a set day of the week at a set time. You do not have to even remember to do it, the software will do it for you.



For just $49, you can buy this one:

http://www.acronis.com



It is the best I have come across. It will also clone your hard drive to the external drive if you wish.



Good Luck.

Answer 3

It is still possible to have a computer without a hard drive. buying one might be a little difficult. But you can buy computer these days that still look for a network boot device and if your computer has this option you literally don't need a hard drive, so removed it and there you go. But you still have to worry about viruses, and even more than before, because you are simply storing your information on a really big shared hard drive hosted by another machine.



The network boot uses your LAN cards MAC address to find the corresponding boot infomation on the network. It's still workable but not a great idea.

Answer 4

Computers without hard drives? They haven't made those for a while. You can buy a 'thin client' which is just a terminal that connects to a server but the server still has a hard drive in it.



Computers like the ZX81 or ZX Spectrum or the Amiga used to load their software up from cassete tape drives or floppy discs.



Technically a computer is anything that carries out algorithmic operations. This can include humans - indeed the first computers were humans. It was a job title.

Answer 5

Contrary to popular belief, IT IS POSSIBLE TO have/run a computer WITHOUT a hard drive.



It is possible to create a bootable CD with Windows and Linux (just requires a little know how).



The only problem with this, however, is that other then using the applications that come with Windows/Linux, the computer would not have much other practical use as you would not be able to install any ther applications on to it. Actually, you wouldn't even be able to connect to the internet as there would be not way of saving the network connection information required by the operating system.



SO, not impossible, just not practical...

Answer 6

Ignore all the answers that say you are stupid, lacking abrain etc. Its a reasonable question to ask - it IS possible to have a computer without a hard drive, and its NOT cutting edge technology. In fact, it's old technology that never really took off, and as a result I doubt you'll find one nowadays.



The concept is that the computer boots off a network and everything the computer uses is on the network not on the computers hard drive. They were sometimes referred to as "network appliances". They were ever only targetted at a corporate market place, because (at the time) thats the only place there were networks and servers. They were never intended as a home user product.



At one time were seen as the "next big thing" of computing due to the ease of setup, ease of central control and the fact there was nothing at everyones desk to maintain - everything got upgraded/updated on the central server that all such computers accessed.



They never took off though and disappeared into history.



Also look here:

http://www.answers.com/topic/driveless-work-station

Answer 7

well all of those answers are right without a hard drive it would be useless and get a good virus scanner and firewall and adware program but at same time they are wrong there are windows Cd's and Linux Cd's that you can run from CD its called live CD but i never tried it without a hard drive so i won't say its possible to run a computer from the CD without a hard drive ..... so everyone is right here it would be a very expensive and big paper weight .. he-he ..... just get a good virus scanner and firewall and a spy-ware remover and don't open emails from ppl you don't know less you ask for it .... and you should be OK

Answer 8

A computer without a hard driver wouldn't be able to do much.



Without a hard drive you will only be able to do what the computer was programmed to do at the beginning.



Even if you had some sort of memory RAM etc, then this could potentioly get a virus!



Not sure what you want to do here - must be easier to get the right anti virus protection etc.

Answer 9

It is also possible to purchase advertised on eBay a programme "KNOPPIX on C.D." which is a LINUX operating system which runs from the C.D. and is quite satisfactory for accessing the internet, the only problem being saving downloaded files to Windows.Also it will not configure an internal modem as these use Windows files but will work with a laptop PCMCIA (credit card)modem

Answer 10

They haven't made a computer without a hard drive in a long time, just buy a good anti virus software and a good firewall.

Answer 11

You have to boot from a CD or off the network or the systems' BIOS. It pretty detailed to explain here. Don't believe the people who say you can't have a hard drive. The originial IBM PC booted into BASIC off of its firmware (software in a computer chip).

Answer 12

And how exactly would this hard-drive-less computer work? Would it just sit there and look pretty while gathering dust?



You need a hard drive, just get a decent firewall to keep the viruses out.

Answer 13

A computer without a hard drive would be useless, you just need to ensure you have a good anit-virus programme, like AVG and make sure it is uptodate, then you will have no trouble!!

Answer 14

brother its impossible without hard drive

i mean every device has h drive

and virus u can prevent easily juts do 1 thing search for best antivirus

it should be fullyloaded

Answer 15

Get any computer you want.



Just be sure to have firewall/antivir software etc if you're running any MS product, XP in specific.



Linux (or any UNIX derivitive for that matter) is recommended.

Answer 16

It would be pretty cutting edge stuff.

I'm no expert but hard drives are normally considered essential!

Answer 17

don't connect your computer to the internet and dont, install any cheap or copy programs.

Answer 18

you dont know anything about computers, do you?



that's like saying "i'm going to make a human without a brain, so he cant get headaches!"

Answer 19

you need a hard drive theres no way around it.

Answer 20

i dunno know but u can check out this site and u tell me