Asus may have promised earlier this year that it would add its ExpressGate quick boot software to every machine with an Asus motherboard, but so far most of the company’s netbooks are ExpressGate free. But that doesn’t mean you can’t use the software on your Eee PC.

One enterprising user figured out how to make a bootable USB flash disk loaded with the Linux-based ExpressGate software. Just pop it in your netbook and choose ExpressGate from the boot menu and you can access a handful of applications in a few seconds. There’s no need to wait 30 seconds or longer for Windows or Linux to load a full operatng system if all you want to do is access Skype, Firefox, or a handful of other applications that come with ExpressGate.

The instruction guide is much easier to follow if you understand Linux. And if you speak French. For English speakers, you can follow along with the Google translated version, which actually looks pretty good.

While the instructions are for running ExpressGate on an Asus Eee PC 901, the software will likely work on other Eee PC models and other compatible computers. You can find a video demo after the break.

via Blogeee

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7 replies on “How to install ExpressGate instant-on software on a USB stick”

  1. ”
    The instruction guide is much easier to follow if you understand Linux. And if you speak French.”

    Translation: This guide is useless for 99% of people.

  2. Ah, so, the next round of boot-time wars…

    Three things to keep in mind;

    Using a Linux kernel, built by a general Linux distribution, will get you a
    “general purpose” kernel. With corresponding increases in boot time.
    If you build, or install, a machine-specific built kernel – things will naturally
    speed up.
    Such a special build for the HP-2133 is being tested here:
    https://forums.mininoteuser.com/viewtopic.php?p=4755#p4755
    with HowTo install directions earlier in the thread.
    Other machine specific builds are in the works.

    After the kernel loads, then the userland software has to start.
    Again, if using a standard distribution “kitchen sink” initialization order,
    it will be awhile before you see anything on the screen.
    The user can change that order to put everything needed to make things
    appear on the screen earlier in that order.

    The raw read speed of the device these initial things load from –
    that is another major variable in the boot-time wars.
    And another thing subject to installation refinements.

    My point:
    The general reviews and the marketing presentations should not
    be compared one to the other – there is no telling how “tweaked”
    a system is to brag about boot times.

    For instance, disabling your POST tests, RAM tests, and file system
    checks can noticeable improve your boot time (when in a bragging
    contest) but who wants to risk their stored data and hours of work
    on an untested machine?
    So to be fair, you need to subtract the time that you someday will
    spend restoring and/or recovering missing or corrupted data from
    the total of all of those seconds saved in booting the machine.

  3. Maybe it’s just me but it doesn’t look any faster than booting ubuntu. 10-15secs difference? That’s nothing, you could just stretch for that long or check where your flashdrive is, look at the people around you watching your cute eeepc, taking a deep breath… 5secs is something. If it’s more than 5, i’d just wait for my OS to boot.

  4. wouldn’t having it on the HD under bootloader be more useful? by the time you factor in grabbing and plugging in a thumb drive… you probably could just boot to full linux… right?

  5. How is this different from installing Linux on a USB stick and running if from there?
    You can go to youtube and type in USB and linux and there are quite a few vids.

    As for ExpressGate sucking, I had to change the mobo on my parents computer and
    bought a 220$ Asus card just for that option.
    For them it was truly worth it since my mom doenst use anything past the web browser and photoviewer. The browser is usable 8-12seconds in which is acceptable.

    But im more interested about the Intel engineers which managed to start some modified Linux distro to start in 5 seconds (and not even crippled) in some demo they were giving at a conference. A whole OS starting in 5 secs sounds sweet.

    Of course, for people who dont use Linux, the Asus and upcoming Dell instant-on is a welcome addition. I’d like 5 seconds but wont bitch at the 10 i am getting now with the Asus board.

  6. wether you install it on the HDD or any USB Flashdrive. Expressgate just sucks. Seriously. And it takes about 20 seconds until you can open a browser.

    If Expressgate would be in a Flash ROM, like they always try to tell us, it would be great. But only the first Boot Screen is burned into the ROM, the rest of it got installed on the HDD of the Eee Box.

    Sorry guys but Expressgate is just a fake (for me)

    Cheers

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