Running Windows write-protected?

[pwr]

Is is possible to run windows (XP) write-protected? As if it was a ROM image that was loaded at each bootup? I don't care about the downsides of such an endeavour, because I save all my work on another disk - and couldn't care less about what changes are saved to windows during each session (browsing history etc.) and it is also a nicce way to keep the system part of the "system" neat.

Is this a stupid idea, or have anyone tried this in any way?

Edit: I know about live cd's but they are horribly slow and have issues with "real work".

[Mrkvonic]

Bootable Windows live CD a la BartPE or Ultimate Boot CD for Windows.
I got a review if you like, check the sig.
Mrk

[Peter2150]

-{ Quote: "

Is this a stupid idea, or have anyone tried this in any way?

Edit: I know about live cd's but they are horribly slow and have issues with "real work"." }-

It's a real bad idea. You may discover you've locked yourself out of your system.

[farmerlee]

Lots of people (myself included) use software like returnil or deepfreeze to achieve that goal. It makes my system clean and tidy at every boot.

[pwr]

-{ Quote: "Lots of people (myself included) use software like returnil or deepfreeze to achieve that goal. It makes my system clean and tidy at every boot." }-

Could you tell a little about how that experiment has run? Have you experience anything "unusual" etc.?

[Peter2150]

-{ Quote: "Could you tell a little about how that experiment has run? Have you experience anything "unusual" etc.?" }-

It not an experiment. I've run both Returnil and Shadowdefender. Basically once you turn them on everything you do is gone at reboot. Clean system. No nothing unusual.

Pete

[raakii]

Thats wat lite-virtualization is all about, its keeping the os partition static,

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=196103&highlight=shadow+user

Comodo disk Disk shield is one like shadowuser but it is in beta and hence unstable

[pwr]

Interesting =)

[markymoo]

Th way to do that is run it from RAM like the recovery Windows mentioned.

Here is a paid solution way to run your own windows from RAM.

http://www.disklessangel.com/

[jonyjoe81]

use returnil it's free, when you boot up your computer, it boots normally. As soon as you don't want any changes made to your computer "enable" returnil, going from normal to "returnil enabled" happens instantly (no rebooting/ no loading software etc), once your in "returnil" nothing is written to your real "c" drive everything occurs in a "virtual c: drive" that looks and acts as a normal hard drive with no slowdown. Anything important that you need to save has to be saved on a different partition otherwise it will dissappear when you reboot.
I have installed on all my computers and it is a rock-solid program. I usually only enable it when I log onto the internet, it's an excellent last line of defense in case something defeats your firewall/antivirus.


http://www.majorgeeks.com/Returnil_Virtual_System_Personal_Edition_d5702.html