i read an article on how to boot through a pendrive containing linux. i downloaded the 'knoppix' version 5.1.1 from pendrivelinux.com and it is saved on my pendrive. my os is windows xp home edition. how do i edit the boot menu to boot through the pendrive? my boot menu looks like this: [boot loader] timeout=0 default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS [operating systems] multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect which part of it do i change to boot through the pendrive and what should i type? also is it reversible? i mean, can i go back to windows if i remove the pendrive?

Your motherboard has to be capable of booting from USB devices. The change in boot order is made in the BIOS, not in Windows.

Well, I guess you could edit the loader. I agree with Jam that you shouldn't do it that way. You "reboot" to the usb device. Some bios's might see it as a usb device either usb-hdd or usb-zip. I have also seen where it views usb as a real hard drive device. In all cases you either need the bios to support bootable flash devices or a floppy/cd that can boot to the device. Did the article suggest that you edit that file? "Best Practices", Event viewer, host file, perfmon, antivirus, anti-spyware, Live CD's, backups, are in my top 10