Method and apparatus for operating a host computer from a portable apparatus

The present invention provides methods and apparatus that utilize a portable apparatus to operate a host computer. The portable apparatus including an operating system and a list of software applications is installed in a removable data storage medium. The basic input/output system (BIOS) of the host computer will directly or indirectly identify the portable apparatus as its boot drive. The host computer will further load the operating system in the portable apparatus into its random access semiconductor memory (RAM). A hardware profile is stored in the host computer, which contains information about the host computer and its peripheral devices. During the loading, the operating system will incorporate information in the hardware profile in order to fully operate the host computer and the hardware devices defined in the profile.