Stilly

The thumb drives I've seen have been rather "pricey" for the amount of storage you get, although the small size would be handy.

If you can plug an extension into that rear USB port and lay it out front, you've got a "front plug in" and a 3-foot "extender" cord shouldn't be more than about $20 (US). (Get the USB-2 type, if you're buying.) Then get yourself a USB External Hard Drive - an 80 or 90GB shouldn't be more than about $150, and you can take home everything your boss owns in one trip.

Other advantage - it's just bulky enough so you're not tempted to take work home every night.

I'm a little puzzled why you want the kids on ME instead of just giving them their own "limited rights" signin on XP. XP has some built in firewall (I don't know how good it is since I connect thru SWMBO's) and "kid filter" functions that are supposedly a lot better than in ME, and you'd avoid having to contend with dual boots. Sort of an idle question on my part, since I'm sure you have your reasons.

John