Boot disc for LAN file transfers

Hi,

I've currently got a computer running Windows 7 64bit and a HTPC/hard drive backup.
These are connected to a linksys router via ehternet cable.

The HTPC normally runs OpenElec (a Linux distro that is stripped down to run xbmc only).
I am able to access this machine from Windows 7 just by typing in the IP address of the HTPC in windows explorer. Here I can copy files to and from the HTPC. I think this uses Samba or SSH to do this.

This works well for copying a few files but not for copying lots of data (100gb+) as file transfer speed seems to get progressivly slower. I've been told this is because the drives are formatted to NTFS and Linux kernel doesnt handle this very well. I would rather keep NTFS and see if i can find a useful bootable utility to help me when I want to transfer lots of files over LAN.

Is there a usb bootable program that fully supports/ is optimised for NTFS drives so I can run it on the HTPC? This is so that I can access HTPC hard drives from my Windows 7 PC and transfer files faster over LAN.

Cheers.

I was wondering if there is a definitive tutorial on here about installing windows xp or windows 7 TO a usb stick or usb external drive (not how to install an os from usb boot)?

I have been googling this a lot and i'm still uncertain about how to go with this as it seems like this is a difficult, but not impossible task, with many potential problems depending on how you do it, and a lot of different tools get mentioned in each article.

Am I correct to assume it would be easier to do this with windows xp than with 7?

Running Windows os (XP or 7) live from a usb stick would be ideal for me and my needs, especialy installing just default windows xp to usb and not having to create a custom live CD which is not what i'm asking here.

Any help on this would be much appeciated.

This tutorial seems to outline how to run Windows 7 via a virtual machine. If emulation will work for you, maybe you can consider that.

I imagine a similar (if not identical) method would be employed to run XP off of a live USB disk.