System and method for transferring personalization information among computer systems

1. A method of personalizing a computer system, comprising:

transferring from a first computer system to a portable storage device, personalization information comprising at least one of (1) a web site designated by a user, (2) a file stored at the first computer system, (3) a folder defined at the first computer system, and (4) an email retrieved at the first computer system;

transferring at least a portion of the personalization information from the portable storage device to a second computer system;

suppressing display of a user interface at a second computer system upon connecting the portable storage device to the second computer system, wherein suppressing said display includes hiding at least one existing desktop icon that would normally have been displayed on the second computer had the portable storage device not been connected to the second computer, and instead displaying at least one icon associated with the personalization information retrieved from the portable storage device, wherein suppressing the display further includes:

defining a first area rectangle and a second area rectangle, wherein the first area rectangle represents pixels on a screen using a same coordinate system as said screen and wherein the second area rectangle represents an alternate screen; and

causing the second computer system to use the personalization information retrieved from the portable storage device in place of information that otherwise would be provided on the second computer had the portable storage device not been connected to the second computer.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the causing step includes transfer of the personalization information from the portable storage device to the second computer system without creating a user account.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising installing a hook into a computer program that manages desktop icons on the second computer system.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the portable storage device communicates with the first computer system and the second computer system via a serial communication interface.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the personalization information comprises all files in at least one first folder.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the files are transferred to at least one second folder on the portable storage device having at least one name corresponding to at least one name of the at least one first folder.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one web site designated by a user comprises at least one of a plurality of web site URLs stored as browser favorites.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

disconnecting said portable storage device from the second computer system; and

restoring the second computer system such that the personalization information is removed from said second computer system.