The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    linux in usb?

    Discussion in 'Linux Compatibility and Software' started by jl1989, Dec 7, 2009.

  1. jl1989

    jl1989 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    9
    Messages:
    584
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    is it possible to have linux installed on a usb drive, and have no driver issues if you use it on different computers?

    like, for example, have a <4gb persistant os on a portable usb stick that you can simply plug and play with any computer(that supports usb booting).

    IF so, any suggestions on a light-weight linux distro?? most i'll need is probably good wireless/internet support, vim, ssh/ftp/scp, and languages.

    thanks.
     
    jl1989, Dec 7, 2009
    #1
  2. moral hazard

    moral hazard Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    2,779
    Messages:
    7,957
    Likes Received:
    87
    Trophy Points:
    216
    Yes it is easy.

    I suggest downloading unetbootin-windows.

    Use that program to mount the ISO image to a USB drive.
    I did it recently with a 700mb linux distro (ubuntu-9.04) on a 1gb usb drive.
     
    moral hazard, Dec 7, 2009
    #2
  3. DEagleson

    DEagleson Gamer extraordinaire

    Reputations:
    2,529
    Messages:
    3,107
    Likes Received:
    30
    Trophy Points:
    116
    DEagleson, Dec 7, 2009
    #3
  4. Ayle

    Ayle Trailblazer

    Reputations:
    877
    Messages:
    3,707
    Likes Received:
    7
    Trophy Points:
    106
    Try crunchbang, it's lightweight and based on Ubuntu.
     
    Ayle, Dec 7, 2009
    #4
  5. wearetheborg

    wearetheborg Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    1,282
    Messages:
    3,122
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    Seems to be a nice program. Has anyone done a thorough check of the source code ?

    I dont want any trojans on my linux install :confused:
     
    wearetheborg, Dec 7, 2009
    #5
  6. moral hazard

    moral hazard Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    2,779
    Messages:
    7,957
    Likes Received:
    87
    Trophy Points:
    216
    I'm not sure, but the program has been around for a while.
    I have used it several times and neither avira or AVG picked up a virus.

    But I can't say for sure because I only have the most basic programing skills.
     
    moral hazard, Dec 7, 2009
    #6
  7. ALLurGroceries

    ALLurGroceries  Vegan Vermin Super Moderator

    Reputations:
    15,730
    Messages:
    7,146
    Likes Received:
    2,343
    Trophy Points:
    331
    I use unetbootin all the time, I give it a thumbs up.
     
    ALLurGroceries, Dec 7, 2009
    #7
  8. jl1989

    jl1989 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    9
    Messages:
    584
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I tried a bunch of distros, fedora, ubuntu, ubuntu netbook, DSL, DSL-N, crunchbang. I've come to like crunchbang the best I think, except the proxy firefox uses seem to be slow/stalls, or something weird like that...

    Also, if I use my usb boot on someones windows computer, it sets their firefox settings to my own, and resets desktop icons, etc.... lots of side effects.. none harmful however, just annoying.
     
    jl1989, Dec 13, 2009
    #8
  9. Charr

    Charr Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    415
    Messages:
    1,564
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    You can also install right into thumbdrive, and install a bootloader into the MBR. However, you might want to compress it with squashfs if you do that.

    It really shouldn't do that. Try disabling auto-mounting of partitions if it continues.
     
    Charr, Dec 13, 2009
    #9