Boot linux from USB HDD?

Ry@n · 1 Aug 2006 at 00:43

Good morning (kinda)

I was wondering if it would be possible to boot from my USB 2.5" laptop HDD so that i could have a decent play about with Linux-Ubuntu.

Is it possible? Id prefer to do it this way as i dont want to touch my main HDD with XP on.

Thanks, ps. ASUS A8V is the motherboard

Hades · 1 Aug 2006 at 00:49

Can't see why it shouldn't be able to. Just make sure the BIOS supports booting from USB HDD.

If you jut want to try it out you can use a Live CD such as Ubuntu or Knoppix.

Ry@n · 1 Aug 2006 at 07:40

Yer i have used the boot CD before, seemed ok.

Id like to install properly though really.

Does this look like the correct download file?
ubuntu-6.06-desktop-amd64.iso
698.9Mb in Size

Cheers (AMD 64 3500+, Asus A8V Deluxe, 2gb DDR, Nvidia 6800LE)

thelonecrouton · 1 Aug 2006 at 09:54

You are going to have a far easier time with the i386 iso. 64bit Ubuntu isn't nearly as polished yet - too much faffing to get everything to work IMO.

Scythe · 1 Aug 2006 at 10:39

You could use the live cd to install to the usb HDD. Or use the alternat install cd and dont install Grub (boot loader) and then if your bios supports booting from usb hdd, select that as your 1st boot option and reboot.

I recommend that you have a look on ubuntuforums.org first before trying what i said.