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General discussion

How do I boot ubuntu from an external hard drive?

Sep 22, 2006 7:36AM PDT

I have ubuntu installled on an external hdd, but my pc automatically boots into windows. How can I change this?

My windows hd is nfts and my linux one is ex3(i think)

Discussion is locked

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Possible answer
Sep 22, 2006 8:02PM PDT

Boot up from the Ubuntu Desktop CD. Go into a terminal and type:

grub-install /dev/hda

See if that helps. If it gives you an error message, please post it here.

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Worked it out
Sep 22, 2006 9:40PM PDT

I've worked it out now, all I need to do is hold down F8 when booting my pc and select the external hdd.

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Bios
Sep 23, 2006 9:55PM PDT

You can also change the Bios boot device to USB

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Booting From USB HD
Dec 29, 2012 10:37PM PST

I have Ubuntu 12.10 on an external HD, and I've configured the boot options to boot from the USB before booting from the internal hard drive or disk. But, it still boots directly into windows 7 when I start my computer up, and when I go to manually select the ex HD to boot from, it doesn't show up as an option to choose. I'm thinking it has something to do with the external HD not mounting during rebooting but I really don't know enough about that to be sure. Any help?