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General discussion

Install on an External Hard Drive???

I've wondered that if I had purchased an EXTERNAL hard drive, not an internal one, is it possible for me to install any version of Linux operating system on it. What I plan on doing, instead of partitioning my existing 40 GB hard drive, I may keep Windows XP on that one, and just get like another 80 GB hard drive soley for Linux. But since it is recognized as a USB, is it possible for me to not only install Linux on it, but boot from it as well.

Discussion is locked

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No.
Oct 8, 2005 3:54AM PDT

" is it possible for me to install any version of Linux operating system on it. "

Not all versions can install to external USB drives. Even fewer machines can boot from USB drives.

You'll have to experiment a little. In closing, it's very slow, even at USB 2.0 speeds.

Bob

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That is not true
Oct 23, 2005 9:18AM PDT

I have recently put a version of Gentoo Linux on an external hard drive. The speed is fine even running graphical user interfaces such as KDE. Most machines nowadays do boot from USB Devices but be sure to check your bios first. I am also working a boot script to load the USB modules so I can boot from bios that don't support USB booting. I will update about that later.

Pat

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Please read the request.
Oct 23, 2005 10:17AM PDT

It asked for "any version". As you will discover, not all versions can install to an USB bootable device.

Hope this clarifies my response.

Bob

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Response was for the speed not the version
Oct 24, 2005 8:43AM PDT

If you read my response again, you will see that I am talking about the speed of the application and not the version. I am sorry about the confusion.

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Speed is usually great due to Linux's cache system.
Oct 24, 2005 8:46AM PDT

You can see that even CD based LiveCDs run 'ok' and fast enough to make a few converts.

Cheers,

Bob