Install Ubuntu on a USB drive for portable use.
Install Ubuntu on a USB drive for portable use.
Hi everyone! I planned to use an old laptop for Folding@Home because... well, that’s what I thought. I was concerned the HDD might fail soon, so I wanted to run Ubuntu on a USB stick. There were some problems installing the client, but I can still access it through Chrome. I’m wondering if I can install Chrome onto Ubuntu when using a thumb drive. Thanks!
You can definitely proceed with a full setup on the thumb drive. Just download the file from Google and launch the installer, even though it isn't included in the official Ubuntu repos. Running it on a flash drive is possible, but Ubuntu isn't among the lightest distributions—its size and resource demands make it slower than alternatives like Debian or Arch Linux. If it functions as expected, don’t stress too much; just note that data access will feel slower due to the USB interface compared to a solid-state drive.
It makes sense why performance was poor when it did run. From what I understand about Linux, Puppy Linux and Elementary OS also work well on USB drives. The main benefit of Debian is its widespread adoption, which reduces compatibility concerns.
Puppy Linux works well for flash drive installs due to its compact size while offering many features. I haven’t tried Elementary personally, but its look might not be significantly lighter than Ubuntu’s desktop. For lightweight options, consider XFCE or Openbox as a desktop environment if you’re using a USB drive. SliTaz or Tiny Core are also good choices—they run extremely low on resources and can load entirely in memory. Tiny Core is especially minimalist but may feel odd at times. Chrome or Folding@Home might not work well on these distros, so Puppy Linux is best if you can get it to run F@H for ease of use. Debian is another solid alternative, though you’d need to use the netinstall image to install packages manually, which takes some setup time.
Great advice! You’ll download Puppy Linux first, and if it fails, you’ll move to Debian. If that doesn’t work, you’ll try one of the very lightweight options.
I understand you're feeling frustrated. It sounds like Linux distributions aren't responding well to your attempts. You tried elementary OS but it didn't work, and then you encountered issues with downloading Puppy Linux 64 bit because the system recognized it as a CD/DVD instead of an ISO file. It seems you're having trouble getting the right tools to handle the installation. Let me know if you'd like guidance on troubleshooting or alternative methods.
I'm checking what's available on your PC for downloading Puppy Linux. If it's Windows 8 or 10, the ISO will appear like a regular disk, so you can copy everything from the drive to your USB. I suggest using Linux Mint XFCE, Lubuntu, or Xubuntu—they're lightweight and easy to use. Consider setting the filesystem to ext2 on your thumb drive and moving the /tmp partition into RAM. Turning off swap could also extend the drive's life, depending on your requirements and RAM usage. Hope this helps!