After the USB startup disk was a success, I decided to try installing Ubuntu directly on the USB thumb drive, like any other HDD. It works! All you have to do to have your own portable version of Ubuntu is click ‘Advanced’ on step 7 of 7 (of the installation) and choose the USB thumb drive to save the MBR.

I installed Ubuntu on the thumb drive from my desktop and then booted it with the laptop. It booted perfectly. I do have to say Windows 7 does run faster than Ubuntu on this laptop, which my wife was quick to point out (she’s already a die hard 7 fan). There are also some hangups using Firefox, but that may be temporary considering I just installed 135 updates to Ubuntu. Overall, I think it’s usable enough for what I need and will allow me to move forward with some network experiments I’m planning (without worrying about doing any damage to my wife’s beloved laptop).

Side notes: I have a theory ext4 may not have been the best format for the partition, considering it is a flash drive (perhaps ReiserFS would be better?). This is probably also not the fastest thumb drive, which could be part of the reason for the hangups (along with the format). All things considered, this has been a successful experiment and appears to be a promising, if not viable, solution for computing on the go. Don’t be surprised if this experiment isn’t over yet

Tags: Clean Install, Ubuntu, USB

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Posted in Blog by David Dyess II No Comments Yet