How to create a bootable version of Linux on an external

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zll

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Have been wanting to try Linux for gaming but don't want to dual boot. I had huge issues reinstalling my windows OS the last time I did a hardware upgrade and don't want to risk going through all that again.

I've tested Ubuntu using a live drive, but when I try to install Ubuntu on an external drive so I can use it as a persistent solution it never seems to include a boot record?

I've tried looking this up but people have reported the same issue with guides on YouTube.

Any advice on how to go about this?
 
Get another cheapo 500GB NVME/SSD.
You can select which disk to Boot from in the BIOS or a keypress before boot.

Don't use Ubuntu. Use Linux Mint (Cinnamon version). It's what I use and it's bloody fantastic.
 
biena said:
rufus will make that possible.
Click to expand...

I've used Rufus to create the Ubuntu live drive. That works fine.

But when I install Ubuntu from the live drive flash stick it never seems to want to boot from the external.

The only time it's ever worked was when I accidentally left the live drive in and rebooted and then it booted into the os on the external. Am guessing it used the MBR on the live drive flash stick.
 
zll said:
I've used Rufus to create the Ubuntu live drive. That works fine.

But when I install Ubuntu from the live drive flash stick it never seems to want to boot from the external.

The only time it's ever worked was when I accidentally left the live drive in and rebooted and then it booted into the os on the external. Am guessing it used the MBR on the live drive flash stick.
Click to expand...

Pay more attention to Rufus.

You can literally install directly to persistent when you make the USB flash drive.

But also running off a flash drive isn't great. I would recommend you get a secondary SSD then just unplug your current drive (to prevent the dual boot) and install on there and simply flip boot sequence in your BIOS to switch.

****

Oh I see you meant external USB drive, not a flash drive. But same should work, just unplug your main drive first and then tell Ubuntu you want it to Erase Everything and it should do the rest.
 
Did you hit F8 during boot and have a look if it comes up as an option in the boot menu?
 
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Change bios boot order to boot from USB device 1st and your internal windows drive 2nd.

Then plug in external SSD (don't use anything less) if you want to boot Linux / unplug if you want Windows.

I have an NVME SSD in external case with Ubuntu desktop installed I use to troubleshoot machines.

Provided it is connected to USB3 port it's fast enough to be usable.
 
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SauRoNZA said:
You can literally install directly to persistent when you make the USB flash drive.
Click to expand...

I did. No luck. Maybe I'll try again.

SauRoNZA said:
Oh I see you meant external USB drive, not a flash drive. But same should work, just unplug your main drive first and then tell Ubuntu you want it to Erase Everything and it should do the rest.
Click to expand...

I think I'll just have to do this. Will shop around for an extra hard drive.
 
B-1 said:
Did you hit F8 during boot and have a look if it comes up as an option in the boot menu?
Click to expand...
OCP said:
Change bios boot order to boot from USB device 1st and your internal windows drive 2nd.

Then plug in external SSD (don't use anything less) if you want to boot Linux / unplug if you want Windows.

I have an NVME SSD in external case with Ubuntu desktop installed I use to troubleshoot machines.

Provided it is connected to USB3 port it's fast enough to be usable.
Click to expand...

I went into the bios and changed the boot order for the drive with the persistent Ubuntu install but GRUB kept on popping up with zero boot options listed. It just looked like terminal. Based on my research people kept on saying this was a problematic boot record?

I think I'll need to try doing a full install on a standard drive. Will shop around for a cheap SSD or NVME.
 
zll said:
I went into the bios and changed the boot order for the drive with the persistent Ubuntu install but GRUB kept on popping up with zero boot options listed. It just looked like terminal. Based on my research people kept on saying this was a problematic boot record?

I think I'll need to try doing a full install on a standard drive. Will shop around for a cheap SSD or NVME.
Click to expand...

That sounds like UEFI causing trouble.

Possibly have Secure Boot enabled in BIOS?
 
+1 for mint. Does what it needs to do in a simple efficient way.
 
B-1 said:
+1 for mint. Does what it needs to do in a simple efficient way.
Click to expand...

I installed Mint a week ago and the speed difference compared to Windows is quite noticeable.
Also no pesky logging/spying and everything just works out of the box. Updates can be controlled. It can run everything.
 
longboy said:
I installed Mint a week ago and the speed difference compared to Windows is quite noticeable.
Also no pesky logging/spying and everything just works out of the box. Updates can be controlled. It can run everything.
Click to expand...
Does it run Crysis? ;-)
 
Got Mint working.

This may be a dumb question. Do I have to make the bootable drive on the same machine I'm going to be using?

I'd previously used a separate machine so I decided to just run Rufus and let it set up Mint on the laptop I'm going to try run it on and it worked.
 
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