I have been searching for a while trying to find a way to get an OS onto a USB. I have searched this and I have only found how to make a ubuntu live USB. I don't want to dual boot. I want to be able to have the operating system on the USB so that I can plug it into other computers and boot my desktop. I have no idea where to look on how to do this so some help would be nice. I have a windows 8.1 laptop and a 16GB USB.
1 Answer
You can install Ubuntu to a USB drive easily.
- Get an Ubuntu Live CD of Live USB and boot it on some computer.
- Get a spare USB Drive (the one you want to use for booting on any computer) and plug it into the same computer from step 1.
- Run through the installer and select the USB drive from step 2 as the destination disk, also be sure to install GRUB onto the USB disk as well.
You should now be able to boot off of the USB as long as the computer you wish to use supports booting from USB.
This question was also previously answered here: How to install Ubuntu on a usb stick
-
You can save a lot of grief by first unplugging your internal HDD, I have see many cases where the internal drive was overwritten or grub installed in the wrong place and the machine would not boot or only boot with the USB plugged in Nov 15, 2016 at 7:17