can someone tell me or point me to a guide on how to boot Ubuntu on an external hard drive? i need to move on different machines but on my personal PC my windows don't let me see the hard drive with Ubuntu installation on the boot devices list, thanks in advance.
1 Answer
You want a portable Ubuntu system, that can boot both in UEFI mode and BIOS mode.
The easiest solution is to create a persistent live drive
- very portable between computers (unless a computer needs a proprietary driver (for wifi or graphics)
easy to create with the tool mkusb:
limits:
- You can install and update/upgrade most program packages
- You can not make new kernels and kernel drivers (for wifi or graphics) work
It is possible but more difficult to create a portable installed system
- portable between computers; you may or may not have problems if you install a proprietary driver (for wifi or graphics)
method to create a portable installed system, bootable both in UEFI and BIOS:
- How to make an USB Ubuntu installation more compatible with different computers?
more details at
- https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/UEFI-and-BIOS; method up to date, linked image files getting old
- How do I install Ubuntu to a USB key? (without using Startup Disk Creator); more necessary to boot in both UEFI and BIOS mode
limits:
- You can install and update/upgrade all program packages including new kernels and kernel drivers (for wifi or graphics)
- There may be portability problems
- When booted , major updates of Windows may damage the boot structure of the portable USB drive with an installed system, so it is a good idea to disconnect the drive, when you intend to boot into Windows.
mkusb
withusb-pack-efi
that can boot both in UEFI and BIOS mode.