Bootable USB Ubuntu questions

[maxximilian]

Awhile ago I created a Ubuntu 11.04 USB Flash drive (with persistence) which I would occasionally boot to on normally windows 7 machines. I forgot all about it and recently found it again and decided to play around. After booting into the flash drive, I got a message about being out date and upgrading to latest Ubuntu if I want any further updates.

Question 1.....can I upgrade Ubuntu on a USB flash drive the same way I would if it was installed or do I have to just erase the drive and reinstall the latest version of "live" or whatever it is called?

Question 2....more generally....when I run Ubuntu from the flash drive, can I assume that the windows hard drive is completely isolated from anything that happens while running Ubuntu? No malware can migrate to or from? I am not running it on top of windows...but rather using the boot menu to go directly to the flash when starting up.

Thanks

[wonderinguy34]

1)since it is a "persistence " it would be easier to backup the info in that section of the USB and then just put a new Ubuntu .img on it. IMO

2) By default the USB runs independent of the HD,but the HD can be mounted,so it isn't foolproof if you start "playing".

[maxximilian]

Thanks

[NickC]

I've been playing around with a similar setup. When installing Linux on the flash drive, I unplugged the hard drive from the mobo before installing from the Live CD to prevent any accidental formatting or screwing up of the main hard drive.

Also, when running from USB I believe my hard drive did mount automatically, so if you're just playing around with Linux and don't plan to access any files on the hard drive, I would take the extra step of keeping the hard drive unmounted. Don't know how but I'm sure there is a setting somewhere to not mount upon boot-up.

[maxximilian]

I'm going to wander over to pendrivelinux.com soon and make a new Ubuntu USB drive. I'll see what options there are for making sure the HD is isolated. Not sure I want to crack the case every time I use it...but thanks for the tip.

BTW...am I correct in assuming that Ubuntu is still the most user friendly flavor of Linux? That is....easiest for windows users to handle? To be honest, I never got comfortable with terminal commands and like to keep those to a minimum.

[NickC]

You mentioned in your original post that you included persistence in your original ubuntu setup. That should allow the settings (if you find them to keep the HD unmounted by default) to be saved so you don't have to do it each time. But I haven't played with it too much.

Another option to think about is to actually install Linux instead of using pendrive to run a Live version off the flash drive. But I've heard this can prematurely wear out the flash drive because it's not meant to have so many read/writes. That might be better suited to an external hard drive through USB, which works great.

I think most still consider ubuntu to be the easiest to work with, although opinions about Linux distros vary widely as you know. Personally I think I like Linux Mint even better. Although to be fair, ubuntu was much easier to get working with my laptop's WiFi. But I think Linux Mint just looks and feels a lot more polished. I just found it more pleasant to work with

[maxximilian]

I have one machine dual-booting XP and Ubuntu. It's been going for several years and also badly out of date. Any USB version will just be for convenience of moving around to the netbook, laptop and other desktop machine. I'm still in the "curious" stage of Linux....waiting to see where it goes. The more graphical the interface becomes, the more I like it...but that's because I am still a windows person.

I also have an HP Touchpad tablet that I rigged to dual boot WebOS and Android....but giving thought to triple-booting by adding Ubuntu.

[maxximilian]

Just a follow up.....made a new Ubuntu USB pendrive. Chose Ubuntu 12.04 instead of 12.10. I Don't like being on the cutting edge. Like to let others do the damage first.

Runs much slower than the 11.04 stick I was running before...but perhaps it needs to do some caching and will speed up later. Also....no more Synaptics? Or maybe it is a separate install? It's not in there on the initial install.

[NickC]

Cool! Yes, if you use the pendrive on different machines I guess you can't install Linux on it because that would be hardware specific.

Can't remember about Synaptics but I think application installation is easier with the latest ubuntu. You can still use sudo apt-get but I think it might have a different package installer. Will have to check. I wasn't too crazy about the Unity interface (or whatever they call it) with a vertical dock on the left side. I prefer Gnome or KDE, which can also be setup of course. That's what I liked about Linux Mint. I know Linux is not supposed to be just-like-Windows but it does make it easier to play with if the overall look & feel are similar.

[maxximilian]

Did some checking....looks like Synaptics is available as a separate install....but I agree, installing is easier now through the existing software manager. Works sort of like Android app manager now. So that feels familiar somewhat. It found the latest Flash browser plug-in and installed it easily. I recall having to do several steps in the past for dependencies and such.

Can't say I am a fan of the dock either, but maybe after I customize it a bit.

Mainly it should be fun to play around with...and also have something to do surgery on Windows if and when I pooch it on one of my machines.