Ubuntu on Stick: Where to install?
Types of live USB devices
- USB 2.0 flash drive
- USB 3.0 flash drive
- portable (small enough to fit in your pocket) external SSD
- external hard drive (SSD is much faster than HDD)
There are two types of Ubuntu installations on a USB flash drive, a full installation of Ubuntu on a USB flash drive and an Ubuntu live USB which is not a full installation of Ubuntu on a USB flash drive, also known as an Ubuntu live USB. Neither type of Ubuntu installation on a USB device is the equal of a dual boot-ed Ubuntu operating system due to performance and wear limitations inherent in USB drive media. Start with whatever >=16GB USB flash drive you already have, and if you can't get the performance that you need then upgrade to an external SSD.
Full Installation of Ubuntu on a USB flash drive
The process of doing a full installation of Ubuntu to a USB flash drive is identical to installing Ubuntu on a hard drive except for the installing the GRUB bootloader. All of the steps to follow in the Ubuntu installer are identical except for installing the GRUB bootloader. Installing the GRUB bootloader on the USB flash drive will replace the existing GRUB bootloader on the hard drive which you don't want to do, unless you disconnect the cables to your hard drive(s) first before you start the Ubuntu installer to do a full installation of Ubuntu on a USB flash drive. So disconnect the hard drives first, then you can install Ubuntu on a USB flash drive.
You can alternatively do a full installation of Ubuntu on a USB flash drive without disconnecting the internal hard drive cables first by selecting the Something else option in the Installation type screen of the Ubuntu installer. You need to create only a single / partition (root partition), no swap partition, and change the installation of the grub bootloader to the USB flash drive. Double-check your partitioning choices that everything that will be changed is only changed on the USB flash drive, then click the Install Now button in the lower right corner.
Additional information about a full installation of Ubuntu on a USB flash drive.
- I recommend that the USB flash drive be at least 32GB. This is consistent with the recommended >=25GB disk space for Ubuntu.
- A USB 3.0 flash drive is a lot faster than a USB 2.0 flash drive.
- The advantage of using a USB flash drive lies in its portability, not in its performance. The performance of a full install of Ubuntu on a 32GB USB flash drive is nothing like what you would get from running Ubuntu in a virtual machine application such as VirtualBox.