Putting Linux on a flash drive (Optimal way)

[George.]

Hey guys, so as the title hints - I want to install a Linux distribution on a flash drive for various reasons and I'm looking for the optimal way of doing it.

However, I want some feedback on this quite popular project (does it work ok, ia it too laggy, glitchy and what kind of a flash drive should I aim for).

Which distro would run the best on a thumb drive? I've used Ubuntu and Mint before but I don't mind trying others.

So far I believe I would need a usb 3.0 instead of a 2.0, not only to boot faster but also to run faster and hopefully not get a lot of stuttering. Also I believe a 64gb one would be recommended if I want to install some things and increase its usebility. 

Am I missing something? Any special notes to take? Any other recommendations?

If you got any other tips on this, please share. Thanks in advance!

[corrado33]

I use "Yumi" to make bootable linux flash drives.

 

It's super freaking simple and you can put multiple distros on one drive.

 

It even GIVES you the download link for whatever distro you want. 

 

https://www.pendrivelinux.com/yumi-multiboot-usb-creator/

 

And yes, you definitely want a USB 3.0 if you plan on staying in the live session for any period of time. 

 

As for which flavor to put on there? Well that's personal choice, during a live session I believe the entirety of the OS is loaded in to memory if possible. I typically keep ubuntu on there, but also keep something like puppy linux or tinycore if I need to run on an old computer with limited hardware. I also put memtest on there and diskpart, just because those are nice to have around. 

 

Note, you can ALSO put windows installations on this drive. 

[George.]

57 minutes ago, corrado33 said:

I use "Yumi" to make bootable linux flash drives.

 

It's super freaking simple and you can put multiple distros on one drive.

 

It even GIVES you the download link for whatever distro you want. 

 

https://www.pendrivelinux.com/yumi-multiboot-usb-creator/

 

And yes, you definitely want a USB 3.0 if you plan on staying in the live session for any period of time. 

 

As for which flavor to put on there? Well that's personal choice, during a live session I believe the entirety of the OS is loaded in to memory if possible. I typically keep ubuntu on there, but also keep something like puppy linux or tinycore if I need to run on an old computer with limited hardware. I also put memtest on there and diskpart, just because those are nice to have around. 

 

Note, you can ALSO put windows installations on this drive. 

Thanks for the response! I'll check Yumi out and see which distro to install.