Booting Linux and Windows on separate drives

[4ff]

Hi there,

 

I've been messing around with Linux for quite sometime and I was wondering if I could install Linux on an external hard disk and boot it via USB? I have Windows currently installed on my computer and I'm trying to avoid dual booting to save space on my SSDs. I'm using a laptop so, disk space is a limiting factor for me here.

 

 

[pegas]

Well ofc you can do that Just install the Linux Version in the USB external hard drive in my case i used to boot ubuntu from external hard drive ... after the install make sure you'll go to Bios Setup Utility  and change the boot order : 1st boot device USB and 2nd Boot device Hard drive so each time you wanna log to your linux plug the usb reboot and you're done you dont need to boot from live cd anymore ..

and if you dont know how to install linux on  External Hard Drive you can check this video 

 

[4ff]

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it!

 

Just a few other quick question, if I correctly install Linux, none of the files will be written to my SSD which have Windows files, I assume? And is it possible for me to access the files on my SSD (containing windows) while I'm using Linux?

 

Do you have any recommendation for Linux version that are user friendly and visually pleasing too? 

[Satlen]

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it!

 

Just a few other quick question, if I correctly install Linux, none of the files will be written to my SSD which have Windows files, I assume? And is it possible for me to access the files on my SSD (containing windows) while I'm using Linux?

 

Do you have any recommendation for Linux version that are user friendly and visually pleasing too? 

No files will be written to your ssd unless you tell it to. You will be able to access your SSD while in linux as well. As for recommendations, Linux Mint MATE edition is a nice and simple distro or manjaro xfce which has an arch base which I think teaches linux better.

 

http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

http://manjaro.org/get-manjaro/

 

Edit: As for visually pleasing, with some work you can make any distro pretty.

 

Edit 2: Elementary OS is pretty and lightweight http://elementaryos.org/

[4ff]

Thanks for the feedback!

Do I have to search and install separate drivers onto the Linux external drive such as the GPU, WiFi and etcetera?   

[Satlen]

Thanks for the feedback!

Do I have to search and install separate drivers onto the Linux external drive such as the GPU, WiFi and etcetera?   

All the drivers should be installed. If something is missing, you will want to open the additional drivers application

[pegas]

 

Do you have any recommendation for Linux version that are user friendly and visually pleasing too? 

 

Well Mr "xshockz" already answered your questions but i wanna add something i don't mean to confuse you , But since i'm Ubuntu User i would recommend you  Ubuntu 14.04 LTS  Since it's a user friendly and with the best visual effects 

[4ff]

All the drivers should be installed. If something is missing, you will want to open the additional drivers application

 

Ah alright, thanks for the info!

 

Well Mr "xshockz" already answered your questions but i wanna add something i don't mean to confuse you , But since i'm Ubuntu User i would recommend you  Ubuntu 14.04 LTS  Since it's a user friendly and with the best visual effects 

 

Hmm I'm currently looking at Xubuntu, due to its Xfce base but I'll check out Ubuntu itself beforehand

[Satlen]

Well Mr "xshockz" already answered your questions but i wanna add something i don't mean to confuse you , But since i'm Ubuntu User i would recommend you  Ubuntu 14.04 LTS  Since it's a user friendly and with the best visual effects 

Well, I dont like to recommend ubuntu because of all the bloat from amazon and other crap it has. If you do decide to go with ubuntu I would use this https://fixubuntu.com/ and download unity tweak tool as well.

[4ff]

Well, I dont like to recommend ubuntu because of all the bloat from amazon and other crap it has. If you do decide to go with ubuntu I would use this https://fixubuntu.com/ and download unity tweak tool as well.

 

Does Xubuntu come with bloatwares? I've seen some reviews on Youtube and it says that Xubuntu comes almost vanilla, is that true?

[Satlen]

Does Xubuntu come with bloatwares? I've seen some reviews on Youtube and it says that Xubuntu comes almost vanilla, is that true?

Xbuntu uses XFCE and that is good. Unity is the DE that has all that crap.