do i need grub bootloader?

[liquidmagma]

so basically i have a usb flash drive which has debian installed on it but do i need bootloader and if yes then where?

[paddy-stone]

Not sure what you're getting at? Do you have debian "installed" on the USB drive? or do you mean you have the installer? 

 

When you install a linux OS it handles where to put the GRUB bootloader, mainly in the MBR of the main hard disk/SSD. All YOU have to do is boot the installation drive, whether it's USB or DVD, and then choose which hard disk etc to install to.

[liquidmagma]

3 minutes ago, paddy-stone said:

Not sure what you're getting at? Do you have debian "installed" on the USB drive? or do you mean you have the installer? 

 

When you install a linux OS it handles where to put the GRUB bootloader, mainly in the MBR of the main hard disk/SSD. All YOU have to do is boot the installation drive, whether it's USB or DVD, and then choose which hard disk etc to install to.

yes i have debian installed onto the usb. and why do i have to install the bootloader onto the hdd if i change the bios'es boot order to first boot from usb? cant i just install the boot loader onto the root directoty on the usb?

[paddy-stone]

1 hour ago, liquidmagma said:

yes i have debian installed onto the usb. and why do i have to install the bootloader onto the hdd if i change the bios'es boot order to first boot from usb? cant i just install the boot loader onto the root directoty on the usb?

Yes, you should be able to do as you say above... I was just not clear on what you were asking in your OP. You may not even need the bootlaoder if you force boot everytime you want to use it, so then if you don't want the GRUB bootloader on your main rig for instance you don't have to waste time selecting OS in GRUB if you only want to boot into windows or whatever  on your main rig.