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Can I use a usb flash drive as a main hard drive?

jakeeberhart
By jakeeberhart
in Storage Devices
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I'm just wondering but is it possible to use a usb flash drive as a main hard drive? I have a 16 gb flash drive and i'm wondering if I can use it in place of my crappy hdd until I get a new one. I know its not enough space for windows but I can install linux on it.

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yea you can

it's called a bootable USB.Probaly easier to use a blank dvd though

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2 minutes ago, Himommies said:

yea you can

it's called a bootable USB.Probaly easier to use a blank dvd though

no a DVD will be way slower than a flash drive. 

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Yes, when using Linux you have two options with a USB drive. You can either install the OS in live mode (depending on the distro you choose) which will allow you to boot fresh each time and even save a couple settings, or you can do a full install to the USB drive, which would allow you to use it as though it were a traditional HDD.

 

Either way, you must consider a few things:

- Is the flash drive capable of read/write speeds fast enough to accommodate the operations of the OS and all of your requirements?

- Are you willing to give up a USB port for the entire duration of your computer's on-time while using the USB drive as your main drive?

- Are you willing to risk losing data in the event that the flash drive fails (unlikely, but still possible)?

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1 minute ago, Ulincsys said:

Yes, when using Linux you have two options with a USB drive. You can either install the OS in live mode (depending on the distro you choose) which will allow you to boot fresh each time and even save a couple settings, or you can do a full install to the USB drive, which would allow you to use it as though it were a traditional HDD.

 

Either way, you must consider a few things:

- Is the flash drive capable of read/write speeds fast enough to accommodate the operations of the OS and all of your requirements?

- Are you willing to give up a USB port for the entire duration of your computer's on-time while using the USB drive as your main drive?

- Are you willing to risk losing data in the event that the flash drive fails (unlikely, but still possible)?

thank you this helps me a lot

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Just a tidbit, flash drives are slower than hard drives, most of the time. They're not ssd's.

 

In terms of I/O per second, the flash drive will get crushed.

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