gurudev1000

Hi,
After two weeks of Ubuntu, Mint, and just total loss in this huge world and a lifetime of Windows, I wish to know one thing for sure, without any confusion - the Linux installation procedure and its limits.
I do not mind scouring the internet for information before filling up the forum threads, but this is something that is irritating me to no due to complete confusion in what applies to which distro and what method.
I need to know many things, the first of them being, if all these questions I am going to ask and their answers apply to every Linux distro. I have come to like using the terminal over downloading irritating packages and finding ways of copy pasting them all over the system and creating shortcuts. But don't blame me, it is just natural considering we newbies and daily users want ease, and more important, stay away from unnecessary complexity. That being said, these are my questions on installing linux -
1: Can you install ANY distro of Linux INTO a USB flash drive the normal way you install it onto hard disk drive without having to go through these 'persistence' stuff to use a normal OS? If yes, is booting from the CD/DVD the easiest way to do so rather than doing it from Windows itself?
2: When it comes to Linux and a 'USB flash dive' what all can be done ON it and FROM it, if you can understand what I am trying to say! All over the internet, there are enough of articles explaining these things, but they all are confusing with even titles that don't mean the same from article to article.
3: If I have a Linux OS up and running the 'normal' way from the USB flash drive, what are the pros and cons of using it with something like Windows already installed on a normal hard disk drive?

There are many more question all in my head, but I guess, my knowledge what the limits and powers of Linux is so confused, I don't even know what is a question and what is speculation!

I would appreciate your patience and help.
Thankyou.

HROAdmin26

Yes, practically any Linux *can* be installed onto a USB drive. BUT, some distro's are better/smoother at it. Installing Linux onto a USB drive is *not* the same thing as running a "live" distro from CD/USB. "Live" distro's are typically read-only (a CD *cannot* be written to) and do not save changes. Live distro's on USB sticks can be modified to save changes. Yes, booting from a Linux install CD to run an install would be preferred - only a few distro's support installation from inside a running Windows OS.

You'll have to clarify. Maybe the info above will help.

Only common sense items. If running off a LiveCD, booting/running an OS from a CDROM will be slower and changes cannot be saved. If it's a LiveUSB OS, you may need to modify it to preserve changes. If you have just done an OS install onto the USB media, you will likely have less space if you don't touch/use the internal HDD. Heavy USB usage with certain filesystems can also cause "thumbdrives" to wear out prematurely. Most Linuxes have the ntfs-3g driver available for read/write access to NTFS partitions.