"Installing" Ubuntu 10.10 on USB Pen Drive

[Idris]

I would like to "install" Ubuntu 10.10 on a USB pen drive, The reason I say "Install" is because once done I would like my changes to be saved so I wont have to change everything again when I boot from it the next time.

There is some confusion over this and I have heard various things:

1) Some people have said that you can use Ubuntu on a live usb but changes you make wont be saved and you will have to reconfigure everything each time you boot from it.

2)Some people have said to me that you can "install" to the usb pen drive and any changes you will make will be saved.

Can this please be cleared up?

Also,

I have the Ubuntu 10.10 iso, I have a pen drive that is more than 2gb now:

1)Do I used unetbootin to do what I require?
2)Should I use Ubuntu Live USB creator from Live CD to do it?

Would like some help!
Thanks!

[reed9]

You can make a persistent Ubuntu usb install, but it is not the default state of affairs.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/LiveCD/Persistence

[danny_un]

I would say that Live USB Creator is the way to go. Download the app from the webssite (you can hit Google search for the same) and load the iso as it will self-instruct when you load up the app. In this all changes made from every time you use the USB operating system will be saved .

[Idris]

Hello thanks for the response to my query, Now it is my understanding that as far as the usb pen drive goes there is no special requirements beyond that the usb pen drive is usb 2.0 and atleast 2gb in size, is that correct?

Also as for live usb creator must this programme be used in linux or can it be used in windows because I dont want to install to the wrong drive by getting my drives confused in the linux directory system so I want to do it in window if possible.

Is this the software here:

linuxliveusb.com/

Or is that something different, On there its says it works on windows!

[reed9]

I haven't used either of them, but the linuxliveusb.com link you mentioned does say it can do persistence, and there is also linux universal usb installer, which should be able to do persistence.

2 GB is adequate. You could probably get away with 1 GB, since the Ubuntu image is only around 700 MB. Of course, if you're planning to add a lot of stuff, you might want to go larger.

[Idris]

I haven't used either of them, but the linuxliveusb.com link you mentioned does say it can do persistence

2 GB is adequate. You could probably get away with 1 GB, since the Ubuntu image is only around 700 MB. Of course, if you're planning to add a lot of stuff, you might want to go larger.

Thanks again! Yes my usb pen drive is 8gb I decided to go for a larger usb stick to keep me going for a little while until im happy enough to install it properly. I havent used linux since Suse 8.2 which was back in 2003/4.

I have joined the LUG in my city, They are having a meeting tomorrow, Do you think they would mind if I asked them help me get started with the persistence? I dont know what the linux culture is like because I have been out of the loop for so long, I just want to make sure I do it properly!

[reed9]

You know, I've never been part of a LUG, but I can't imagine they would object.

However, it's always good practice to try figuring it out yourself, and then coming to them with specific questions. It shouldn't take long to run through the process with one of the live usb creators and see if it works.