Originally posted by zeeblebotAre thumb drives with linux to be only run from the drive or can you dual install also? I presume on another partition of course.
PPS, there are a couple of advertisers on distrowatch.com that sell Linux CDs for under $2, and USB jump drives with Linux Mint preinstalled for $15-$21.
thumb-drives and external drives (e.g., USB HD) can be configured to boot multiple operating systems from their internal partitions, just as internal drives are.
but the choice of external (thumb or USB HD) vs. internal HD is made by the BIOS before the issue of multi-boot vs. single-boot comes into play.
it works like this:
- power switched on or hard reset invoked.
- BIOS reads from its settings the choice of driver order to seek bootable operating systems from.
- BIOS looks through the drives in that order, for a boot loader, and loads the first one it finds.
- if single-boot, the boot loader passes control to the boot code for the OS to be booted.
- if multi-boot, the boot loader presents a table of operating systems to be loaded. the boot loader may be configured to wait for a timeout before selecting one of the operating systems by default. (it could also be configured to jump directly to one of the OS's in which case it is for all purposes single-boot).
the latest issue Linux Journal had a short half-page article about multi-boot but it won't be available online for a couple of months. the meta-distro it shows is Billix. this distro is designed to be loaded on one thumb drive or on a CD or DVD and includes multiple distros with a multi-boot loader for the user to select them with at boot time. i may have tried Billix a while back but i don't remember the results.
the wikipedia article for Billix does point to an article on Linux Journal about it, and to the Sourceforge page for Billix where you can download it (but i don't know how fresh it is or how well maintained). the Billix "homepage" the first external link on the wikipedia Billix page is pointing to is a stub, nothing much there except a brief note.
probably you will edit your BIOS parameters to set a boot order something like this:
CDROM
USB-Flash/USB-HDD
HD
this order will mean that:
- if a bootable CD-ROM is in the CD drive, the system will boot from that. otherwise,
- if a bootable thumb drive or USB hard drive is attached, the system will boot from the first one it finds. otherwise,
- if a bootable internal hard drive is installed, the system will boot from the primary drive, or (if your BIOS supports it) from the one specified in your BIOS parameters.
Originally posted by sonhouseif Linux Mint isn't booted from an internal hard drive, there will be an icon on your desktop saying to Install Linux Mint or something like that. it will lead you through the install process, including making a new partition for Linux, either by resizing the partitions on your old drive or partitioning a fresh drive you've installed.
Are thumb drives with linux to be only run from the drive or can you dual install also? I presume on another partition of course.
i'd recommend buying Linux Mint 8 on CD and on thumb drive from one of the advertisers at distrowatch. the CD being for backup. if you like Mint, talk to the local Linux user's group about installing.
if you really want to add Linux as a dual-boot option on an existing Windows machine, you'd want to back up everything and make sure your backups are good and talk to the user's group first, probably.
your kids might try installing with the Install link. that might not turn out good.
best is to use a fresh hard drive with a new or old machine. no dual-boot, so no worrying about your Windows drive.
i've got over 15 yrs experience with Linux and over 25 with Unix, and it's hard for me to guess how much trouble you'd have (i did the installs for my family and elders, not them). thus the recommendation for new/old machine with fresh drive, and consulting the user's group.
if you have a CD or a thumb drive, you can't disconnect the hard drive and won't need to worry about it. Linux can run fine from the CD or thumb drive without the hard drive.
it's slower from a CD (esp. booting), faster from a thumb drive, and fastest from an HD (i think).
and it will save your system info if you install to HD, so it doesn't have to guess every time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_User_Group#Installfests
Installfests
An Installfest (a portmanteau of installation and festival) is an event, generally sponsored by a local Linux User Group, university or LAN party, at which people get together to do mass installations of computer operating systems or software, most often Linux and other open source software.
It is generally an advocacy and community-building event, where novices bring their computers along with their preferred operating system installation disks to the location of the installfest, and experienced users help them in getting started and troubleshooting problems. Sometimes a Linux distribution and informative flyers are given for free to the attendees. Some events ask for participants to bring power strips and network switches if available.
Installfests welcome all skill levels from complete novice to expert. An installfest will range from an informal get together to festivals involving music. The tone and scope of a specific event will depend on the organization sponsoring it. The Ubuntu Global Jam includes installfests.