I'm trying to dual boot Linux Mint on my HP laptop, which only has Windows 10 and a small 58GB of storage. I want to run Linux off a USB whenever I plug it in, but I've come across advice suggesting that I need two USBs. Is it really possible to do this with just one 128GB USB?
2 Answers
Yes, you can run Linux Mint directly from a single USB without any issues while still having Windows on your laptop’s internal storage. However, just a heads-up—58GB for Windows is pretty minimal and can be quite limiting, especially if it's running on slower eMMC storage.
You can definitely use one USB to run a Live version of Mint. If, however, you want to install Mint onto a USB for persistent use, you would typically need two: one for running the Live version and another for the installation.
But, you might want to look into using VENTOY, which allows you to run a Live Mint with persistence from a single USB. Just keep in mind that running an OS from a USB can wear it out faster due to frequent read/write cycles, so consider cloning it as a backup!
Thanks for the tip! I’ll definitely look into VENTOY.