I recently got a new laptop that comes with Windows 11 pre-installed, which I need to keep for specific engineering software. However, I'm planning to do most of my work like studying, browsing, and media consumption on Linux. The laptop only has one NVMe slot, and I'm worried about messing things up with dual booting. Is it practical to run Linux from an external SSD for daily tasks? Also, will I be able to play games installed on the external drive using my laptop? I'm considering using openSUSE, and my laptop has an i7 processor and an RTX 5060.
4 Answers
I tried running Linux off an external SSD using a USB 4 port on my high-speed setup, but I had serious issues with freezing and booting. It worked on a slower USB 3.2 port, but it wasn’t stable. Some games ran well, others didn't, especially those needing fast access. So, be cautious with port choices! Also, Windows can mess around with your GRUB boot loader every now and then, which complicates dual booting.
Dual booting on a single SSD is pretty straightforward. You can boot from a USB stick to install Linux, and then use tools like GParted to shrink your Windows partition to make space for Linux. Alternatively, Windows has a built-in Disk Manager that makes this easy too—just right-click the Windows icon on your taskbar! After shrinking the partition, you can install Linux on that unallocated space.
Yes, you can definitely run games from the external drive! Steam games should work well, but just keep in mind that some games that install through other launchers (like Epic Games) might have issues. Most will run fine though, so you should be good!
Totally agree! Just watch out for those games that have unique installation quirks. They might not cooperate as well.
Using an external SSD should work nicely! Just set your BIOS to boot from the external SSD as a secondary option so you skip the boot menu if it’s plugged in. Also, it's a good idea to disconnect your internal SSD while installing Linux to avoid overwriting anything important from your Windows system.
Yeah, just make sure to choose the option to install alongside Windows during the setup, it takes care of most of the heavy lifting!