I'm considering using a flash drive to boot Linux since I need to keep Windows as my primary operating system for various software. I'm curious about people's experiences with running Linux from a USB drive. Does it run slowly? Are there any compatibility issues I should be aware of? I've used Linux Mint before, but back then it was my main OS, and I'm not looking to dual boot, so please don't suggest that.
5 Answers
I don't have a functioning hard drive at the moment, so I'm using a 128GB thumb drive to run Debian. It works well with my USB 3.0 and 16GB RAM setup; I can browse the internet and watch videos without issues. I do have to be cautious since USB drives can fail, but for basic tasks, it's totally manageable.
If you have enough RAM, you could load everything to RAM for much faster access. Otherwise, it's doable to run a live environment or install on a USB, but expect some sluggishness when loading programs.
Using a USB drive as your main Linux drive will lead to some slowness—especially depending on the USB version. If you can, consider an external SSD for better performance. If not, just take care with the flash drive as it may wear out quickly with the constant writes.
I find flash drives too slow for heavy use. Instead, I use an old SSD in a USB enclosure. It's not too expensive and performs much better than typical flash drives.
Booting from a flash drive will generally be slow, and USB drives aren't designed for the intense read/write cycles of running an OS. However, many people do it out of necessity and it can still work.
NomadBSD has shown that it can work quite well, though!
Sounds promising! I'm only planning on using it for simple tasks like studying and Google Docs, so that seems like a solid option.