Boot from USB hard disk

[lotech]

I tried 3 USB boot installation method, the usb-creator, pendrivelinux and portablelinux, they all have crashing problem especially when running Firefox, the worst case destroyed the partition on my flash drive. I've an impression that flash drive is not reliable enough, so I will try again with usb hard disk, but I don't know if they are really more reliable and the installation method no change, anyone has experience on that ?

[HyRax]

You can install via any USB storage medium - heck, you can even install from an SD Card. The installation process is exactly the same.

[lotech]

Ok, I just install to a new flash drive, it boots up no problem but it does not save back changes, I already assign 3G for save back personal files and setting but it boots up as new every time :mad:

[HyRax]

Ok, I just install to a new flash drive, it boots up no problem but it does not save back changes, I already assign 3G for save back personal files and setting but it boots up as new every time :mad:

That means you've got the LiveCD installed on your USB stick, not a proper bonafide native install.

[Mighty_Joe]

Keep in mind that flash memory can wear out (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_memory#Memory_wear). There are steps you can take to mitigate the wear and tear, like moving logging to a RAM disk. I used these instructions to install (http://beastie.cs.ua.edu/cs150/usb-install.html) and configure (http://beastie.cs.ua.edu/cs150/configuration.html) an install of Ubuntu to a flash drive. Seems to work pretty well.