Booting from usb or installing?

[GJ1234]

Hello everybody in the Ubuntu community,

I'm really happy to say that I've successfully booted Ubuntu 12.04 LTS from my 4GB fat32 partitioned USB device.
Really excited about all the features.
I installed it with the idea of only syncing the Cyanogenmodrepo and building it from source, but I think I'll want to use it for everything!
Unfortunately I'm not that familiar with partitioning et cetera
So I'm asking if running Ubuntu from an usbdevice does have any major disadvantages? (storage,speed?)
I'm not planning to install any games (I use Windows for that) and for some compatibility stuff I'm holding on to my Windows 7 OS.
How simple would it be to install them on the same C:/ without losing any data on my Windows installation and no performance drop.

Looking forward to answers!
GJ1234

[nbetham]

With regards to storage and speed USB isn't the fastest kid on the block when it comes to transferring data. Additionally depending on the tools you might install that 4GB might fill up rather quick. However it is a simple solution to just up and running with Ubuntu for a few quick things here or there. I wouldn't recommend running off of USB for anything important however.

As far as partitioning goes, Ubuntu is pretty good at finding out what OS is installed on a drive. Given enough space Ubuntu can re-partition around Windows and play nicely with Windows on the same HDD. But with any partitioning there is a possibility of loosing data. If you do plan to go ahead with installing along-side Windows make sure you back up all your data, there is always a possibility, albeit unlikely, that the install could go sideways and wipe the drive. As well, make sure you read all the prompts in the install, I myself have once failed to do so and didn't notice that I was erasing my original partition, with all my data on it. Luckily I had backups on-hand to restore my data.

Regards,
Neil

[GJ1234]

With regards to storage and speed USB isn't the fastest kid on the block when it comes to transferring data. Additionally depending on the tools you might install that 4GB might fill up rather quick. However it is a simple solution to just up and running with Ubuntu for a few quick things here or there. I wouldn't recommend running off of USB for anything important however.

As far as partitioning goes, Ubuntu is pretty good at finding out what OS is installed on a drive. Given enough space Ubuntu can re-partition around Windows and play nicely with Windows on the same HDD. But with any partitioning there is a possibility of loosing data. If you do plan to go ahead with installing along-side Windows make sure you back up all your data, there is always a possibility, albeit unlikely, that the install could go sideways and wipe the drive. As well, make sure you read all the prompts in the install, I myself have once failed to do so and didn't notice that I was erasing my original partition, with all my data on it. Luckily I had backups on-hand to restore my data.

Regards,
Neil

Mm okay thank you!
Is there any good guide to do so?
Just to feel more secure you know! aha
Pretty excited about this atm

[nbetham]

Also I forgot to mention you could use VirtualBox from Oracle to run Ubuntu inside Windows, check it out here https://www.virtualbox.org/. This option removes the possibility of erasing your Windows partition. If you're not planning on doing anything to CPU or graphics intensive this is by far the best option compared to dual booting. If you still want to dual boot however this: http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/EBCD/Ubuntu seems to be a fairly complete guide on how to do so.

Regards,
Neil

[GJ1234]

Also I forgot to mention you could use VirtualBox from Oracle to run Ubuntu inside Windows, check it out here https://www.virtualbox.org/. This option removes the possibility of erasing your Windows partition. If you're not planning on doing anything to CPU or graphics intensive this is by far the best option compared to dual booting. If you still want to dual boot however this: http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/EBCD/Ubuntu seems to be a fairly complete guide on how to do so.

Regards,
Neil

Thanks!
But I was thinking by myself, what if I do this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6Ycx...eature=related
until the WUBI part, so I can install Ubuntu on the space I created?
Or am I thinking to simple?

[nbetham]

If you are referring to the partitioning portion of the video the Ubuntu installer will do the same when you are installing it from USB or CD. Both essentially do the same thing, either way should yield the same results.

Regards,
Neil

[oldfred]

Wubi is fine for an extended test to see if you like Ubuntu or not. It is a file inside the Windows NTFS partition and uses the windows boot loader to boot into the grub menu.

But even the creator of wubi expects once you decide you like Ubuntu to install to partitions.
http://howsoftwareisbuilt.com/2009/0...o-wubi-ubuntu/
Agostino: Wubi actually wasn’t designed to do long-term installations. The main aim was really to let people try out Ubuntu with confidence. Normally, users that start with Wubi tend to upgrade to a full installation to a dedicated partition at the next release cycle.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/WubiGuide
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Wubi

Most new Windows 7 systems use all four primary partitions, some say just to make it more difficult to install another system to separate partitions.

Good advice on how to handle all four primary partitions used. - srs5694
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1686440
Besure to create recovery DVD(s) first. And a Windows repair CD.
HP tools partition discussion - similar for other vendor partitions:
http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Noteboo...on/td-p/228360

If you have a larger USB flash drive you can do a full install to that. Again USB & flash is not as speedy as a hard drive. But it is functional especially if you have a fair amount of RAM. May be a bit slow loading a larger app, but once loaded runs just as fast as it is in RAM.

HOW TO Avoid Wubi & Install Ubuntu on USB Drive -
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1650699

Pros & cons of persistent install over direct install to flashdrives - C.S.Cameron
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1655412

[GJ1234]

TThanks for all the help, but let me set this straight:
I can shrink the Windows partition from 600 to 525 and then install Ubuntu on the 75 GB partition?

[oldfred]

If you have not used all 4 primary partitions that will work.

Post this from liveCD:

sudo fdisk -lu

[Dawnbandit]

Try Wubi and when installing Ubuntu its Installer has a pretty simple easy to use partition editor for installing.