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Booting Ubuntu on a laptop from a desktop HDD.

Tags:
  • Laptops
  • Download
  • Storage
  • Hard Drives
  • Ubuntu
Last response: in Linux/Free BSD
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February 21, 2014 11:51:02 AM

I want to be able to download Ubuntu and maybe a few more OS's to this HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

How would I be able to download OS's to this HDD if I only have a laptop?

The goal is to be able to boot any OS I want from this external HDD on my laptop.

I don't know how to download the OS's to this HDD, I don't know how to connect this HDD to my laptop, and once the OS's are downloaded to the desktop HDD; I don't know how to choose which OS I want to boot up.

Also, this HDD is one that I already have on me right now and I'd like to refrain from going out and buying another one if at all possible.

I also have one 32GB, two 8GB, and one 4GB Flashdrive(s). Just in case that information is relavant.

More about : booting ubuntu laptop desktop hdd

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a b D Laptop
a b G Storage
February 21, 2014 1:21:02 PM

First - to enable using the hard drive as an external drive, you will need a usb/sata converter (HERE). This will allow you to format the hdd and then use it as a bootable device via usb port.

Second - Rather than try to download ubuntu or other linux distros directly to the hard drive, create a bootable usb thumb drive using YUMI from pendrivelinux (HERE). Run this under windows and format your thumb drive using YUMI. You can then download ubuntu and others to your laptop, run YUMI and add the distro(s) to your thumbdrive. You can add as many distros as you have room for on the drive. Each distro can be run directly from the thumb drive, and if you like what you see, it will give you the option to install that distro. Plug in your external converted to usb hdd and select it as the install destination.

Part of the installation program for ubuntu will install a program called GRUB. GRUB is a third party bootloader which will inspect all of your drives for operating systems. On boot, GRUB will pop up and give you a choice of which o/s you want to load.

Mark
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February 21, 2014 1:31:08 PM

Thank you so much!
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a b D Laptop
a b G Storage
February 21, 2014 3:51:31 PM

Welcome
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February 21, 2014 5:31:17 PM

This should work. However, you should do a search about using WD Green drives with Linux. Apparently they do not play nicely together, the details are too technical for me but the upshot is either you have to do a bunch of tweaking in terminal or the drive will have a short life span.
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February 22, 2014 5:03:05 AM

Aristotelian said:
This should work. However, you should do a search about using WD Green drives with Linux. Apparently they do not play nicely together, the details are too technical for me but the upshot is either you have to do a bunch of tweaking in terminal or the drive will have a short life span.


hm, that dosen't sound too good. I wonder what kind of "tweaking" I'd have to do in cmd. Make a partition for the OS maybe?

Thanks for the info. I appreciate any I can get.
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a b D Laptop
a b G Storage
February 22, 2014 5:37:51 AM

The "issue" with linux and WD greens revolves around the load cycle count. While it may be of concern to some, I have used linux for several years and never encountered an issue. If you feel uncomfortable, check THIS article regarding the "problem".

Since you are wanting to explore linux, don't be afraid of the "terminal". While the use of terminal may seem daunting, once you have played with it a bit, you'll find that it is not as difficult, nor as often used as many would lead you to believe. The new distros of ubuntu, mint, etc. are heavily GUI and do not require a great deal of terminal work. If, however, you do find the need to work in terminal, there are many, many guides in the ubuntu and mint forums to help.

The nice thing about trying ubuntu from the thumb drive is you can experiment with terminal and all the other "scary" stuff without changing anything on your hdd. If you really want to give it a try, put ubuntu on one of the 8gb thumb drives and mint on the other. Instead of using YUMI for this method, use the Universal installer (HERE) instead and set up a 2gb persistance partition. This will allow you to have a complete o/s, including any changes you make, all contained on the usb. You can try different drivers, play with different interfaces, etc. and keep all the changes you make right on the stick.

I dual boot both my laptop and my desktop with windows and linux and find that the only time I use windows now is when I want to do serious gaming. I use linux for everything else and I have found open source programs to replace virtually every windows based app like office, internet explorer, outlook, etc. They are all free and in every case I can think of, they perform just as well if not better than the pay apps.

Mark
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