Computers & Electronics

Which Linux distro can run off live USB stick?

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  • Apr 1st, 2013 9:44 pm
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Sr. Member
Aug 12, 2011
539 posts
24 upvotes

Which Linux distro can run off live USB stick?

Which which? Can I use the Win7 USB DVD tool to copy the iso to the USB drive?
10 replies
Deal Expert
User avatar
Oct 19, 2003
20241 posts
8367 upvotes
Toronto (Bloor West …
Almost all of the relatively popular ones have tools to make a bootable USB from the ISO, just read the distribution/deployment instructions it will usually be there. Since you're asking this quesiton I'm guessing you're not that familiar with Linux in general so I would point you to Ubuntu to start. There are explicit instructions about how to create a bootable USB somewhere along the download process.

That being said, running an OS off of a USB drive - if we're talking about flash storage - is not a good idea for long term stability. An OS processes many writes on the drive over time even while it's doing 'nothing' from various logging and daemon activities and this wears out the flash cells really fast eventually leading to a really fast failure of the drive. Trust me, I killed many drives this way running Arch Linux ARM. You'll want to at the very least use a mechanical USB drive if you really need it to be "portable".
Sr. Member
Aug 12, 2011
539 posts
24 upvotes
omg, my trackpad doesn't work with the live USB. What do I do?
Newbie
May 27, 2009
55 posts
3 upvotes
Spruce Grove
most distros have live usb. should have no problem try linux mint. better than ubuntu.
Deal Addict
Apr 14, 2007
2959 posts
463 upvotes
Montreal
If you want to see screenshots there's also a tool I reviewed on my page that takes the ISO and makes a bootable USB key as well at gnuman.com
Sr. Member
Aug 12, 2011
539 posts
24 upvotes
OK... Very strange. I'm running Ubuntu 12.04 LTS desktop from my USB stick. From the command terminal, xinput --list shows my touchpad present. xinput --list-props ## shows like a bunch of detailed info about the touchpad (Synaptics). So, why isn't my touchpad working? xinput set-int-prop ## "Device Enabled" 8 1 does not make it work...

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