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I created a bootable USB for Ubuntu as per the instructions here. My USB was a 500GB external hard drive (NTFS formatted). When I boot Ubuntu, everything works fine, however it asks me whether I want to install Ubuntu onto my laptop. My laptop is managed by my organization and so I cannot do that. What I want to do is have Ubuntu and its file system on my hard drive so I can essentially have a portable OS with all of its files to boot from any computer.

Is this possible, and if so, how can I implement this?

applemonkey496
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1 Answers1

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External Hard Drive that Boots on Any Computer

If you want an external hard drive that boots on any computer it must be able to boot in both BIOS and UEFI mode.

There are advantages to a Full install over a Persistent install see: I want to make a portable version of Linux Ubuntu . A Full install must be modified to be able to install Ubuntu

A step by step guide for creating a Full install USB that can boot both BIOS and UEFI can be found here: How to Create a Full Install of Ubuntu 20.04 to USB Device Step by Step

If you just want to remove the try/install screen see: Remove Ubuntu 20.04 Try/Install screen

C.S.Cameron
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  • For the step by step guide, do I need my hard drive and a USB? I was thinking I could install it directly onto the HDD, but I really have no experience so it's very likely I'm wrong. If I do need a USB and a hard drive, what size does the USB need to be? – applemonkey496 Jun 12 '20 at 16:02
  • @applemonkey496 I usually use a 4GB USB 2 Flash drive for installing. You can make the Live USB using: balenaEtcher, Rufus, UNetbootin, YUMI or Ventoy in Windows or mkusb, Startup Disk Creator, MultiBootUSB or Ventoy in Linux. – C.S.Cameron Jun 13 '20 at 01:58
  • Ok, thanks! Unetbootin worked best for me and I got it up and running. – applemonkey496 Jun 14 '20 at 02:34