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I was trying to get Ubuntu 20.10 installed on USB flash drive. How can I do it without making GRUB conflict with the OS I have installed in my system? I have tried following some articles but everytime GRUB is causing problem to Ubuntu and Windows Dual boot that I am currently running on my system.

Articles that I followed:

First Article Second Article

am011
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    The crucial part is described in the second article: image. Grub may only be installed on your flash drive. Did you do this? If yes: What kind of problem does it cause? Use the edit link below you question to add more infos – kanehekili Nov 07 '20 at 19:57
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    If you've done as @kanehekili says (ie. got grub for each installed on their respective devices), you can usually press a key when the machine boots which asks which device to boot, and you'll have that OS. Some machines due to security setup won't boot external media (eg. flash-drives), though configuration options usually exist that allow this to be changed. – guiverc Nov 07 '20 at 21:32
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    There are two main alternatives,

    1. Persistent live system in USB drive;

    2. Installed system in USB drive - see details in the links from this link.

    Ask for more details or other alternatives, if necessary.

     – sudodus Nov 07 '20 at 21:53
  • You might have a look here – kanehekili Nov 07 '20 at 23:29
  • Be aware of launchpad bugs 1396379,1173457, installs basically ignore the EFI partition you specify and use the first one found (on your hard disk, most likely). – ubfan1 Nov 08 '20 at 05:50

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Full Install vs Persistent install

A Full install USB and a Persistent install USB both save data and installed programs after reboot.

Refer to the links in sudodus' answer above for instructions on each.

Comparison between Persistent and Full install USB

Advantages of a persistent install:

  1. You can use the persistent pendrive to install Ubuntu to another computer.

  2. A persistent install takes up less space on the pendrive.

  3. You can reset the pendrive by overwriting the old casper-rw file with a new one.

  4. The install to pendrive takes less time.

Advantages of a Full install:

  1. You can update and upgrade.

  2. If you have problems or wish to modify, the solution is the same as with an internal install, (You can ask for help in these forums).

  3. No ugly startup / install screen.

  4. Better security, you can use full encryption

  5. You can use proprietary drivers.

  6. Hibernation works.

  7. A persistent install is limited to a 4GB casper-rw and a 4GB home-rw persistence file, to get more persistence requires persistence partitions. Once casper-rw is full, the drive will not boot.

  8. More efficient usage of disk space. Does not require reserved space for persistence.

  9. Faster boot, no automatic disk checking or Try Ubuntu/Install Ubuntu screen.

  10. You can run VBox and use virtual machines.

Note that once booted, both methods run at about the same speed.

Full Install Method

One method for creating a Full install USB: How to Create a Full Install of Ubuntu 20.04 to USB Device Step by Step

C.S.Cameron
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