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Not understanding install ubuntu comment on USB

ng flag
gerrywithaj

I am very new to ubuntu. have a HP laptop and installed (I think) Ubuntu (latest version ) with persistence on a 128 gig usb. I booted to the USB drive and ubuntu desktop showed up. However, I see two icons that say install ubuntu. I am not sure what that means. I thought I had installed ubuntu on the usb. Is this saying I could install ubuntu over the top of windows 11? I dont' want to do that. Help to understand what the USB contains and why do I have the install ubuntu icons.

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guiverc avatar
cn flag
guiverc
Your description of *persistence* tells me you haven't installed Ubuntu, and are using it in *live* or try mode with *persistence* as an option. You can install to USB media; but persistence won't be needed if that's done. Details such as *latest* mean little; latest release (ie. 21.10), latest LTS (ie. 20.04 LTS or four releases ago) etc. However from your description (install option & mention of persistence) you have **not** installed Ubuntu, but written the ISO to the thumb-drive using a *persistence* option.
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user535733 avatar
cn flag
user535733
Are you *absolutely sure* that both icons offer to install? One should have a different label.
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AjayC avatar
gb flag
AjayC
What you have done is that you have installed Ubuntu on USB as far I understand. When you boot using the USB, you have the option to " try Ubuntu using the USB" or "Install Ubuntu on to the Sdd/HDD" . If you are just interested not to install Ubuntu on to SDD/HDD it is fine. This option may not allow you to update system config files. But you can save your work on USB or HDD.
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guiverc avatar
cn flag
guiverc
@AjayC you just used used the *installed* work that has confused the OP or *original poster*; you write a ISO to thumb-drive so you can boot it and run the installer; you don't install the ISO to a thumb-drive as the ISO is not the installer; the installer is an app (`ubiquity`, `subiquity`, `calamares`, *di* or the *canary* desktop installer) found on that ISO; the specific ISO written will contain at least one such installer; but it differs depending on ISO downloaded & written to thumb-drive.
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AjayC avatar
gb flag
AjayC
@guiverc : you are correct. I used the wrong word "installed". Thanks
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user535733 avatar Ubuntu
cn flag
user535733

From your description, seems like you created a LiveUSB with persistence, NOT a full Ubuntu install. A real installed Ubuntu system does not include an installer -- it doesn't need one.

A LiveUSB is used to test Ubuntu ("Try Ubuntu") and to Install Ubuntu ("Install Ubuntu"). The "Try Ubuntu" environment is a fully-featured, fully-capable Ubuntu system. That's probably what you are seeking.

Yes, clicking the wrong set of options carelessly in a certain sequence will overwrite and destroy your Windows 11 install, and lose all your Windows data. You can avoid that simply by paying attention instead of being careless. You created and booted an Ubuntu installer. That's what installers do.

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ng flag
gerrywithaj
thank you. I will be careful.
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C.S.Cameron avatar Ubuntu
cn flag
C.S.Cameron

Persistent Install vs Full install

Ubuntu can be installed to a USB in different ways. A Live install does not save between sessions. A Persistent install extracts the OS from a compressed file and saves data to an overlay file or partition each session, and a Full install installs the complete OS to the USB just like an install to internal disk.

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.

  5. Slightly less wear on the drive.

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 the forums).

  3. No ugly startup / install screen.

  4. Better security, you can use full encryption

  5. You can use proprietary drivers.

  6. Swapfiles and partitions work and Hibernation can be enabled.

  7. Many persistent installs are 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.

  11. Generally faster boot than Live or Persistent USB's.

  12. More stable, better for day to day use. I have run Ubuntu off a flash drive for 5 years making only LTS upgrades.

Note that once booted, both methods run at about the same speed. If the computer has lots of RAM Ubuntu should run mainly in RAM and there will not be a big difference between running off internal HDD and USB3 flash drive f.

Full Install Method

A quick and easy method to flash a Full install to USB can be found here: Easy Full Install USB that Boots both BIOS and UEFI

A more traditional methods for creating a Full install USB from scratch can be found here: How to Create a Full Install of Ubuntu 20.04 to USB Device Step by Step

Persistent install method

The following tools can be used to make a Persistent install USB: mkusb - https://help.ubuntu.com/community/mkusb, Rufus - https://rufus.ie/en/, Universal USB Installer - https://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/, Ventoy - https://www.ventoy.net/en/index.html, YUMI- https://www.pendrivelinux.com/yumi-multiboot-usb-creator/. and others.

mkusb is my favorite tool for making Persistent USB's https://help.ubuntu.com/community/mkusb. It creates boot partitions that allow it to boot in BIOS or UEFI mode. It puts the OS on a read only ISO9660 partition that is difficult to corrupt. Persistence goes on an ext4 partition who's size is only limited by USB size and it will make a NTFS data partition so you can save data from a Windows or a Linux computer

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