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How do I make a portable Ubuntu USB Stick so that it works on any computer?

us flag

I've been using Ubuntu for quite a while now (I'm still learning) and Dual Booted it along with Windows 11 and every single time even though the installation process is right either windows or ubuntu gets corrupted and I have to wipe my whole drive and start from scratch. I found online that I can use a USB stick to make a full installation of Ubuntu and run it on any computer without affecting its hard drive (like nothing to be related to the computer at all, I just want it to run like a Live USB but with permanent storage and not persistent) but I wasn't able to find a proper guide for the process. It would be great if someone could help me with it. I have a 64 GB Stick (USB 3) for this which I hope will be enough. Thanks in Advance!

oldfred avatar
cn flag
I prefer full installs to larger flash drives and have several. But now did a full install to an external SSD and it is a lot faster. Used for emergency boot and some backup. If only 64GB, best not to use full Ubuntu but a lighter weight flavor, both then faster & smaller. There are instructions to have a flash drive for both UEFI & BIOS, but I find it better to just have two drives. You must partition in advance to have an ESP on flash drive. https://askubuntu.com/questions/16988/how-do-i-install-ubuntu-to-a-usb-key-without-using-startup-disk-creator
David avatar
cn flag
permanent storage and not persistent Please clarify what you think the difference is in these 2 terms?
HomerSimpson avatar
sa flag
They would only corrupt eachother if you installed them on the same partition. If you installed Ubuntu on another than your Windows-partition it would not corrupt. After major Windows updates only the bootloader gets corrupted (as far as I know). So you just have to reinstall Grub2 using the installation medium. Of course you can install (K-,L-,X-)Ubuntu on your USB-stick. (Lubuntu is small and very fast, so that would be my choice.) And permanent storage is persistent.
C.S.Cameron avatar
cn flag
How to Create a Full Install of Ubuntu 20.04 to USB Device Step by Step see https://askubuntu.com/a/1383227/43926 and https://askubuntu.com/questions/1217832/how-to-create-a-full-install-of-ubuntu-20-04-to-usb-device-step-by-step
Koushik Chetlur Rajesh avatar
us flag
I installed it successfully to a USB stick and it runs perfectly fine just the way I wanted and I read somewhere that persistent storage couldn’t exceed 4 gb that’s why I said permanent. Anyways thanks everybody!
C.S.Cameron avatar
cn flag
Most Live USB creators nowadays including mkusb, Rufus, Universal, Yumi and Ventoy will make a USB with persistence larger than 4GB.
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