Ubuntu – How to put Ubuntu on a NON-flash external USB hard-drive

backupbootlive-cdlive-usbsystem-installation

Amazingly enough, circumstances have left me without a single USB flash drive, or a working CD-R drive. Also, because I moved about six months ago, I got rid of all my extra Ubuntu CDs that I used to get by mail. (cleanup win, hindsight fail)
And yet, I need to get a live Ubuntu going to boot up a wonky desktop computer.

I tried using unetbootin to put a live CD install onto a portable USB hard-drive, but it won't boot from it (NTLDR missing error).

Is this because the disk is NTFS (which it is)? or for some other reason? Is there a difference between booting from a portable USB thumbdrive and a portable USB hard drive, other than potential performance?

Best Answer

There's no difference between a flash drive and a usb hard drive. Both can be used as a boot medium, and in the same way.

If you want to put the live system (installer) on the disk, the partition needs to be FAT32. NTFS cannot be read at this stage. So the partition you boot from (where the live cd contents are put) needs to be formatted as FAT32.

You can also install Ubuntu to the external hard drive, of course, just as you could with a flash drive. That's a different operation from using the drive as a live cd boot medium.

Related Question