Celsius Posted April 9, 2023 Share Posted April 9, 2023 I created a bootable Linux Mint on my USB stick. It works well. I am confused, however, if I can use this stick to boot it on any computer or will it work only on mine. Can I simply plug it in on any PC compatible computer and have access to my desktop? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3NUMBAS Posted April 9, 2023 Share Posted April 9, 2023 i find they can vary to not working Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayClay Posted April 9, 2023 Share Posted April 9, 2023 (edited) How do you mean "created"? If you used a bootable live/installer image from the Mint website then it should work just as-is on other machines. If you did a full install, then cloned the OS disk into a bootable image, then it will be more tailored to your system, driver wise. It'll probably still work on another machine but there may possibly be some odd quirks. That being said, with online updates being the way they are now, even an image of an installed OS will probably work just fine with no major issues. (edit) re-reading the question it seems that you have installed the OS and want to use it as a system you can boot from various computers and continue to have everything working. While you may see success with this approach, you would be better off creating an installation in a virtual machine using VMWare Player or Virtual Box. This was you can run it on any computer without having to worry about hardware drivers or any other kind of conflicts. Edited April 9, 2023 by JayClay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyAndyAndy Posted April 9, 2023 Share Posted April 9, 2023 You can use it on any computer, but it will always create a fresh copy of the system. Meaning if you save any files or change any config you will always lose it when turn of/restart/change computer. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneMoreFarang Posted April 9, 2023 Share Posted April 9, 2023 36 minutes ago, AndyAndyAndy said: You can use it on any computer, but it will always create a fresh copy of the system. Meaning if you save any files or change any config you will always lose it when turn of/restart/change computer. No, not necessarily. I have a version on a stick which keeps my personal files on the stick. But that doesn't have to be like that. It depends on the setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyAndyAndy Posted April 9, 2023 Share Posted April 9, 2023 28 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said: No, not necessarily. I have a version on a stick which keeps my personal files on the stick. But that doesn't have to be like that. It depends on the setup. On default, every "turn on" of computer it's a clean OS installation. Anything beyond is out of his current range of understanding. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sticky Rice Balls Posted April 9, 2023 Share Posted April 9, 2023 some linux is so small can run the OS directly from stick ive used MINT and is the image OS to download onto a pc..as im typing this on thinkpad using Linux MX OS ive used mint before and works best on DELL pcs.....but have used it on my HP netbook Eee Pc...acer netbook etc....can be tricking if has MS wifi drivers at times but Mint is usually up n running after install..youtube has tons of tutorials and web has many diff versions of Linux---some to copy windows and apple OS all free.....yay linux https://mxlinux.org/wiki/help-files/help-mx-live-usb-maker/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamb00ler Posted April 9, 2023 Share Posted April 9, 2023 I will assume you have created a live Mint installation on a USB stick and hope to just plug into some other computer, boot from the stick and run it. It will most likely run on most Intel based computers that are less than about 8 years old. You will need to be able to access the BIOS and be able to change the normal boot sequence to use the USB stick as the boot drive. It's difficult to give an absolute answer to your question because we don't know the details of the software that was installed on your USB stick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celsius Posted April 10, 2023 Author Share Posted April 10, 2023 Thanks for the replies guys. I used Yumi app that I downloaded from pendrivelinux to create a bootable stick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KannikaP Posted April 10, 2023 Share Posted April 10, 2023 7 hours ago, Sticky Rice Balls said: ive used mint before and works best on DELL pcs What makes DELL PCs so much more amenable to Linux please? It runs fine on my NUC, and my 'home-made' jobbie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigStar Posted April 10, 2023 Share Posted April 10, 2023 11 hours ago, AndyAndyAndy said: You can use it on any computer, but it will always create a fresh copy of the system. Meaning if you save any files or change any config you will always lose it when turn of/restart/change computer. Not if he created the stick with persistence. https://www.fosslinux.com/60398/create-a-linux-mint-usb-drive-with-persistence.htm I like Rufus for this, and a dedicated stick, but supposedly Yumi will do it also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigStar Posted April 10, 2023 Share Posted April 10, 2023 3 hours ago, Celsius said: Thanks for the replies guys. I used Yumi app that I downloaded from pendrivelinux to create a bootable stick. That, just the "live" version, should boot on a wide variety of machines, legacy to UEFI. Without persistence, your desktop will always be the same. If you want an installation with a larger variety of useful software included, you might try PCLinuxOS. I like it better than the ol' Knoppix. Ventoy seems more convenient for running a variet of ISOs. Just copy them over and the appear on a boot menu. Installing Mint on USB stick that'll run on a variety of machines and update is very different proposition. https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=252351 Best use an external SSD for that. Wear on a stick is too much, and it's slow. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sticky Rice Balls Posted April 10, 2023 Share Posted April 10, 2023 16 hours ago, KannikaP said: What makes DELL PCs so much more amenable to Linux please? It runs fine on my NUC, and my 'home-made' jobbie. not sure but seems to be the hardware/ drivers etc...can check youtube /linux forums.....as i put mint on a HP netbook that had XP installed and the wifi driver is junky but does let me load xfinity stream on browser..which it would never let linux builds do--so was a workaround......tons of Linux styles and OS systems to fit any style and all free....as Ubuntu is popular......works well on my old netbooks and old laptops..... https://www.techradar.com/best/linux-laptops 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watchcat Posted April 11, 2023 Share Posted April 11, 2023 On 4/9/2023 at 4:48 PM, OneMoreFarang said: I have a version on a stick which keeps my personal files on the stick. So have I, it's called Tails. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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