I run Ubuntu on a USB, but it doesn't save my data. Is there a way to save my data?
121681
I've tried so many combinations - all I want is a fast Ubuntu Live USB disk with persistence that works. What I've tried so far:   Using unetbootin on my Mac, choosing some "Space used to preserve files across reboots (Ubuntu only)".   Result: Doesn't boot at all.  Using unetbootin on my Mac, choosing no such space.  Result: Boots fine and very fast (doesn't even show the annoying dialog "Try ubuntu/install ubuntu" at startup!), but has no persistence. (So I have to choose my keyboard layout, install programs I need, etc. every time)  Using Startup Disk Creator from my Ubuntu 11.04 installation.  Result: I cannot choose "reserved extra space" at all. It's greyed out. I know I know, there was bug , and many people say that the workaround from  works for them. But it doesn't work with Ubuntu 11.04 anymore (see also ).  Using Startup Disk Creator from my Kubuntu 10.10 installation, gnome version (usb-creator-gtk).   Result: I can select the "reserved extra space" option, but installation doesn't work (fails when installing the bootloader).  Using Startup Disk Creator from my Kubuntu 10.10 installation, kde version (usb-creator-kde).   Result: Actually works: Reserved space can be selected, installation works. But after booting, I get the screen "Try ubuntu/install ubuntu". Clicking on "Try ubuntu" takes me to the desktop - but only after waiting 5 minutes (every time!). It also doesn't seem to keep my keyboard settings.    I know, that instead of creating a startup disk, I could install a full ubuntu system on the USB stick. But as far as I know, this isn't very good, because /tmp and similar directories will then also be on the USB disk, which is a) slow, and b) not very good for the USB disk due to frequent overwriting.  I'm frustrated. So has anybody managed to create a working Ubuntu 11.04 Live USB disk with persistence?
123846
A friend just complained to me about Ubuntu being slow.   Although I've noticed a certain lack of snappiness with Linux vs Windows in the past, I really can't say I've had much to grumble about with the recent distributions of Ubuntu. That said, his objections seem much worse than the ones I used to have and I know that his current setup is significantly more powerful than my laptop.   And then it turned out he is running Ubuntu off an external HDD hooked up via USB2.0. The HD enclosure is USB3.0 but apparently he can't manage to get it to boot on USB3.0 so he switched to one of the USB2.0 ports or whatever and that works, albeit not very well.  Now I would expect USB to add some overhead to communication between the computer and the HDD; SATA is after all designed to get the maximum out of a hard drive, whereas USB is, well, universal.   What are your expreriences with booting off external HDDs?  Edit: Does anybody know just how much of a slowdown can be expected?
1915
I am trying to copy a 6GB file to a USB flash drive but it won't copy.
45083
I have a live USB made with the standard Ubuntu disk image creator for 16.04 LTS. In the current state, I can boot to this disk, but it still requires the original USB to run properly at all times.  Attempting to pull the drive and use the system generates a large amount of I/O errors, further suggesting that the USB drive is actually needed for things not already loaded into RAM (For example, Firefox worked without the USB, but I used it once before already. apt, on the other hand, did not.)  Is there a way to copy the entire Ubuntu live disk to RAM, so I can remove the drive and free up a USB slot for other things?
70162
I am installing Ubuntu 14.04 LTS using a USB
82856
I've made a bit of a balls up...  When attempting to create a bootable Ubuntu usb drive I accidentally ran dd on my main system drive :(  sudo dd if=/path/to/image.img of=/dev/rdisk1 bs=1m   I realised what I'd done pretty quickly but everything seemed fine so I re-ran the command on the correct drive /dev/disk2 and thought "phew not sure how I got away with that"... Then things started going wrong... I could continue using the applications I had open but opening anything new / accessing the hdd caused that thing to lock.  Sadly I haven't been using time machine, lesson learnt!   I spoke to AppleCare who said I need to reformat the machine but I'm really hoping there's some way to restore whatever 1m I destroyed (I'm assuming something to do with the partition information). Wishful thinking?  Also, AppleCare told me to restart, which means I can only user repair mode utils.  Help!
47220
I'd like to have Ubuntu installed on a USB stick, that I could plug in (almost) any computer and boot from it, and that I could use (almost) normally, as if it was installed on that computer. I'd also like to have a data partition on it that could be used by (almost) any computer, mostly to store some portable apps, just in case.    I've been told that if I installed Ubuntu in BIOS mode, I wouldn't be able to boot from a computer in UEFI mode, and vice versa.  Since I'd like to be able to boot on any computer, it's a big problem.  What can I do to be able to boot on computers in BIOS or UEFI modes in my case?  I've been searching for solutions but most of them are for specific needs that are different than mine, so it's difficult to extract the minimum requirements from those solutions to apply them to my problem.  Is there a simple, "clean" and quite generic solution to this problem?  I'd appreciate some explainations about the reasons why a specific solution is good or a specific step is needed.    My current setup:   USB stick:  OS: Xubuntu 16.04 i386 installation: full install (from a Live USB built with Rufus) drivers: none proprietary file systems:    partition table:    2: , /boot/efi, 128 Mio, FAT32, [boot,esp] 3: , 128 Mio, HFS+ 4: , 2 Mio, [bios_grub] 5: swap, 512 Mio 6: , /, 24 Gio, ext4, defaults,errors=remount-ro,lazytime,commit=60 1: , /media/data, ~3.6 Gio, FAT32, defaults,lazytime,check=strict  RAM:   /tmp, tmpfs, defaults,nosuid,nodev,noexec,mode=1777   swap:    vm.swappiness=5 swap partition: 512 Mio, for emergency zRAM swap files:    /var/swap/hib.swp: same size as RAM, for hibernation, generated by a script at startup /var/swap/opt.swp: if needed, generated by a script   overprovisioning: ~5.6%   built-in: ~1.2 Gio (apparently) added: 512 Mio  scheduler: deadline
117467
When I used my USB stick to install Ubuntu, the USB appears with an Ubuntu icon in My Computer.  Is it possible to customize this icon to something I want?
20489
I can't boot via USB after installing Ubuntu.   Yes, the BIOS lists USB, but it is disabled.  Yes, USB is at the top of the boot priority in the BIOS, but it is disabled.  Yes, user Da1T, I'm looking in the BIOS.   Burning an image to disc is a waste of time and money.
34518
I installed Ubuntu through USB. Instillation was successful.  But when I restarted my laptop it didn't boot. So planed install it again when started selected install from USB. it booted my previous installed Ubuntu. So after went Ubuntu boots no need of that pen drive, so in short, every time I want to start my pc I need that pen drive to boot.
45207
I was wondering what the difference between running and trying Ubuntu and I was also wondering if there was any downfall to running Ubuntu on a USB drive.
65883
I usually back up before formatting and doing a re-installation of Ubuntu, it was in the process and then obviously stopped prematurely but I was thinking all my data was transferred.  After installing formatting the drive and sticking a fresh Ubuntu on there I proceed to transfer the files from my memory stick to my hard drive, some files are there but most of my 6 years worth of pictures are gone. Is there any way I can get these back? I don't know what to do, I feel absolutely crap :/  Any help would be very appreciated.
10046
After considerable review of the options, I tried and failed to create a usable live Ubuntu USB with persistent storage using what seemed like "best practice" instructions at  I suspect I'm one step away from a full solution, but I need help.  I reviewed answers on AskUbuntu and other places before starting, including many responses by @C.S.Cameron and @sudodus. Answers for OS versions earlier than 18.04 are now of uncertain value for running 18.04 or later due to various issues. Hence I opted to follow the comprehensive and recent instructions at the URL above.   After following the instructions, I seem to have a USB drive formatted by mkusb as predicted. When I attempt to boot, the BIOS/UEFI process identifies the USB stick as a possible boot location, but when I select it for booting and proceed, I am returned to the same screen for choosing a boot location. For some reason, the USB stick is rejected as a viable boot option. I have tried the process 3-4 times using 2 iso images (18.04LTS and 19.10) and 2 USB sticks (Sandisk Extreme 64GB and Sandisk Cruzer Facet 16GB). Below are links to two screenshots of GParted analysis of the resulting USB sticks.
636
I am new to ubuntu and i would like some help. I have a laptop with windows 7 installed but i would love to have ubuntu too because it's a great OS. So i would like to install ubuntu on an external usb hard drive (320 - 500 GB) and i have some questions about that :   Do i need a usb external hard drive which will be compatible with ubuntu - linux ? or i can do it with any hard drive  If i make a partition on it for ubuntu staff will i be able to use it and save other staff in the usb hard drive (movies,songs,documents etc) ? If i have ubuntu installed on the usb hard drive will i be able to boot ubuntu from any pc ? Are my changes going to be saved normally or my settings will be lost after shut down ?   Waiting for your answers, if something is not explain well tell me to try explain it better . Thank you!
4418
How do I make an Bootable Ubuntu USB containing the the latest version of Ubuntu?  For completeness, how would I be able to do this on Ubuntu, Windows, OS X or another Linux distro?
76247
Every issue of Ubuntu LTS since 8.04, I have made a Full install of Ubuntu to USB flash drive, and recorded each step..  This has been intended to make a guide/check list for users wishing to create Full install bootable flash drives.  Previously the procedure worked for BIOS boot if created in BIOS and for UEFI boot if created in UEFI.  This year for 20.04 the instructions should work for both creating and running the drive booted from either BIOS or UEFI.  The question is:  How to Create a Full Install of Ubuntu to USB device with Step by Step instructions that work in either BIOS or UEFI.
11173
I am new in Ubuntu. First I installed Ubuntu 12.10 on my USB stick which is of 16 GB. So, it installed with 2 partitions of 9 GB and 7 GB.   Now I want to format that USB. But when I try to format it, only ext4 one does get formatted but not the partition which is the swap memory. Now on other OS my USB shows only 8.5 GB.