How to install Linux on an external 320 gigabyte hard drive

UNIX for Advanced & Expert Users
1

Hi all,

I would to know if I can install Linux on an external 320 gigabyte hard drive..I have Windows XP on my internal hard drive which is 80 GB , but this installation on 320 external HDD is for testing purpose

If it is possible to install Linux on the external drive, will it cause any problems to the internal drive( windows xp and my data)?..

Note:The external drive will be for the Linux system only.

Also can anyone outline the steps from a beginner presepective as i am new to BIOS and other hardware related stuffs?

any help on this will be appreciated

Thanks,
sandeep

2

It's more a matter of your BIOS. If it will boot off the drive then what exactly you boot from it is a secondary concern.

Is this an USB drive or something more fanciful? Intructions for installing on USB media should work for a real hard drive just as well as for a flash stick (except of course you don't care too much about saving space).

3

era,

Thanks for the reply , but i could not get what you said as i new to this. answering your question this is a 320 GB External USB hard disk that i got today.

4

You will have to check your BIOS to see if it has an option to boot from USB - most modern machines do nowadays.

If so then following the instructions here Gentoo Linux Documentation -- Gentoo Linux LiveUSB HOWTO may help you on your way.

5

If your BIOS support "boot from USB device" then you should be able to make it boot from your external HD aswell.

Just install your Linux onto the USB drive, there are several explanations on howto do it for a veriaty of Linux Distributions:
Scientific Linux
Pendrive Linux
Ubuntu linux
SuSE Linux

Just pic your desired Linux variant, I would suggest Ubuntu as it seems more "first time user" friendly at the moment.
Altho Pendrive Linux is designed to reside on a USB pen.

6

thanks i will check this.