mx-15 (based on antiX and debian) also have a persistence system, and its relatively easy to set up. I've got some videos on it.

legacy_bios boot mode https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC4SmhsG3K0

uefi boot mode https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJmukS-bSxw

If you decide to try it, don't use the persistence option in unetbootin. that's only for the ubuntu family of distros.

Trying Puppy at present used unetbootin again. I have V4.20 which may not be the latest. There are so many versions
it is hard to know which ones to try that would be suitable for testing on my Netbook before installing on my main computer.

When trying out a new version using a USB drive, can I just delete that version from the USB or do I have to reformat and go back through unetbootin?.
As you see I am not very experienced with this process and this noob needs guidance.

that depends on what you're using to install the live linux,,, unetbootin if I remember correctly has a check box to tell it to format you'll have to take a look at it ...

Thanks for your further assistance.

Tried Puppy but unable to connect to WiFi, had no trouble connecting with Mint, so moving on to try another distro. Trial and error I guess.

don't burn yourself out in the process just have fun

If you were happy with mint then consider either fixing your liveusbcreator/unetbootin install or create a normal install to the usb.

then install ...
AND if you got room on your Box then you can install VirtualBox then you can still play around with Linux ISO while enjoying Linux at the vary same time ...

I am probably displaying my noobyness but can you expand on your comments please. I want to keep booting Mint from a USB Drive and save passwords etc but it appears to be a bit complicated.?
Is the only alternative to install it and dual boot.?

It is a trivial task to install mint to a usb or internal hard drive for most folks newb or guru. I can expand on it if you wish.

For most modern linux distributions (versions/distro's), and on most modern systems, a usb flash or usb hard drive appear the exact same way to the installer. There is a long story about that but suffice it to say an 8G or greater usb flash drive can easily be as if it were an internal hard drive to you the user.

So, you have selected mint for example. It is modern and will install to a usb directly. The only thing I want to point out here is you run a risk in this process where being a newbie can cause you to make mistakes. If you remove power or data cable to your internal hard drives you generally remove this error. I use virtual machines to create usb flash drive installs or usb hard drive installs.

There are many ways to do a full proper install to a usb. Many ways like a live usb creator/unetbootin will be OK for you maybe. Some installs just copy the live installer to the usb and that isn't terrible but you can't easily update or use to save stuff.

I always have some usb drives in my pocket with some OS or two on them. Sometime during the day I'll get to a place where I can boot from usb and update it or add in software.