Alright boys after a few years of hearing of the fabled Linux I'm definitely ready to try. It looks like a great Operating System and I'm too poor to afford Vista right now. XP is beautiful but I want a little more flavor. So here's the deal. I am currently running a D3ll Dimension 3000. RAM is at its ceiling and I currently have two monitors running on the on board video card and a old 64Mb Radeon 7000 (salvaged it off of my older computer lol). I have a Maxtor 500 GB external hard drive for all of my backups of my media and sensitive data and a 160 GB Maxtor USB external hard drive that is used mainly for media usage. THe 160 gb has plenty of space and I would rather play with that drive more.

SO MY QUESTION IS: What steps do I need to take to have a safe stable install of gutsy gibbon on my maxtor 160 GB USB drive, and will I be able to use dual screens?

Things to know:
BIOS does support USB device booting
I am willing to get into the nitty gritty lol.

I'm a hardcore newb so direct me to useful info you guys use. I will be searching the F.A.Q.'s and trolling the forums. I'm always willing to take advice from you guys, and I appreciate any help that you give.

Two thoughts:


The bandwidth on a usb connection sucks for running an os off of. If I were you, I would crack open that enclosure, and physically install that drive in the machine on its internal bus.


Secondly, Yes, you can do dual monitors. The details vary based on your distro and what video card you use. It is VERY easy with a modern Nvidia card and the proprietary nvidia drivers. However, I have had very poor luck getting 3d games to run properly with both monitors running. Not hard to work around, you just need disable of on them when its game time.

Good luck, be prepared to ask lots of paitence, and spend lots of time here and on google.

Dear prh,
many simpapys, a HDD that does not boot is a waste of potenial. the previous post makes sense but i think the problem remains in the bootloader and knowing how to edit it. i have never had two answers the same. perhaps this depends on which distro/ernal you are using and whether someone else has direct access to it. Have managed to install into an external HDD but then the original would nt work, like i say must be gub/lilo booter.

Fred.