Jump drive OS?

duped · 05-01-2007, 05:37 PM

The hard drive in the Inspiron laptop I bought off craigslist (shakes fist) pooped out a month after purchase. Before that, I was running Ubuntu.

What I am wondering is if there is a way to boot an OS, preferably a linux distro (and I'm a noobie, mind you), off of a portable jump drive. If not, is there any way I can use the laptop without buying a new hard drive (which would cost more than a new laptop itself)?

Help.

Thanks.

Ryan

P.S. Help

pljvaldez · 05-01-2007, 07:08 PM

You could boot off of a live CD and then store your files on a thumbdrive. I know that knoppix even allows you to store the settings in your /home folder on the jumpdrive. http://www.knoppix.net/wiki/Live_CD_Tips

I also believe there are ways to make Ubuntu boot off of a usb drive. I saw it on a forum here recently (try the search function at the top)...

As to expensive hard drives, I bought a 60GB laptop hard drive (2.5" IDE) for around $40 on the web. Can't recall where (probably found it through pricewatch.com).

jacook · 05-02-2007, 02:52 AM

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/

farslayer · 05-02-2007, 08:52 AM

A laptop hard drive can be had for $50 - $60.00 NEW. I mean yeah it isn't cheap, but it's not outrageous either..

Seagate 60 GB 5400 RPM 2.5" notebook HD with 3 year warranty. $59.99

phantom_cyph · 05-02-2007, 05:19 PM

Damn Small Linux, Knoppix, and Austrumi. (The last one is my favorite, based on Slackware.)