How easy is it to copy between two distros on a "Live CD"?
 

Currently, I have a VirtualBox installed, VirtualBox 6.0 running 2 clients. MX Linux and Ubuntu 18.04 LTS.

The Host is a Windows 10 Computer running version (1903) of Windows.

It is proving to be problematic to "share folders" from a VB. I was wondering if it would be easier to install my distros to a USB. If I did that, would copying and pasting and the moving of files be any easier, than having to deal with Guest Additions and shared folders?

If the USB uses the GRUB boot loader, and it got corrupted, could I still boot from Windows?

Thanks in advance,

Pen guin

Some people dual boot their Windows machines with Linux, but it would be better to have a Linux distro on a pendrive, or an external hard drive, you could then transfer files from your hard drive to your pendrive, or any other external storage, using Linux, & likewise, you should also be able to copy via Linux to your hard drive. Less complicated that way. :)

The simplest 'sharing' in VBox which is generally described/explained is for the guest to access the files on the host. That's not what you want and if I understand your post correctly, you should be able to do this with nfs. The link below gives a pretty detailed explanation of 2 Linux guests on a windows host. Not a simple thing to do but if you want it enough....

https://www.slothparadise.com/how-to...server-part-1/

From reading through part of the link below, I expect it would be easier to put the 2 Linux systems on USBs. You mention 'live' in your thread title and a 'live' Linux system by definition is read-only so if you want to copy and 'save' data between the OS's, you will need an actual install or persistence on both Ubuntu and MX. Otherwise any new data/software will be lost on reboot.

If you use some reliable software to create a bootable instance of each usb with persistence, it should not affect the internal bootloader for windows.
I haven't used MX but the Ubuntu installer in UEFI will install its EFI files to the first EFI partition which will be the one on the internal drive with windows (if your windows is EFI?). This won't prevent booting windows but might changes the options which are not that difficult to repair.

Without virtualbox or any other virtualization software you can only run one system at a time. You would boot one, mount the file system of the other and then copy the file over. The easiest way would be as a regular distribution and not as a live CD.

As I posted in your other thread thread are many ways to copy files using standard networking protocols. sftp is probably the easiest since most file browsers have it built in.

You do need to configure the guests on the same network. Can be internal or bridged. Bridged meaning the guests are on the LAN just like the host.

This video is the reason I'm hesitant to install Linux side by side. I now notice it 4 years old. Is it still true what he says about returning to a single boot environment? Because, what I've heard him say, and others, I'm hesitant to set up a Dual Boot Environment. (DBE)

I didn't know that "Live CD's" were a read only situation. Thanks for the information. I don't believe there's anything equivalent to "Live CD" on the Windows side. However, I could be wrong. I've never used one, mine have all been OEM versions, except this one.

^ I'm not in the habit of taking random youtubers by their word, and didn't watch that video, so I cannot answer.
Probably not.

It is possible to create a Live USB with persistence - either manually, or use one of the distros that offer that - most notably AntiX.
So, between 2 of those it would not be a problem to copy stuff back & forth.

This is the second thread you started on this subject; I wonder what stands behind your requirement. I can't help but feel that there must be an easier way.

If the mods want to delete3e this thread, I'm fine with that. And I apologize for starting a second thread on the same topic. I'll continue the discussion over there.