If a hard drive is partitioned, formatted, and has Linux, say Ubuntu, installed on computer A, the drive is then unplugged and moved to computer B as the only drive on B, will Linux boot or is the install hardware-specific to A?

If not, does it require a new install (i.e., as if it had never been installed while on A) or can it be "tweaked" to boot on B?

It depends.....When it first boots, it will see new hardware and try to adapt.

If anything does not work, I'll bet that simply doing a clean install on machine #2 will be the easiest fix. (Perhaps not for a pro, but more for mere mortals)

I conclude that it will always be preferable, everything else being equal, to just do the install on the intended machine (B in this case) in the first place. If this is not correct, please elaborate. Otherwise I have my answer. Thanks again.

I have over 100 systems. in the box.

The majority of themn have been moved from machine A to machine B.

Then from machine B to the current machine C.

Think I need to intsalled about 5% of them for various reasons.

If your Ubuntu is in a single disk it will boot in another machine as the single disk.

Most full size distros can re-adjust in the new environment and swap the hardware drivers. Small Linux don't flare well in such a transfer.

It is possible a re-install could ensure the optimal performance with the new machine but I prefer to move them from partition to partition, hard disk to hard disk and machine to machine.

My reason for asking is that Computer B (in our office) is in frequent use by various people, so it is more convenient to use A for the install, create the mount points for /home, etc and then move it to B.

Saikee, your post gives me confidence to give it a try this way. I guess in the worst case, I wind up installing on B anyway. Thanks.

If you choose the distro wisely an installation could only be a 15-minute job. Try Kanotix or Slax

There is also no law against a user to use a single partition for installing a Linux and so there is no need to confront the mounting partition problems unless you want to.

Saikee, I agree with you in theory, but I am just crawling out of the sandbox on all fours and have only just got to the point where I can get a DVDRW installed (to back up the /home, etc). It delayed my move from 5.04 to 6.06,then 6.10 because I was concerned about losing all the work files in my /home. I now see that I could have done that as well by hooking up and copying /home to a second drive and doubtless there are other alternatives.

I still cannot do even these things off the top of my head and spend hours googling, posting, etc, just to get them done, so it is indeed much easier for me to have the 3rd partition for /home (+ possibly /etc, possibly /var [not sure about this, still googling] and maybe others), so that I can do the upgrades, re-installs, new installs, etc without disturbing those several years of office files.

It is not all black. I am definitely feeling better about my understanding of how Linux works (albeit at a very primitive stage.) It is an excellent ongoing intellectual challenge, and even with my limited (intellectual) tools, am very much absorbed by the learning process and gratified by my small achievements.

I will close by thanking you and all the other talented forum contributors for their kind assistance and patience with me and my fellow noobs. (And when I moan about not getting a response, just fuggidaboutit!)