Ubuntu
usb-creator package

what are the consequences of installing ubuntu onto a usb disk

Asked by chronic

so the story goes like this... my hard disk got damaged and so till i get a new hard disk i installed ubuntu 9.10 onto a usb disk,not with the usb startup creator thing, but with that install option in ubuntu 9.10 livecd, so my question is.. what are the consequences of installing ubuntu onto a usb disk, will my usb disk get damaged, will there be any effect on my hardware..

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chronic (chronic-) said : 		#1

the usb drive is a 8gb removable drive

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delance (olivier-delance) said : 		#2

If your BIOS accept USB disk, Ubuntu will managed it as a classical hard disk.
Theoritically, the many writing on first sectors of the USB key could damage it, after 10000 or 100000 writing of same block.
So you have some time.

Lot of people use USB key as a boot disk, to be able to work from one computer to another one.
There is predefined images.

So no problem.

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chronic (chronic-) said : 		#3

so does that mean that i can download stuff from the internet and view them without any damage to my drive

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George Standish (george-standish-deactivatedaccount) said : 		#4

You need to understand that USB Drives (and SSD drives) wear out! So by using them at all, you bring them closer to the end of their lives.

It was because of this reason that early install guides for the EEEPC suggested NOT using a swap partition or file. Reducing the number or read/writes to the drive, will extends its life.

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