Tell me more ×  Can I run Ubuntu 12.04 LTS off my 4GB USB drive
as its own native operating system with persistence enabled to
save changes to the USB the same way that I do with Slax or
other fully portable Linux distros?  How can I remove the
"install this" icon in my current live Ubuntu USB installation?
Can I run it fully portably without the icon wanting me to
install it to the host computer?  I'm a Windows XP user, but I
would like to switch to Ubuntu on an 8GB USB if it's possible.
share|improve this question add comment  2 Answers  There are
basically two ways to run Ubuntu from a USB drive.  The first is
to do a regular install and select the USB drive as the target
for installation. Be sure to select the right drive for writing
GRUB to the Master Boot Record (MBR). If you select your
internal drive by mistake then your computer will not boot if
your USB drive is not connected, even though your intention is
to boot into Windows.  The second is to use the program Startup
Disk Creator on Ubuntu to cre