[SOLVED] run linux from usb in windows without modifying host system

colorpurple21859 · 09-20-2011, 09:21 AM

Is there a way to run linux from a usb key inside vista without modifying the host system? The idea is to plug in usb key, do a few clicks to run a linux os inside a vista window without installing anything in vista

dashesy · 09-20-2011, 10:17 AM

1- a portable VirtualBox along with the OS.
More info here
2- Still you need to install...
Have not tried it from the USB, but you may use andLinux if it is 32 bit os.

jefro · 09-20-2011, 03:17 PM

I use qemu because the portable virtualbox needs admin account to run and may leave remnants.

All things like colinux need admin and changes the windows install.

If this is a work computer then be careful, is it worth your job.

You can run almost any distro from a usb either a real install or pendrivelinux.com type.

Might be able to run jpc.

See Suse Studio to run a VM you create in a testdrive.

See netboot.me

colorpurple21859 · 09-20-2011, 07:15 PM

will qemu run a linux from the usb without installing anything on the host system and without having to do a restart once the usb key is set up, portable virtualbox seems to do what I'm looking for. I'll play with ,it for a lttle while and see how well it works.
It is slow even on a good machine, I suspect it is because of the usb key, but it does work. On most of the machines I tried it worked like i wanted it to.. On one Had to install additional virtualbox drivers to get it to work.
Thanks for the help

jefro · 09-21-2011, 05:49 PM

Yes it is quite discrete.

Some versions do quite well on qemu where others fail either by speed or requirements.

DSL linux even though it is old works well, xpud works well, Puppy and slitaz seem to be pretty good. Big distro's just need a very good machine with a lot of ram.

Odd thing about qemu is you can actually assign more ram than available but the hard drive makes it up. So it gets real slow.

A number of distro's offer a complete usb qemu type setup even if they don't spell it out exactly.

cmas1148 · 09-21-2011, 09:23 PM

What about Pendrivelinux? I don't believe it modifies it's host but it might not be quite the solution you are looking for depending on your needs

Edit: I apologize I did not see jefro had already brought that up, my bad

jefro · 09-22-2011, 03:05 PM

It's quite alright. Thanks for your post.