I know, I can create a live CD of Linux, I know I also can create a bootable Linux installation on a jump drive. I’m curious is can I actually do a full install of mint Linux on an external drive and actually run it that way. When I say run it I mean actually add packages remove packages, etc. i’m asking because I have a currently working Windows 10 computer. And until I really understand Linux especially how to properly install it. I prefer not to screw something up on a working system. I figured install it to an external Drive and then just tell the bios, don’t boot the windows drive just boot into the external Drive.
Would this actually work?
Yep, sure will. Works just like an internal hard drive, albeit potentially a little slower depending on USB. The last time I ran that configuration, I was still using USB 2.0. A good USB 3.0 drive would probably run just about as fast as an internal SATA drive (5 Gbps for USB3 vs 6 for SATA III).
Just be careful when you get to the disk partitioning portion of the installer and make sure you don’t make any changes to your internal drive. If you want to be overly cautious, you can disconnect the internal drive while you’re doing the Mint install and reconnect it afterward.
You may need to update your BIOS’s boot order so you don’t have to select the external drive every time since your Windows bootloader won’t be aware of the Linux install on the external drive (which is where your GRUB would be installed).
Thank you
Just spotted the last bit about the boot order. Very good thought.
Stupid question here: let’s say I plug in the external drive, install Linux mint, grub would get installed onto the external drive, set the bios to boot from the external drive, boot into Linux.
Now at some point I shut the computer unplug the external drive, boot the computer back up …
Now I’m assuming the computer would boot back into windows because the Linux drive would be disconnected.
Correct?
Correct. It would look for the bootloader on each drive that it’s configured to boot from (in order of preference).