Can you install Linux on an external hard drive?

Question

I am using a laptop that has an internal drive in it already but I don't want to install Linux in that drive because its only temporary, I will like to install Linux on an external hard drive?

Quote Don't do that. I installed Linux once. It infected half of my household before I was able to react. I had to throw away my TV set, refrigerator and the computer I installed Linux in, indeed. Luckily for me my smartphone battery was empty when it happened, so it survived. My neighbor had some issues, too, but I kept quiet and he didn't realize my Linux experiment was to blame. Yup, don't do that. Quote

What is the likely hood that will happen? Why will happen if you don't try to install some thing over network than say external hard drive?

Can some one explain.

Answer 1

yes you can most certainly install Linux on an external hard drive or simply run it off a USB stick and if you get Linux Mint right off the Linux Mint site the possibility that Linux will infect anything is like nothing Linux is a very secure operating system compared with Windows and furthermore Lenox is a totally different kind of code than Windows the two don't talk to each other very well so you don't even have to worry about Windows catching a virus from Linux it doesn't happen Linux is the most common operating system on this planet your Android phone is Ubuntu Linux the cash terminal where you get your money is Linux the stores that's scan your credit cards is Linux Linux is more common then windows if it was prone to viruses do you think that all the major banks in the world would be using it no you have been given misinformation

Answer 2

Sure it can be done, I have it on SD, USB, moved around, do anything you can think of including moving the drive from an external to internal into another computer. Saying not likely is just blinded by Windows' own commercial refusal to do that, but even Microsoft is acknowledging and address that shortcoming.



Do that and keep the internal pristine, yes I do that often.

Answer 3

Yes. You can even install it on a flash drive.

Answer 4

Yes.

Answer 5

I call bullsh#$ on that quote. 3 of our computers run linux mint and 4 run windows 10. The only ones to get a virus or malware are the windows computers and they're running antivirus and anti malware software.

Answer 6

The likelihood of all that crazy stuff is not likely. If you want to experiment with Linux without installing it on your hard drive you can either burn a live CD or make a bootable USB stick. Go to distrowatch dot com and you can download the ISO image and make your disk or stick from that. Once it's installed on the media, just boot from which ever device you installed it on.