Well, my parents are nazis and control everything that I do (including what operating system to use, which is winblows). I want to use Ubuntu though, but the bootloader tips them off that I have Ubuntu installed (that's the only way they know). So I decided to make a live USB of Ubuntu 9.04, and try and use that. The problem is though that i'm on a laptop so not all of my drivers are installed right away. The display driver will say it's downloading and just quit, though I have wifi working. Also Wubi changes the bootloader as well, so I cannot use that. Is there anyway that I would be able to use Ubuntu without changing the bootloader. I know I could use a virtual machine, though my parents also have a program on my computer that emails them all the programs that I run, websites I visit, people I IM, emails I send... (you get the point). If you know of a way, please help me. Thanks, Cmertin Oh, and by the way i'm not some little kid which my parents are trying to protect, i'm 17 and haven't done anything "wrong" to normal standards... EDIT: When making the live usb, I did allow 1Gb of data to be stored on it from Ubuntu, so it is not a problem of data. And Synaptic keeps giving me this error: Code: E: Could not get lock /var/cache/apt/archives/lock - open (11 Resource temporarily unavailable) E: Unable to lock the download directory
Boot from a live CD, then do an actual install to the USB stick and make sure that grub is installed to the USB too, Change boot sequence to look at USB first. Everything is all permanent then, and an 8GB memory stick is dirt cheap these days. Another option would be to look after yourself and go buy yourself a cheap netbook/laptop. At least when they kick you out for undermining their authority you'll have a computer to use that way.
Another option is Puppy Linux, i recently created a bootable USB stick with version 4.20 (and i was very impressed how effortless Puppy 4.21 upgraded the stick along with the session save file but i digress). See here ~ http://www.pendrivelinux.com/puppy-linux-on-usb/ I also recently made a bootable Ubuntu 9.04 stick ~ http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_jump.cfm/637778/4671291
@ OzMick, I did boot a live cd and used the install to usb feature. Also, I do have it installed on a 8gb drive, though I have important school stuff on it that I need, so I cannot use all of it. Any ways, it is my laptop that I bought so it wouldn't help if I bought another one, they would just commender that one too. I'm just having a problem with downloading things and making them usable with my live usb (except for wifi). Or, does anyone know anything about EBlaster, and if it could read what happens on a virtual machine (even if it's linux?).
I don't think the "install to USB" feature is the same as running the normal installer and doing a full, proper install to the USB. All that you've done is create a live USB with a bit of free space I think.
For the OP - Puppy Linux run-from-USB method i mentioned is very useful and doesn't need anything to be installed, though you can if you want. The your session is saved back to the USB stick when you finish, even the same desktop widgets and settings are saved. The best thing i like about it is that i can use the USB stick on loads of different computers, the desktop etc pops up regardless of which computer you're on, all i do is run the network wizard and magically i'm online straight away (all my machines use Static DHCP so i always get the same IP address each time across all machines). Any programs/documents etc you install/add are all accessible from the USB stick as if you'd done an install to hard drive, regardless of which computer you use it on.
@ Creaky I am using Ubuntu the same way, though I have a question, how is the hardware drivers for puppy linux? My computer does not have the best video card (NVIDIA scratched it after a bunch of early on sales) though it does perform well. @ OzMick, if I install it to the USB, won't it change the bootloader as well? If you don't believe so, then I could try that. I believe I tried it with an external hard drive and Ubuntu 7.04? and this happened. I am close to getting it working off my live USB, though when I try to open the "NVIDIA X Server Settings" it gives me this error, and does not let me change the display settings. Code: You do not appear to be using the NVIDIA X driver. Please edit your X configuration file (just run `nvidia-xconfig` as root), and restart the X server.
I can't help you with Nvidia graphics/drivers as any Linux machines i have with Nvidia cards, i just use standard resolutions, ie i don't bother installing specific Nvidia packages.
I said in my first post to make sure that grub is installed to the USB. You may need to go into an advanced settings screen just before you commit to formatting etc. If you're really paranoid about it, disable the hard drives in the bios. I've selected the target device for the bootloader countless times so it can absolutely be done, you just need to be alert and check everything before hitting that final OK button.
Ok, I finally got it installed... What I did was remove my hard drive before I installed it to the USB. It's a bit slow right now with installing only, so I might switch over to puppy linux for a test run. Thanks for everyone's help
That's exactly what i did on the one machine, i took out the hard drive; though that was due to a combination of flaky IDE controllers and a whining hard drive. Both problems resolved by running from USB. edited for crap spelling
If you found 9.04 slow it more than likley is due to the OS being for more grunty machines,try an earlier version either 8.04 or 7.04,you can actually install it to a virtual machine however you may find it too slow that way since you'll be running two OS's at the same time,tho it would be a good way to break the fear your parents have for whatever reason,i use msvpc 2007 on the two early versions i mentioned,apart from that another comp maybe in order it doesn't have to be the latest machine it can be as early 2000 or so @creaky lmao at whining hdd,christ! i've got a 120gb wd here that has no bearing grease what a bloody racket that makes..lol..
