Hello Everyone,

I have a Windows laptop that I want to run Linux on. Due to the drivers being encrypted (on install, from the factory), I can’t repartition the drive and dual boot.

My plan is to run a live install from a USB stick. I’ve tried a live Debian ISO, and it works fine for my purposes (WebDev).

However, the live install isn’t persistent, and doesn’t use all the space on the 64gb usb stick for storage.

There are tutorials online that show how to make a live install while already running Linux, but for some reason, the live install doesn’t see anything plugged into the other usb slots.

So, my question is, how do I get a persistent, usable version of Debian on a USB stick from Windows?

Thanks,

-BX

Edit: Laptop is a HP Envy, with touchscreen. The reason for keeping windows is that (as of yet) I have not found a way to use the touch-screen/pen combo with Linux. Being able to boot off USB will allow me to test solutions without losing what works

  • Red1C3@lemmy.world
    4·
    1 year ago

    I remember being able to create a persistent drive using Rufus and Linux Mint (Not the Debian edition though) , Rufus has a slider for creating a persistent drive when burning the iso, pretty sure you can find some guide online

  • alaphic@lemmy.world
    3·
    1 year ago

    Just use Rufus, dude… You can even set the amount of space your image/deployment/instance (whatever the most correct term is lol) persists in, which makes it more convenient if (like me) you find yourself frequently wanting to play around with new and exciting distros.

    Also, not to gang up on ya or anything either, but I’m gonna have to second the other commentor’s request for the info on that laptop, as I’ve never encountered one that prevented you from reformatting it… o_0 I would be returning the fuck out of that garbage… Even the non-ARM old chromebooks would let you do that.

    • Black Xanthus@lemmy.worldOPCymraeg
      1·
      1 year ago

      No preventing me from formatting, but from resizing the disk so I can make space for the linux on the internal SSD.

      • alaphic@lemmy.world
        1·
        1 year ago

        Sizing the partitions is a step you (can) take when formatting the drive… And from what I can tell the Envy has an M2 nvme in it, and it just seems crazy to me to basically just ignore that to boot off of an SD card/USB drive…

        How sure are you that you want to be using Linux? Lol

  • bataklik@lemmy.world
    2·
    1 year ago

    You can install linux on a usb stick instead of your hard disk. i have done it before. But i don’t really remember the steps. I have done it trial and error.

    • Dandroid@sh.itjust.works
      2·
      1 year ago

      I did it recently. I just plugged a live USB into one USB slot and an empty USB stick into another slot. I unplugged my NVMe while I did it so it wouldn’t install grub on my Windows SSD.