Can I install OpenSUSE to a USB Flash Drive?

English Install/Boot/Login
1

I want to install OpenSUSE on a netbook I have that’s currently running Mandriva.
I know often with a distro you can run the LiveCD/Live USB version from a USB Flash Drive. I understand maybe I can do that but want I want to do is do an actual install. Is this possible?
I assume I’d need to download the distro to my netbook under Mandriva and then after do an install and choose the USB Flash Drive after inserted as the hard drive to install to. Then when I boot up the computer I’d just choose the USB Drive as the bootup drive.
Is this possible though? Would it damage my Mandriva install? Like I said I know I can use the USB Flash Drive likely as a bootup/Live CD type of solution but since I will be using it semi-regularly and saving data at times I’d like to use it simply like another hard drive. Is this possible?

2

Hi
Have a look here, you can either run from USB or install from USB.
How To’s

If your going to run from USB, I would look at getting an OCZ RALLY2
version as they are fast. If your netbook supports an SD card (This
netbook does) you could use that as well. I have a sandisk 8GB one with
sysrescue and ubuntu-netbook-remix on it.

–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° (Linux Counter #276890)
openSUSE 11.1 (i586) Kernel 2.6.27.21-0.1-pae
up 1 day 16:32, 1 user, load average: 0.09, 0.09, 0.03
ASUS eeePC 1000HE ATOM N280 1.66GHz | GPU Mobile 945GM/GMS/GME

3

Try this
UNetbootin - Homepage and Downloads

I have been fiddling with it recently. It’s a doddle to use.
It will download the .iso for you from the list it offers, or you can do it manually and point it to that.

4

Running an OS from an USB stick is slow like hell no matter how fast it is. It’s best to have only a live CD on it, there are some distributions (live ones) that can keep the changes you make (persistent or somethin) but i don’t recommend it. It’s slow like hell.

5

I was running Puppy on from a usb - it’s super fast.
Some distro’s will load the OS to RAM. I think PCLOS can too.

6

The unofficial KDE 3.5 openSUSE live USB works quite well - and can be installed directly with unetbootin.

7

Running a small light-weight distro like Puppy might be fine or any live CD but running a full blown distro like openSUSE or Ubuntu by any other means than live USB is a hell. No USB stick is fast enough for hundreds of read/write requests.