Ubuntu on USB Drive

RonNYC · 07-09-2009, 01:59 PM

Hi. I have an HP G60 laptop running Vista Home Premium. Attached is a Seagate 500gB USB Freeagent drive. I installed Ubuntu 9.04 on it but when I restart the laptop and hit esc to get into the BIOS, I see the USB drive as a choice, but when I select it, I'm back into Vista. I assume this is because the USB drive doesn't have a boot loader on it. Then again, I am quite ignorant of this area, so what's my guess worth? In any case, does anyone have an idea how I can boot into Ubuntu?

RON

**Done_Fishin** · 07-09-2009, 03:02 PM

Hi & welcome

When you installed you should have told the installer to place the boot loader on the external drive .. that way it doesn't interfere with Vista and when the USB is accessed it will find it.
If you did the install after you installed Vista then you should have a boot menu on your main drive .. which should allow you to choose between Ubuntu and Vista, Ubuntu is usually the default. If you installed Vista AFTER you had installed Ubuntu, Vista will have destroyed the boot loader.

There are many posts about how and when to install Ubuntu so I think there is no point in repeating anything here unless there are questions that you have yet to understand .. take a look oat the other posts and then ask any question you like here about stuff you don't understand

edit

Forgot to mention that the page you are looking for is as you are installing Ubuntu .. tells you what you have selected and underneath on the right hand side in the corner is an "advanced" button. Click this and it will allow you to select where the grub is placed .. select the drive where you are installing Ubuntu, probably sda with a number to indicate what partition it is on.

Good luck and let us know how you get on .

07-09-2009, 01:59 PM	#1 (permalink)
RonNYC Registered User Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 1 OS: Vista Home Premium SP2	Ubuntu on USB Drive Hi. I have an HP G60 laptop running Vista Home Premium. Attached is a Seagate 500gB USB Freeagent drive. I installed Ubuntu 9.04 on it but when I restart the laptop and hit esc to get into the BIOS, I see the USB drive as a choice, but when I select it, I'm back into Vista. I assume this is because the USB drive doesn't have a boot loader on it. Then again, I am quite ignorant of this area, so what's my guess worth? In any case, does anyone have an idea how I can boot into Ubuntu? RON

07-09-2009, 03:02 PM	#2 (permalink)
Done_Fishin Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Brit living in Greece Posts: 7,526 OS: WinME, WinXP Pro SP3, Win7 Beta, Ubuntu 9.04 & Netbook Remix & CD2USB, Mepis 6.5, Fedora 10 My System	Re: Ubuntu on USB Drive Hi & welcome When you installed you should have told the installer to place the boot loader on the external drive .. that way it doesn't interfere with Vista and when the USB is accessed it will find it. If you did the install after you installed Vista then you should have a boot menu on your main drive .. which should allow you to choose between Ubuntu and Vista, Ubuntu is usually the default. If you installed Vista AFTER you had installed Ubuntu, Vista will have destroyed the boot loader. There are many posts about how and when to install Ubuntu so I think there is no point in repeating anything here unless there are questions that you have yet to understand .. take a look oat the other posts and then ask any question you like here about stuff you don't understand edit Forgot to mention that the page you are looking for is as you are installing Ubuntu .. tells you what you have selected and underneath on the right hand side in the corner is an "advanced" button. Click this and it will allow you to select where the grub is placed .. select the drive where you are installing Ubuntu, probably sda with a number to indicate what partition it is on. Good luck and let us know how you get on . __________________ . . I'm not old!! I'm age impaired .. D_F I DON'T PLAY GAMES How to mark your thread as solved HDD DIAG UTILS TSF's Photographer's Corner Last edited by Done_Fishin; 07-09-2009 at 03:09 PM. Reason: forgot to mention ..