Linux OS on USB

Can anyone suggest a user-friendly linux distribution for Windows user that can be installed and booted from a USB?

My main concern is the life-span of my USB as it will be greatly shortened by paging. I want a sytem which uses the computer's RAM rather than constantly re-writing on the USB.

 

Puppy linux comes to my mind first. it boots to ram. but there are many others, too. I would also suggest Kanotix, but its development is almost frosen now.

 

D*mn Small Linux will also meet your needs.

Fedora Core also has a USB installer, but it is a more demanding distro relative to the above suggestions.

 

I have used Puppy Linux on my cracked pda. It worked so-so until I made some small tweaks to it.

 

Knoppix might be worth checking out, I'm not so sure on it's user friendliness though.

 

SLAX is good.

 

Yeah forgot about Slax, it's a nice little distro, worth trying.

 

I'm booting CrunchBang of an 8 gig usb (uses OpenBox DE)...works great. I did a normal install, but to the stick instead of the HD. if you do this, mount all HD's before starting the install and install grub to the stick.

EDIT: MOUNT all your HD's, to take them out of consideration of the installer....sorry

 

Another vote for Puppy here - I use it on a 2G USB stick and its an awesome little distro - very user friendly as well.

 

Puppy is pretty cool...but the stock kernel didn't support my wireless and couldn't get ndiswrapper to work here, but there's another version with an updated kernel that will support intel 5000's wireless cards.

 

uhmm guys sorry to be a noobie, but i wanted to try a nice linux distribution on my express card ssd, which one amongst the multiple ver. of linux mint would u advise which would be simple, extremly easy and friendly to use

 

Thanks for all your help. I will give Puppy Linux a try.

 

What do you mean by versions? Mint is a full-blown desktop distribution, so its versions just relate to what's new and what's old.

 

archer7,
Linux Mint has several community editions; KDE, XFCE, and Fluxbox. I think this is what paradigm018 was refering to.
I would suggest the main version, it uses Gnome.

 

I have a problem making Puppy Linux boot off my USB. I have a Sony SZ3 and external boot devices are enabled in the bios with priority adjustments.

No matter which boot version I install onto the USB, it does not boot up, instead Windows will boot from the Hard Drive, which is the lowest priority. Any suggestions?

 

You can also install a rather advanced Debian derivative distro Sidux on USB stick. I think you need 4GB stick for it. Then you will have everything an up to date linux distro can offer including regular kernel updates.

 

Puppy all the way.

DSL is ok, I am not necessarily a big fan of the theme for its GUI, looks like Windows 3 nightmare!


For troubleshooting Puppy USB, their website has got some really useful tips. Recommend starting there.

 

How about LinuxXP. The interface is very similar to windows and you can mod it to be installed on a flash drive.

 

Have you went to your Sony's BIOS setup to set your USB stick as a first booting device?