Running Computer Operating System Directly From External Data Storage Device
- Run an operating system directly from an external data storage device:
- bypassing the existing, internal operating system on one's computer.
- without altering the configuration of the existing, internal operating system on one's computer (unless one deliberately chooses to do so in order to fix a broken system configuration).
- External data storage devices:
- S.D. flash memory card
- U.S.B. flash memory drive
- solid-state drive (S.S.D.)
- hard disk drive (H.D.D.)
- optical disc drive (O.D.D.) (see LiveDVD)
How to flash/write a disk image file to external storage device (except optical disc drive)
WARNING Using the following software tools (programs) will overwrite all existing data on the target device sdX - USE ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK - BACKUP ALL IMPORTANT DATA FIRST- From within GNU+Linux (select one of the following free software tools (programs))
- dd command, via the command-line interface:
- ensure the target device (external storage device) is disconnected, or unmounted, from the computer
- next, list all known disk devices connected to the computer, via the command-line interface:
lsblk -al
- next, connect the target device to the computer via an USB port
- next, determine the correct device name, which has the format sdX, of the target device by invoking the lsblk command again, and comparing both outputs:
lsblk -al
- then, flash (write) the disk image file (with file extension .img or .iso) to the target device, via the command-line interface:
time sudo dd bs=4M conv=fdatasync,noerror,notrunc oflag=direct status=progress if=<DISK_IMAGE_FILE> of=/dev/sdX
- where X refers to the device letter for your target device
- where <DISK_IMAGE_FILE> is replaced with the actual disk image file name, with file extension .img or .iso
- WARNING the dd command will overwrite all existing data on the target device sdX - USE ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK
- From within Android:
- ensure an external device is connected to the smartphone/tablet, via the USB port
- then, use the following free software tool (program):
- From within Microsoft Windows:
- ensure the external device is connected to the computer, usually via a USB port
- then, use one of the following free software tools (programs):
- Rufus (the latest version of Rufus requires Windows 8 or later; last supported version for Windows 7 is version 3.22)
How to flash/write a disk image file to external storage device (optical disc drive only)
Appendix
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