How can I put together a boot CD, or USB stick, to make the jump from the computer to an external hard drive with different linux distributions installed? I have Madboot and Hirens, too. The objective is to bypass the internal hard drive, leaving it as a back-up. I know this can be done on Macs, but Mr Gates gets very upset when we try to do this with HIS computers.
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I would be extremely grateful for this information. It would be a very time consuming project on my own, discovering what works and what doesn't. A successful ISO should be made free for all, which will be done. Bye, bye Bill!javascript:emoticon(':D')

Just change the BIOS order to boot from the USB drive instead of the internal HD. Newer BIOSes give you the possibility to press a certain key (F8, F10, ...) and will let you choose the boot device.

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Download Ultimate Boot CD v5.0: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/download.html
Use Parted Magic for handling all partitioning task: http://partedmagic.com/

I should have been more specific. This is NOT about using a flash drive with a live CD ISO. Way beyond that. This is about installing a legal operating system on an external hard drive. Applications run very fast this way, since they are not encumbered by a registry. Mandriva tried it about 5 years ago. My feeling is they stepped on too many toes. This can be done on mac's, but not Windows machines. it's not about technology, but money and power. it is similar to using the old bo0ot floppy to start DOS.

I've spent about 50 hours on this project, so far. i've learned enough 'technology' to realize this is forbidden fruit.

Do you want to install Linux distros or Windows on external USB drives?

_________________
Download Ultimate Boot CD v5.0: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/download.html
Use Parted Magic for handling all partitioning task: http://partedmagic.com/

linux distros would be fine. windows can remain intact on the C drive, as a backup. parted magic has potential. a simple generic boot CD with a USB driver might work, too.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5231654_make-portable-hard-drive-bootable.html

Also, Firewire devices are reported to work better for this purpose than standard USB hard drives.

It would be handy for someone to put together a simple (Freedos?) boot disc to make the jump to an external hard drive OS. It would avoid the issues of multi-booting the primary hard drive and/or preserving the primary hard drive. A CD ROM boot to a USB would be an approximation of a hard wired boot, which is used on industrial computers. However makes such a CD available would have a lot of friends!

I still don't fully understand what you want.
Have you already installed the distro's to an external drive?
Does the external drive need to be portable (boot on another PC)? If yes, a live boot environment will be the easiest way (not an installed distro).
Why not setting up your BIOS so it boots from USB first?
Try some bootloaders included in UBCD, to see it they fill your need.

_________________
Download Ultimate Boot CD v5.0: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/download.html
Use Parted Magic for handling all partitioning task: http://partedmagic.com/

The new UBCD is quite different from what I had on hand. It is more along the lines of what I was thinking. This is still a quest. Looking into some hardware that might insure a secure boot process. Already experimented with live installs on flash drives. Damn Small Linux and Knoppix are impressive! I'll report back when the project is more complete. I would prefer to install a bootloader somewhere other than the primary drive. The goal is to fully install several linux distributions on an external hard drive (not flash), while leaving the primary hard drive undisturbed. Once the system is operational, it would be highly secure and stable. Thanks for the Linux Freedom link. Kicked in $5.
The project is moving forward from the logjam it had when I started this thread. Hopefully, I can report back with a finished project in a couple of weeks.

You can just install grub, grub2, grub4dos, SYSLINUX, EXTLINUX, ... on your external hard disk as bootloader.

_________________
Download Ultimate Boot CD v5.0: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/download.html
Use Parted Magic for handling all partitioning task: http://partedmagic.com/

Extract the UBCD iso with 7-zip to your USB hard drive.
Install syslinux (\tools\ubcd2usb\) to your USB dr!ve (replace X with the correct drive letter):

_________________
Download Ultimate Boot CD v5.0: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/download.html
Use Parted Magic for handling all partitioning task: http://partedmagic.com/