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I run the USB installer program and install linux on a USB flash drive.The USB installer walks you through the process.The only cost is a clean flash drive wih at least 4gb capacity.
The USB will need to be formatted and the installer will do that for you. Any info on the flash drive will be erased forever.
To run the flash drive, your USB port(s) must be set to boot first before the hard drive or operating system.This is done in BIOS and is different between computer manufacturers and installed hardware.
I search the computer model I am running the flash drive on, on youtube, to find out how to make the USB ports boot first. Once the boot menu is set to boot USB first, restart the computer, and it will boot into the Linux flash drive.
Once you're up and running on Linux USB, you can play around with it. It will ask you if you want to run the demo or install it. I demo, then if I like it, I install it next to windows except for my current computer and my son's.
I installed them and let the flash drive remove Windows. I would keep windows for a while to be sure you don't need it for certain things that Linux may not be able to do. Some of the newer Linux USB setups will have the option of checking your computer for compatibility.I run that. I've never had any issues come back.
If you want to access the internet with the flash drive just set up your connection similar to Windows. It's a bit of a crippled set up. It doesn't have access to all the computer's hardware.
It will be a little slow. It's pretty fast when installed fully. Since it doesn't interact with the hard drive, there's little to no chance of getting a virus or other info stealing bugs. When you're done, and shut down the computer, all the info on the USB is lost except the Linux version you installed on the flash drive.
You can use it over and over. It can also be reformatted and another Linux version installed using the same method described here.
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