If you want to use a mobile hard drive to install Linux without affecting your computer's hard drive, please verify the feasibility!

If you want to use a mobile hard drive to install Linux without affecting your computer's hard drive, please verify the feasibility! -- Linux general technology-Linux technology and application information. For details, refer to the following section. Because one of my family would like to try Linux and often use Linux on my computer. He plans to install a Linux instance in his laptop. To avoid affecting the existing system even in the event of a disaster, I plan the following solutions:

Hardware configuration:

1. Linux is a laptop and Thinkpad X Series, which provides better support for Linux.
2. The original Windows 7 Operating System is used.
3. We plan to install OpenSUSE in an external hard drive, This external hard drive is only used on this computer, not everywhere like Live CD.

Start installation:
1. Free up unpartitioned space in the external hard disk and ensure that sufficient primary partitions can be created.
2. During installation, set this external hard disk as the first boot device and use another USB flash disk for installation (there have been many USB installation experiences. Please do not talk about this)
3. Install the boot loader in the MBR of the external hard disk.

Installation completed:

After installing the system, you can install the software as usual and compile the kernel (of course, pay attention to it when compiling the kernel.

If you want to use Linux, set it as the first boot device, so that the computer will read the MBR boot loader and operating system in this external hard disk; if the system is damaged (or required) when using the original operating system, you can unplug the external hard disk, set the built-in hard disk as the first boot device, and use the original operating system.




I think this plan is convenient, safe, and feasible. Please let us know if there are any problems with this plan. Thank you!