I want to install linux mint yet have a few questions: -Can you use an external hard drive instead of a USB flash drive to instal the mint linux distro the USB route or no? -What is your preferred route via USB install (That's what I have to do since no disk slot, it's newer model laptop) ty
Mint, if I recall, is a Debian variant, like Ubuntu. You can download a network installer and create a bootable USB thumb-drive. It will install the basic necessities to get you online, then pull the majority of the packages from the online software repository for the rest of the install. I haven't looked but for sure there are multiple tutorials and how-to's available to walk you through it. It's pretty straightforward.
I googled around. I think that it would be far simpler(than trying to use an external hard drive) to pick up a 2 or 4 GB flash drive at WalMart or Staples for seven or eight bucks, or borrow one from a friend. Burn(not copy) the Mint .iso file to the flash drive. Set your computer(in the BIOS) to boot from USB. Plug in the flash drive and start the computer.
As suggested already, pick up a cheap USB thumb drive to do the installation from, unless maybe you have an optical drive and just want to burn a disc. Be aware that Mint will wipe out any existing data on the drive you install it to, so anything not backed up from that drive will perish. There is an awesome little utility for creating bootable USB media. It is the Fedora Media Writer: https://developers.redhat.com/blog/...he-fastest-way-to-create-live-usb-boot-media/ There are versions that run under Mac OS, Windows and Linux, and the interface is dead simple.