Live Linux Vs Installed Linux Any difference in features between the 2?

[yeh 0]

Hi. I'm new to Linux. Only tried it on KDE. Use it like using Windows. I'm thinking of using it more since it is free... Hehe....The question now is, as stated in the topic, what is the difference between live linux(where you run linux from the CD) and installed Linux, where in my case, it would most probably be dual boot.(Windows and Linux together on a single machine).

[Jeigh1405241495 0]

First, welcome to the world of linux.Second of all you can only technically "dual boot" if you INSTALL linux. Let me explain...When you install linux it is actually on your system obviously. It has its own filespace on your hard drive and then you install a piece of software that is triggered upon starting your computer (a boot loader) which lets you choose an operating system to actually use for this session. Either by dual booting or using a live cd, windows remains intact on your system, but dual booting involves having both installed The advantage of having Linux actually installed is that it is much quicker and more responsive, lets you more easily save data to the hard drive (as you have designated space to store data instead of drives that are hopefully a compatible file type) and easier to keep updated.Next are live cds, these basically, as you probably picked up, run straight off the cd. They don't actually install files onto the hard drive so you can use much of the functionality of linux without over writing anything on your HD. Now this is good for testing purposes and other maintenance thing or trying out new distros, but if you plan to use this OS as a primary system OS then you should get a dual boot setup ready. Many live cds now come with most applications you would want for basic tasks but eventually you'll want to try new apps and this is where having an installed linux OS comes in handy. Live cds are pretty amazing stuff, especially the most recent batches, but for long term I'd go with partitioning your HD and installing linux alongside windows.

[pyost 0]

Now this is good for testing purposes and other maintenance thing or trying out new distros

Exactly what he said. If you are just entering the world of Linux, do play with some LiveCD distros, as it will help you learn more about Linux and how it works. It might as well be the reason why you decide not to install Linux at all. While it is a good and free operating system, many people don't like it since it's not mainstream. So, stick to the LiveCD for a month, and only then install Linux - if you like it, of course.

[Pharoah 0]

The olnly thing is that it's hard to get a good indication of how fast Linux can be from a live CD distro because your CD drive just isn't that fast. Once you use real linux you'll discover how much more powerful it feels when you don'th ave to wait for it to read things off the CD into your ramdisk. (also, creating a swap partition can speed these things up alot)

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

Live CDs/DVDs are only good for testing and recovery processes. Else, Live CDs/DVDs are useless.xboxrulz

[wutske 0]

Live CDs/DVDs are only good for testing and recovery processes. Else, Live CDs/DVDs are useless.
xboxrulz

LiveCDs are handy if it's your first time on linux. It's even handy at school if they managed to install XP on way to slow computers and you want so surf fast if the teach is ill and hasn't given an assignment .

Btw, forum is going extremely slow, hard to obtain my points

[nightfox1405241487 0]

LiveCDs are handy if it's your first time on linux. It's even handy at school if they managed to install XP on way to slow computers and you want so surf fast if the teach is ill and hasn't given an assignment .

lol, yeah... there's a few computers at school I wonder how they even managed to get XP on them. Well, I've gotten XP on a 333 MHz computer before... took like 3 hours.

Anyway, LiveCDs are great for testing before install but are really slow. If you decide to DUAL BOOT, make sure Windows is on FIRST then partition your drive (I'd resize the Windows partition) and then install.

[N]F

[Jeigh1405241495 0]

Well he sounds to have windows installed already so it shouldn't be an issue if he decides to dual boot. Just throw it on their, partition it up, and he'd be good to go.

[yordan 10]

With LiveCD, you have very few space for your personnal files. typically, one disquette, or a USB flashdrieve, which is rather few.It's designed mainly for people who often move, and have no laptop. You move from one PC to the other one, you simply boot on the LIVECD CD, and you have your environment ready. You go to another town, another computer, and you boot again like it were yours.So, it's slow because you don't use the hard drive, but you are autonomous and very mobile carrying only a CD and a USB flashdisk.

[wutske 0]

hmm, it isn't that bad. I've had a good experience with slax. As long as you use a +48x cd player, it works pretty fast. Data storage isn't such a problem either overhere, I have a small FAT32 partition and all my other data is available.Using linux on a USB stick is also a great solution, it's fast (depending on the stick and bus of course) and you can save data on the go .

[yeh 0]

Thanx for all the info.Ok, guess I shall start with the Live CD first. I have heard of Knoppix live CD. But people say slax is faster. Can someone tell me why?One more thing. What are the most used and supported Linux distros out there? I mean, which distros does the manufacturers test their drivers/software on? Please post any problems that you encounter with your distros. Hehe... don't wanna encounter those problems myself..

[Markymark2 0]

Knoppix Homepage

Knoppix will give you all the whistles and bells that come with a full Linux install-the cd seems to use up all 700MB and the DVD is pretty packed up too the DVD edition gives you a lot more software of course than the CD version.

There are soo many packages installed for you and it sets up a nice working environment with KDE-KNoppix detects every bit of hardware on my pc..Wireless mouse-wireless internet-bluetooth-USB external HD-19way Card reader-a really old PCi-2X IDE card and it seems to love my Nvidia Graphics card giving me a wider range of desktop resolutions that winblows.

Slax HomePage

Slax also boots up into a KDE desktop but has less programs installed in it ./.but if you goto the homepage and look for downloads..you can add hundreds of packages to the ISO before you burn it giving you more options.


If I were to recommend one for you to use I would recommend Knoppix for a first time user of Linux..its just easier to burn the cd or dvd with tons of packages already there.

If you use them and like them as others have pointed out both will ask you at boot time each time if you want to boot from the cd or install Linux..you will gain some much more performance out of Linux when its installed properly onto the Hardrive.

Good Luck and happy Linuxing...

[Jeigh1405241495 0]

yeh, if you are interested in finding out about distro's for possible installation later, I'd suggest checking around in the linux forums here. There are nuermous topics already hitting on which are best for people new to linux, which have the best support, which are the easiest, which are the most configurable, etc. Basically when picking a distro their are a plethora of options to consider so it's good to take some time and read up so that your first experience is as best as it can be

[bombshop 0]

in liveCD i don't get to choose a kernel image.this is a con because i cannot get them to work in my laptop as it needs scsi.s or sata.s images. But if you install linux you have full control over your settings.The installation comes with the standard kernel but upon installing the kernel source you can personalize your kernel and make it as light as possible as you know which drivers and options you need.But if you know the liveCD is running well on your computer, it will quite suit your needs. You can mount your devices so you have all your hard drives as a free space (But if your hard drive is NTFS you need a newer kernel to support experimental writing)as a conclusion if you want to just try it out use a liveCD but if you really mean it then install.if you decide going on with a LiveCD use Knoppix.Slax (200MB) may be faster but Knoppix (~600MB) has more tools then slax (for example slax doesnot have LaTeX but knoppix does)

Edited December 21, 2006 by bombshop (see edit history)

[sujith 0]

As many said the main difference lies in the speed and responsiveness of the Opersting System.CD-R drive is slow in data transfer capabilities so if you have a good CD drive the better.If you are using an installed distribution it will be responsive.Another thing is that Live Linux Disc(k)s are small in most cases.Ubuntu is 698 MB consdering Fedora Core 6 which spans different CDs.I reccomend you to try a Live CD for evaluationg its interface only, you can change this later.