Install Linux to a USB thumbdrive

Damn Small Linux is a tiny Linux distribution that fits under 50 MB suitable for running from a business-card-size CD.

What's even cooler is that you can now easily install it onto a one of those USB drives (aka thumbdrives, pen drives, key chain drives) and boot from it. The clickable title gives you the link to the steps to installing it.

Your BIOS does need to support booting directly from a USB drive so older machines like Pentium IIIs under 1.0 GHz might not work ( or might need a BIOS upgrade). DSL includes a word processor, an email program, an MP3 player, an instant messenger, a cd burner, etc.

I used the SanDisk Cruzer Mini 256 MB drive and it worked great. I did have to upgrade the BIOS on my machine (700 Mhz Celeron) which is an Intel board so it was easy to find. The BIOS even sees the drive as a SanDisk.

Thanks to Bruno for this tip! Check Bruno's website for lots of other great tips.