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LoneWolf121188

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 7, 2007
664
0
Longmont, CO
I want to install a Linux distro on my USB stick (8GB, so size is not an issue) that I can use in an emergency troubleshooting situation. I don't have a long requirements list, I just need it to be able to read HFS, NTFS, and FAT32 and work well on both PCs and Macs. If it includes some good toubleshooting tools (HDD scanner, for example) I've looked at Ubuntu a bit, but it looks too productivity-oriented and not technical enough. Maybe Debian or FreeBSD?
 
Do you have any experience with Linux? You can custom build a distro with all the tools you need. Most of the tutorials you will find will guide you through this from Linux though. If you look around for a Live Rescue Disk this will probably suit your purpose best. Make sure you get one where the kernel has the HFS, FAT and NTFS modules available or compiled in.

A bit of googling will probably help you find what you need; its a very common request.
 
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