Use a USB as a Hard Drive???

[Drew017]

I would like to know if I can use an 8 GB USB disk, reformatted to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) to install Mac OS X. I have Leopard, and I love it, but I just want to see if it'll work. What I think I'll have to do is...

1. Reformat the 8GB USB to mac OS Extended (Journaled)
2. Insert the install DVD
2. Install Tiger on the connected USB
3. Boot from it.

Can I do this? I have to Tiger install DVD.

 

[dukebound85]

Yup, sure can. Won't be as fast as if it were on the internal hdd however

 

[simsaladimbamba]

You can do this with an Intel Mac, as PPC Macs (iBook G4 is a PPC Mac) can't boot from USB (unless you clone the OS onto them via CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper!).

Also know, that USB flash memory thumb drives are quite slow (10 to 20 MB/s read speeds, write speed is normally lower), even a 4,200 RPM HDD is faster than that.

How to format a new HDD/SSD to install Mac OS X or make a bootable copy onto​

 

[Drew017]

Well, I have a PPC based Mac. The reason I want to put the OS on a disk is because I don't want it on my HD taking up space. It CAN be done, though??

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Well, I have a PPC based Mac. The reason I want to put the OS on a disk is because I don't want it on my HD taking up space. It CAN be done, though??

No, unless you clone it, which is not possible, as you have Leopard and can't clone a Tiger installation from that.
Better get a Firewire 400 HDD, it will be faster than the USB flash memory thumb drive. And as you probably have an G4 iBook, the USB port is also not the fastest, as I could never get more than 20 MB/s from it. That is horribly slow for an OS to run from.
What about getting a bigger HDD? Or partitioning your internal HDD?

 

[Drew017]

Well, this isn't a priority to me, I just wanted to see if it can be done. At some point soon, I think I will get an external.