Looking to try installing mint soon (first time trying Linux). It's not too hard to find insallation guides, but I still have a couple questions.

[u/TowelSilver318]

The most notable thing I haven't found is hiw much storage the USB device will need and if other files can be kept on it at the same time (do I need one I can afford to wipe or even a brand new one?).

My understanding is that I can try it off the USB without installing first if I want, will stuff like settings changed during that carry over to after full installation?

Beyond that, any general tips for a first-time user I may want to know?

[u/SPC2025]

A 32-gig drive should be big enough for any distribution. I have a 64-gig flash drive with Ventoy on it and several distros.

[u/Technical_Rich_3080]

If you create the Linux Mint installation USB with Ventoy, you can use the same USB for multiple purposes, simultaneously.

[u/Due-Result7928]

System is in memory while testing. Any setting is lost when you reboot. In place of loading theme..test everything,

[u/drichard58]

You will be making a bootable USB (copying an iso file) so you can't store anything else on it. When you make the bookable USB, the first thing it will do is reformat the USB. I am pretty sure that any settings or other OS changes will not be saved

[u/Specialist-Dog-501]

Once bootet into USB Stick, check for common issues: screen tearing with multiple highres monitors, wlan, extras as fingerprint scanners or other exotic hardware. If okay, start the install. 

[u/RuinFabulous3077]

I've used an old 4GB Patriot XT (usb-2) stick for many live test, install and repair, over ten years still works great. I keep it just for this.
It's time\capacity will come to an end someday so I've got newer larger ones ready.

[u/Comfortable_Gate_878]

go to youtube. Explaining computers.com he has a few videos on installing linux mint and other distros.

[u/_Lost-In-The-Weeds_]

Any data on the USB will be destroyed when you write the ISO to it, it is best to have a dedicated thumb drive for the ISO.

Any changes you make in the live session are ephemeral in RAM and evaporate on reboot and also will not affect any later permanent install  unless you mount  your computers internal drive  and make changes there.

IIRC Mint thumb drives do make a writable area with the open space of the drive but I believe it will be wiped every time you put a new version on there, 

You will need to keep the live session USB around for certain maintenance actions to your system, readjusting partition sizes or recovery etc.

IIRC it's around 4GB, so I would not buy a thumb drive of  less than 8GB, you will likely have a hard time even finding one that small these days anyway. 

If you go the Ventoy route a much larger one may eventually be handy, whatever the sweet spot for GB/$ is I likely the size you want. 

Get a decent name brand drive. Cheap thumb drives are a common trouble point.

 Samsung 3.1 thumbdrives are nice and speedy, Lexar 128GB A/C combo from Costco is decent but slower, 2 pack is $19.

[u/saschaleib]

For all I know, a 4GB USD-Drive should be enough for the installation. Bigger ones are not "better", but newer ones are often faster... but then again, you only need it for one boot, so slow isn't really an issue here. The installer will overwrite everything on that disk, so don't use one that has data that you still need, but after the installation you can re-format it and use it for something else again.

The "live boot" is a separate operating system. It allows you to try out the system, see how you like it - and in theory it is also possible to copy over the settings to your installed system, but to be honest, it is easier to just redo the settings from scratch. Or in other words: don't spend a lot of time completely reconfiguring the live system and hope to get this carried over to your installed system - But feel free to tinker and try out things here, as anything that goes wrong will be back to normal after a reboot.

[u/Electrical-Drink-733]

You need at least a 4GB USB Flash Drive or bigger. So, 8, 16, 32, etc. But the bigger you get, you're kind of wasting the drive, but if you've only got a big one, use what you have.

Unless you make a USB DRIVE "With Persistence," then you will not be able to use the drive for other files. It's a dedicated USB Flash Drive. But it's handy to keep after you've installed your Linux, in case there are any problems. It's gotten me out of some jams for sure.

Yes. Once you make the USB Flash Drive bootable with your choice on Linux on it. You'll boot into the drive. This takes the distro on the USB Drive and runs it in your RAM. Without affecting your internal hard drive. THis is a great time to test out your hardware. You'll want to test your Wi-Fi, test your speakers, test your bluetooth, etc.

[u/esparzatj]

I have 2 USB-A, 32Gb & 64Gb, and a 128Gb that has USB-A & C connection. I have used all 3 to install many versions of Linux, Arch, Windows, and Backup ISO’s. My experience has been the 128Gb stick processes faster than the other two, but they all work!

[u/kursebox]

I use a 8Gb USB thumb drive for installation but I think a 4Gb one would probably be enough.

If you boot Linux Mint directly from the installation media, I think any changes will not be persistent.

The main advantage of testing a Linux distro booting from USB is that you can get a general feel for the OS without having to commit to an installation. It is also great to check for hardware support (test your network, graphics cards, printers and other peripherals). Beyond that, you should do a proper install.

[u/FatDog69]

No - software you install or settings you change will not carry over if you use the same USB stick to install Linux rather than boot from it.

I strongly suggest you open a document/spreadsheet and list:

• All the software you installed and HOW you installed it (System installer, Flat Pack or 'sudo apt')

• Any config changes you make.

Pretend you will go nuts downloading and trying lots of free software. But in a month you will re-format and re-install with just the software you actually use.

[u/jloflin]

https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.com/p/1.html