instaling a linux destro on a external drive?

[wardD]

hi all

I have a buddy that has a laptop that the hdd pack it in on. he has a tara byte external drive. I was curiose as to whether it is possible to install ubuntu on the exteral drive and then just change the boot sequence to the usb drive first. would that work so he would have a usable laptop till such time as he can afford a new one or replace the hdd.

thanks in advance, ward

[Midknyte]

The closest I've seen is loading a live distro onto an external, not a full installation.

http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/