You mention openSUSE, and though it is a good system, it is not one that I'd recommend for a first-time user. I've you're going to purchase a DVD or USB, I'd hold off and carry on this discussion awhile first. I think I covered #3 and #4 mostly in my opening paragraphs. #2 - The computer cannot boot Linux unless the USB is plugged in at boot time and that the USB is selected to boot first or that your interrupt the boot as I just described above. You must cold boot (or restart) the computer with the USB plugged in, and you must either interrupt the boot to choose the USB from a "Boot Menu," or else you must change BIOS/UEFI settings to that the computer always chooses to boot the USB drive before the internal hard drive or SSD. It will not do anything if you plug it in and Windows is running. Responding to your question #1 - The Linux bootloader will be self-contained on the USB. So the standard advice is: ALWAYS BACKUP CRITICAL FILES THAT YOU CAN"T AFFORD TO LOSE! (Everyone should have current backups anyway, right?) but that's not to say that you can't kill Windows, you most certainly can. To just run on USB (or DVD) should not be any problem or any threat to Windows.
so we also don't want you to make any mistake that will kill Windows.
#Can i fully install linux on usb windows 10
You have indicated already that you don't want to destroy your Windows 10 setup, and we want to help make sure that you are happy with Linux. Linux is a fully developed and robust operating system, just like Windows or Apple's iOS.
you don't have to boot up Linux today! Or even tomorrow! You might even want to take some notes, and/or also spend some time Googling around the web about installing and using Linux on a USB drive. So, let's try to answer a few questions and get you started.
#Can i fully install linux on usb for free
you can download it for free from links on this site, or another good site to check out is where they list 100 different Linux distributions based on the popularity that their website records.
I have bought from them before and they're quite reasonable for DVD/USB media. I think you mentioned this place before in another post:. Okay, glad you're back and ready to dive in! This website doesn't actually sell Linux DVD's or USB sticks, but I think one or more advertisers might.