are 2 USB drives really needed for tails?

mzforfree

newbie

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Quote from: Reynaldo on June 16, 2017, 12:52:24 PM

Quote from: mzforfree on June 16, 2017, 10:05:52 AM

so excuse my newbness... what is the 2nd hard drive for in laymen terms? extra security? "being truly untraceable"?

Quote

when you write the tails iso to a disk it uses the entire disk. so you need a second one for persistent storage. persistent storage could also be on your hard drive. it's encrypted so placing on your HDD is not a problem.

still dont understand what this persistent storage means

Persistent storage means whatever you save while you are on the OS of the USB will be saved on it.

so wouldn't this decrease security? I'm using this for complete anonymity, just from what i've read on this all this persistent storage does is grant the user the ability to have a fairly to well secure wallet on there for larger sums of BTC, and for that wouldn't a different linux kernal be more secure since tails seems more widely used and easier to hack? Wouldn't ubuntu be even better just for wallet security and protection on a single usb drive and then using the non-persistent storage able version of tails to browse tor and at preserving my privacy and trace-ability online?

pooya87

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Quote from: Abdussamad on June 16, 2017, 04:13:43 AM

Quote from: mzforfree on June 14, 2017, 05:02:26 PM

right but somehow using two makes it untraceable? If i'm just browsing through darkwebmarkets and using secure wallets should installing it using 1 usb drive be enough?

when you write the tails iso to a disk it uses the entire disk. so you need a second one for persistent storage. persistent storage could also be on your hard drive. it's encrypted so placing on your HDD is not a problem.

no it doesn't. Tails is like any other linux distribution as far as i know with the difference that it -by default- doesn't store anything and wipes out everything after you sign off.
and the persistence is what you can enable to store the data you need later. and it can be stored in that same 1 USB, it will create a new file with the specified size (it is called casper-rw) and stores everything there.

as i said above the second USB is only used as a medium to boot up the ISO and install it. if you are already on a Linux OS you don't even need that, you can install on that USB inside your OS.

HCP

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Quote from: mzforfree on June 16, 2017, 10:05:52 AM

still dont understand what this persistent storage means

By default Tails loads and operates completely in RAM... so as soon as you shutdown or restart the computer, all traces and data are wiped. It is the "amnesic" part of "The Amnesic Incognito Live System" Wink

Persistent Storage is used if you need to save data between sessions... this can be place on another usb stick, an external hard drive or, as mentioned, an encrypted partition created on an internal hard drive.

Reynaldo

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Quote from: mzforfree on June 16, 2017, 10:05:52 AM

so excuse my newbness... what is the 2nd hard drive for in laymen terms? extra security? "being truly untraceable"?

Quote

when you write the tails iso to a disk it uses the entire disk. so you need a second one for persistent storage. persistent storage could also be on your hard drive. it's encrypted so placing on your HDD is not a problem.

still dont understand what this persistent storage means

Persistent storage means whatever you save while you are on the OS of the USB will be saved on it.

mzforfree

newbie

Activity: 42

Merit: 0

so excuse my newbness... what is the 2nd hard drive for in laymen terms? extra security? "being truly untraceable"?

Quote

when you write the tails iso to a disk it uses the entire disk. so you need a second one for persistent storage. persistent storage could also be on your hard drive. it's encrypted so placing on your HDD is not a problem.

still dont understand what this persistent storage means

Abdussamad

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Quote from: mzforfree on June 14, 2017, 05:02:26 PM

right but somehow using two makes it untraceable? If i'm just browsing through darkwebmarkets and using secure wallets should installing it using 1 usb drive be enough?

when you write the tails iso to a disk it uses the entire disk. so you need a second one for persistent storage. persistent storage could also be on your hard drive. it's encrypted so placing on your HDD is not a problem.

pooya87

legendary

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Quote from: mzforfree on June 15, 2017, 08:46:55 AM

https://tails.boum.org/install/index.en.html

standard installatonoftas sas to use two usb drives an even using 2nd computer when installing 2nd drive

there is a link in green text saying "why 2" if you click it you can see the reason. and what that means is just for installation of Tails not for using it.
and the first USB is only used for booting up Tails in live mode using the UUI app for windows. you can use a DVD too. just burn the ISO on it and boot up to install on one USB! (USB is much faster though)

ViceOfBTC21

sr. member

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Quote from: zend7 on June 15, 2017, 06:53:07 AM

I can confirm as a long time old user of Tails OS that 1 USB or 1 DVD is enough to keep you anonymous. What you should do is to restore from the seed anytime you want to use the Electrum wallet, and before logging in choose to not access your hard disk if you do not need to download files. If you need to download some files check the box that says to access your hard disk and once you finish your session transfer the downloaded files in a USB. This is the best tool for the normal people to keep their identity private in this world of spying from everywhere and every agency.

But storing bitcoins on 2nd USB drive is compromise between security and convenience. You don't need to risk seed everytime you want spend bitcoins.

mzforfree

newbie

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https://tails.boum.org/install/index.en.html

standard installatonoftas sas to use two usb drives an even using 2nd computer when installing 2nd drive

zend7

hero member

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Merit: 501

Hackers please hack me .... if you can :)

I can confirm as a long time old user of Tails OS that 1 USB or 1 DVD is enough to keep you anonymous. What you should do is to restore from the seed anytime you want to use the Electrum wallet, and before logging in choose to not access your hard disk if you do not need to download files. If you need to download some files check the box that says to access your hard disk and once you finish your session transfer the downloaded files in a USB. This is the best tool for the normal people to keep their identity private in this world of spying from everywhere and every agency.

achow101

staff

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Just writing some code

Quote from: mzforfree on June 14, 2017, 05:02:26 PM

right but somehow using two makes it untraceable? If i'm just browsing through darkwebmarkets and using secure wallets should installing it using 1 usb drive be enough?

One should be enough, but then again, I don't use TAILS. Where do you see that you need two USB drives to be "untraceable"?

mzforfree

newbie

Activity: 42

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right but somehow using two makes it untraceable? If i'm just browsing through darkwebmarkets and using secure wallets should installing it using 1 usb drive be enough?

achow101

staff

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Just writing some code

You need something to store your wallet file unless you are planning on restoring your wallet from the seed every time you want to use it.

mzforfree

newbie

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Seems like one should be enough for just a secure wallet and occassionally tor browsing/purchasing?

Topic: are 2 USB drives really needed for tails? (Read 1148 times)