to boot from harddisc via bios is no problem...

but before i start messing with the external i want a go ahead from you guys

my goal is to have vista/ubuntu/leo completly as a mirror on my external able to boot from it via usb in case the internal disc goes kaputt...

this is the way i want to do it:

/dev/sde1 NTFS (vista backup with acronis)
/dev/sde2 ext2 (GRUB + Ubuntu backup)
/dev/sde3 hfs+ (leo backup with superduper)

i already have those partitions and have vista and leo back upd completly... my bios is able to boot from usb... but i still didnt install grub...

first question: do i need an swap partition for ubuntu backup and whats the easiest way to mirror ubuntu?

second question: i mounted the ext2 partition with mount /dev/sde2 /mnt; when i want to create a folder with mkdir i get a message that its only a read only filesystem - how do i mount with writeable?

third question: when i mount it writeable i want to do the following:

01 cp /boot/grub/*stage* /mnt/boot/grub
02 echo '(hd0) /dev/sde > /mnt/boot/grub/device.map
03 grub-install --root-directory=/mnt/dev/sde
unmount /mnt + reboot and see if grub is loading... since i copied grub from my internal it should be the same settings or the external and it should work...

ok what do you think? is this the way to go?