I'm curious how folks here have configured their PCs and disks.
Do you have --
Only Puppy installed?
Run Puppy off USB only?
Dual-boot of Puppy plus Windows?
Multi-boot of Puppy plus other OSs?
Virtual Machine setup (please describe)?
On all my PCs I install both Puppy and Mint. Puppy is Frugal and controls the boot menu. I use Puppy for the interesting system work and Mint for the blah office work.
What do you do?
I no longer use any desktops, only 2 (cheap) Single Board Computers such as the Beelink. I leave the HDD with Windows 10 untouched, as it usually has only a small drive capacity anyway. And who knows when I might need to use Windows 10 again ??? I then installed a second internal solid state drive (SSD), which are now becoming very cheap.
On the first device I installed MX-Linux on the second internal SSD and then added frugally installed puppies on a separate partition, adding a custom.cfg file in the /mnt/rootMX-Linux/boot/grub directory and using the UUID of that partition (see below). The BIOS had to be changed to boot from the second SSD, and of course, secure boot needed to be turned off. BTW, MX-Linux gave me a fully equipped Linux suite with pulseaudio which i often used to set up skype and zoom sessions with hdmi output and USB soundcard input.
FYI, my typical GRUB2 menu looks like:
menuentry " LXPUPSC64 19.06 +0 Frugal ON SSD P3" {
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 5077dd62-647a-4f2a-92a4-4ea4751720f3
linux /LXPUPSC64/vmlinuz pmedia=ataflash psubdir=LXPUPSC64 nousbwait=5
initrd /LXPUPSC64/initrd.gz
}
On the other device I used the USB stick installer program as part of the NICOS Utility to install Bionicpup64 on a 32BG 3.0 USB. This created a GRUB menu, which I can directly edit/append similar to above. I then shrunk existing partitions on the USB and created an ext4 partition in which I added other frugal Puppy OSs. Again the BIOS had to be changed to boot from the USB.
In this case I used the second SSD as a personal storage space for all other files, only changing the frugal installations when new software was added. If I needed to run a specialized USB (eg my dpbuster64 audio editing suite) I just unplugged the original USB and replaced it.
Puppy Linux gives me great flexibility with a very small storage footprint, and the forum and its members are fantastic!
My machine is from 2012 with windows7 preinstalled.
The win7 remains untouched with its bootloader on the hard drive.
How I boot Puppies?
A usb stick (3.0) formated in ext3 has the extlinux bootloader installed. There are also folders with vmlinuz and initrd.gz for each puppy on the usb stick.
In Gparted I shrank one windows data partition on hard drive and made new ext3 partition (cca 100 gb). There is a folder for each puppy containing all the needed files (except vmlinuz and initrd.gz).
So I boot partially from usb (initrd.gz and vmlinuz) and partially from hard drive (the rest). All this is configured in extlinux.conf.
I use Fatdog64 with multisession .sfs on the hard drive (as my read-only system) and other 64 bit puppies with savefolders (/mnt/home folder is on the hard drive, so there is enough space).
As a backup I have another slower usb stick with multiple puppies (independent on the hard drive) and Fatdog64 burned on DVD+RW (multisession).
Hello
I'm not sure if this post will help you but here what I use.
The 1st four of your questions are answered by a single set of statements from me. The reason for a singularity is that it covers ALL of those bases no matter which PC I boot.
The Singularity
I do NOT 'install' any OS(s) on ANY PC anymore, for over 2 years, now. I run all systems "Live" with their built in abilities for persistence (aka "Frugal").
I use a ISO file boot method for ALL modern PUPs & DOGs, as well as for other LInux OS(s). I have 2 methods I use each of which allows this to occur WITHOUT ever needing to install ANYTHING to the PCs permanent drives.
This is accomplished booting a mere USB which lists the ISO files and I choose at boot-time which distro I want to boot. For me, this is a major productivity gain as I save all the wasted time I've done in the past with the manipulation of the distro download to a unit and the manipulation of the unit for unique needs. ALL that time, in my past, was a waste. Today, I merely download an ISO file to a USB. When my USB is booted it contains the distro(s) I want to boot. There is NO effort to manipulate an ISO file ever again. And PUP-DOGs have everything needed built into their ISOs to facilitate their distro boot. My USB is merely a "lister" of choices I have at boot-time.
Also note: the USB also list ANY installed OS it finds on the PC's permanent drive as well allow that choice to be chosen, if I need.
Just yesterday, I downloaded a recent PUP's ISO file in 42 seconds and booted it immediately. I was at desktop in 47 seconds and saved the session after testing it.
You can find methods similar to what I use on the forum via this thread. Really easy to implement a USB, if you are interested to give either of the 2 USB builders a try.
Your last question
I use QEMU. If you have a modern PUP, open a terminal and type "qemu_gui" and follow the directions. The PUPs and DOGs I have tested run faster in some cases in the virtual PC than they do native on the PC. Here's one such example of QEMU use on FossaPUP64
Hope this is helpful
I have a dual-boot setup with Windows XP but only use Windows for my business printing/scanning stuff. Three partitions on harddisk. First NTFS for Windows (8GB), second a large NTFS partition for all my data and a third ext3 for my frugal Puppys (4GB) in size. I don't install stuff nor do I use a savefile but load additional applications as sfs files and save configuration changes to an adrv.
Main computer Primarily boots into a highly customized Puppy Fossa 64 Frugal. All boot options on hard drive load ISOs or "pseudo-frugal" images
Other computers run Puppy Linux versions via USB. On these other systems there might be another OS installed, whose name we will not mention.
Depending on the system, I use syslinux, grub, grub4dos or grub2config to boot into different OSs (mainly Linux or Android based)
Recently switched to using Qemu over VirtualBox over virtualization. I noticed it is easier to install, runs faster and uses less resources. I use virtualization over rebooting. VM loading is via ISO or virtual disk. Too many OS versions used to list them all.
I don't use Puppy Linux on Raspberry Pi's...yet
No savefile used, except on virtual machines. Most data is accessible via partitions available to any OS I boot up.
Puppy only on a 'stubby' 8Gb. Format ext3, with 1Gb for the pup and about 6.3Gb free for storage. Backups of course.
Very little maintanence, but secure updates every so often, as needed.
Money talks... no, it shouts, so that it doesn't have to hear common sense.
@benali72 :-
Well; let's see. Puppies ONLY, here....
---------------------------------
Two internal HDDs; a 1 TB primary, and a 3 TB secondary.
Primary:-
sda1 FAT32: boot - 256 MB.
sda2 Ext3: "The Kennels" - approx 300 GB (this is where my Puppies live; 4 x 64-bitzers, 2 x 32-bitzers)
sda3 Ext3: "DATA" - approx 650 GB - This is where all my portable browsers and other apps live.
---------------------------------
Secondary (which used to be the Barracuda drive from inside a SeaGate desktop external USB 3.0 drive. When I bought the new rig, it made more sense to rip it out, and fit it internally instead):-
sdb1 Ext3: "Puppy-Stuff"/"DATA" - approx 1 TB - apps/progs/utilities/pets/debs/archive/AppImages.....everything I've ever built for Puppy, packaged for Puppy, or looked-at and hung onto 'cos it was interesting. 'my-documents', 'Downloads' & 'Mike's-Stuff' all live here, sym-linked into /root of each Puppy so all share a common set.
sdb2 Ext3: "SeaDesk-2" - approx 1.5 TB - Everything else! All my saved media - pictures/images/videos (short & long)/film library - live here.....again, sym-linked into every Puppy. My synced MEGA.nz directory lives here. My 4 'WORK' areas are on here. LOADS of other stuff (too much to mention here). Etc, etc.....
EasyOS, Slax, ZorinOS, all live on & run from assorted thumb drives (invariably USB 3.0).....when I fancy a change.
Kennel backups all go to a 1 TB SeaGate external USB 3.0 portable drive......unplugged & tucked-away when I'm finished.
Mike. 
Puppy "stuff" ~ MORE Puppy "stuff" ~ ....and MORE! 
_______________________________________________________
Laptop A: Came with Win95.
Dual-boots Win95 and Puppy 4.1.2 Retro
Laptop B: Came with Win98 Release 1
Now runs only Wary Puppy 5.1.4.1
Laptop C: Came with WinXP
Now quint-boots WinXP, Precise Lite, DPupStretch, Slacko5.8, and DevuanPup
Also runs Slacko 5.7 off USB flash drive.
Laptop D: Came with Win10
Runs only Win10 off HDD.
Runs BionicPup, EasyOS, and MX-Linux off USB flash drives.
Desktop A: Came with WinXP
Dual-boots WinXP and LXLE (Xenial version)
Desktop B: Came with Win7
Dual-boots Win7 and LXLE (Bionic version)
And yes, I routinely use all 6 systems. Some more than others, obviously.
Grub4dos user since booting direct from ISO introduce and the last day using cd/dvd drive.
Only using internal Sata HDD for Multi-boot
1st partition (NTFS)
for booting Windows (OS, WinPE, VHD, ISO)
2nd partition (NTFS)
Basically booting any LIVE-ISO
I like to use particular Custom-remaster-ISOs for some searching, news reading, video watching etc.
The good thing booting direct from ISO:
The system wont break.
Fastest speed you can get to transfer the system into RAM.
Frugal booting speed is depend on your HD speed. (See attached images)
3rd partition (EXT3)
Everything Frugal system.
I tend to lean towards desktop aesthetics and functionality vs. trying to create a sophisticated cockpit.
Every machine is Windows and until yesterday I always booted off USB, whether Puppy is on the USB or internal HD. On my one working XP machine I can boot Puppy from Windows.
On my modern 64 machine sometimes I boot Ubuntu MATE when I want to be wasteful and luxurious. I like the refined, non-technical interface.
My ideal 32 distro at the moment would be X-Xenial which doesn't exist, and as I consequence I am usually in X-Tahr or Xenial JWM.
I came to Puppy from Mint and do not really like the XFCE versions I used, but I am interested in Lubuntu.
I like a clean desktop and tend not to use wallpaper, or standard wallpaper.
I'm torn about the use of 2nd trays/panels. When they hide I have a clean desktop, save the Trash which I am becoming skeptical about because it's RAM.
An unsettled system has a negative impact on my productivity, but I have hope for the future.
On the Whiz-Neophyte Bridge
Linux Über Alles
Disclaimer: You may not be reading my words as posted.
I have the following computers:
1 Thinkpad T440S sitting on a shelf that has Fedora on it which I have Openbox + Tint2, haven't used in ages because the keyboard's broken so I always need to frankenstein it with an actual USB keyboard so its kind of weird. The touchpad on it sucks hardcore, probably the worst Thinkpad of the bunch, but it was my first I guess. Been through a lot from installing Lubuntu > Debian > Devuan > Gentoo > Fedora. Taught me a TON about Linux honestly, and how to deploy dotfiles and learn Emacs.
2. Thinkpad X230: This is my daily driver, currently running Manjaro with XFCE (though I should probably just switch it to KDE to be honest). It's a good PC, and I've been trying to move over to just using FossaPup64 on a USB drive on it since I just got Emacs working via the 'AppImage' version.
3. Old 'gaming' PC I had a while ago, maybe 4 or 5 years ago I got it, still runs like a champ with i7, GeForce 1060, and 16 GB RAM. I have Manjaro on one flash drive that I boot into for artwork creation via GIMP, Krita, and Grafx2, and I have another USB drive for Jackalpup for music creation, and I have a single HDD for Windows 10 on the super rare occassion I want to play Steam games like PUBG or something (hasn't been that case in months).
4. Dell Optiplex 7070SFF: Use this as a file server for backing up data with a two HDD setup that are mirrored. Runs Fedora, and I was thinking about putting 'Cockpit' on it to run VMs via a browser which would be sick.
5. Raspberry Pi 3B+: I've used this badboy for so many things like a Minecraft server, a file server at one point (but I learned using 2 external HDDs with it will kill the drives), and now its being used to just serve PS2 games to a Slim Sony PS2 since the USB ports for the PS2 were USB 1.0 (or 2.0, can't remember), anyway, you can't just plug in an HDD to run games so you actually have to serve games over the ethernet cable via the 'psx-pi' project which basically runs Raspbian and has a script to serve the games over SAMBA. Pretty neat stuff honestly, especially if you have an old PS2 and you bought a memory card with 'FreeMcBoot' installed on it from Amazon or eBay.
That's about it.
I keep debating getting old computers like the Mac PowerPC from the late 90s, an Apple Macintosh from the late 80's, or an Amiga, with a CRT monitor, but am not sure honestly. Probably just to make music, run old software, and do cool art stuff with them.
Tag me if you got any old computers you want to part with, always love older hardware honestly 
Been also debating an old iMac G4 to run an old copy of Photoshop because those things used to be a beast for digital art back in the day.
Anyway, there's always more room for computers in my lab (aka office room)
Forgot to mention that I use a Git repo that I self host on my website that I deploy via 'gnu stow'.
This is to deploy dotfiles for Emacs, as well as other terminal utilities like 'tmux', 'ranger', 'w3m', etc.
