29GB is more than enough.

SteamOS only officially supports NVME drives, so you'd be putting an installer on the USB drive, it'd boot into a desktop UI, and then it'll give you some instalation options.

You don't run true SteamOS on the USB drive, only the installer, which you can click around, and test out, prior to a full install.

yes and yes

Originally posted by Gengear:

29GB is more than enough.

SteamOS only officially supports NVME drives, so you'd be putting an installer on the USB drive, it'd boot into a desktop UI, and then it'll give you some instalation options.

You don't run true SteamOS on the USB drive, only the installer, which you can click around, and test out, prior to a full install.

And if i need to do stuff like file recovery and/or trying to repair my C drive? Will i be able to do either through the USB?

Originally posted by Aya:

And if i need to do stuff like file recovery and/or trying to repair my C drive? Will i be able to do either through the USB?

not sure what you mean, since steam os is a linux os, but i will try to cover two angles: if you are keeping steam os, or if you are planning to try to use windows in steam deck (not a good option imo: more inconveniences and issues)

since steam os is an immutable os (based in arch linux), i think it may not be the best option to try to recover files from a live-usb using itself, but maybe another arch based distro (maybe manjaro os).

there are many programs to make a live-usb that will work with most distros, and also sometimes even to boot windows (meaning you can use a usb to install windows). if you are going to have only one os, imo etcher is a simple and useful option (i ignore if it works with steam os, but is probable it should). that could help you reinstall steam os, but maybe not to try to recover files (at least not as easy or directly: you will probably need to change file permissions or do more things before you can do something useful).

imo to make live-usb "ventoy" is better, if you would like to have more than one os, to try them in live-sub session, or also have an installer for windows, or an os that includes recovery tools for windows or linux (ie an old, but still sometimes useful, was "hirens boot cd"). after you run the program in an usb, you can just drag and drop the iso files of compatible os, and when you boot the usb, they will appear in a list. i havent tested this one, but it seems to include similar tools and follows a similar idea: "medicat usb" (but if you are going to try to recover files in linux, you should probably used another linux os if its easier to install new things in one to help you).

https://www.ventoy.net/en/index.html

https://medicatusb.com/docs/tools/boot-an-os/mini-windows/

https://manjaro.org/

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/File_recovery

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/top-best-linux-data-recovery-tools