I've been using windows 7 on my HP Pavilion G6 for quite a while now, I've always wanted to install Ubuntu and have all the files on my USB Flash Drive after using Universal USB installer. My USB is a Cruzer Edge 4gb, and I just want to know the chances of it breaking (there is also no boot from usb option)
EDIT: Not sure if this is a problem, but I've installed it on virtualbox and it's really, really, really laggy.
The chances of Ubuntu damaging your computer hardware are negligible.
You can choose to “Try Ubuntu” before installing it. That way you can discover and research possible hardware driver issues.
What you should consider is the risk, that you accidentally delete your data while repartitioning¹ your drive(s) for an additional operating system. Stick to the installation instructions or other reliable² advice³, be careful, and back up your data!
The performance of virtual machines cannot be compared reasonably to that of natively running software. They're known to have poor (graphics) performance without proper configuration.
¹ Can be done with during installation. The installer will assist you. For details see the answers linked at ² and ³.
² for legacy BIOS
³ for UEFI BIOS
The Ubuntu installer is a robust piece of software, breaking thing with that is hard.
The "installer" has an "try ubuntu" option where an ubuntu experience is loaded directly in the RAM leaving the hdd untouched, and thus reducing the chance of breaking things to zero. This is a very useful and foolproof way of getting familiar with Ubuntu/linux, and you can always decide to get back to ol-Windows later.
So in short:
the installers chance of bricking your PC = tiny
the "try ubuntu" option chance of bricking your pc = zero
It's not surprising your seeing things are laggy with VirtualBox. You're sharing resources between Windows and Ubuntu. You can change your settings to give more of your system over to the virtual machine but it's always going to be less powerful than running it exclusively on the machine
