(Old) How to Install Linux on a USB Stick

How to Install Linux on a USB Stick Old Windows based USB Linux Flash Drive installation tutorials. Note: This section contains several archived posts that use older methods or Live Linux distributions that may no longer be updated or even in production.

Create a Bitdefender Rescue USB

Bitdefender Rescue CD   running from USB

Creating a Bitdefender Rescue USB: The Bitdefender Rescue CD is a free bootable antivirus and malware removal utility created by Bitdefender, a leading name in cybersecurity. Designed for emergency virus recovery, it allows users to scan and clean infected systems that can no longer boot into Windows. You can create a portable rescue environment by running it directly from a USB flash drive, eliminating threats from outside the compromised system.

Install Wolvix to a Flash Drive using Windows

Wolvix Frugal Persistent Install

Run Wolvix from a bootable USB flash drive: In the following section, I show you one way to quickly boot and run Wolvix Linux from a USB flash drive using YUMI. Wolvix is a Slackware based Linux distribution that was created by Kenneth 'Wolven' Granerud. It is derived from Slackware and the Linux Live scripts from (SLAX).

Install Puppy Arcade on a Bootable USB Drive

Puppy Arcade Screenshot

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to install the Puppy Arcade retro gaming Linux distro to a bootable USB flash drive using Windows. Puppy Arcade is a remastered version of Puppy Linux, designed specifically for Linux-based game console emulation. Originally developed by Scott Jarvis, it features a collection of built-in emulators for classic gaming systems.

Create a YlmF OS (StartOS) Bootable USB

YlmF OS Desktop Screenshot

Create a Bootable StartOS (YlmF OS) USB Drive on Windows, Linux, or macOS. Formerly known as YlmF OS, this tiny Linux distribution is modeled to look and feel like Microsoft Windows. Often described as the Linux that looks like Windows, it combines the visual familiarity of Windows with the performance, security, and freedom of open source software.

Move WUBI to a USB Flash Drive

Modify WUBI Grub2 Boot Configuration

WUBI on USB? In the following tutorial, I show you how we moved a WUBI Ubuntu install to a USB Flash Drive. This is a follow up of our previous move WUBI to External Hard Drive tutorial as it appears WUBI currently utilizes a different set of features and GRUB2 has replaced GRUB, making the previous tutorial obsolete.

Create a Bootable Simply MEPIS USB

mepis 8 0 10 desktop screenshot

Learn how to create a bootable USB for Simply MEPIS Linux using YUMI (Windows), dd (Linux/Windows), or Terminal on macOS. Simply MEPIS was originally developed by Warren Woodford in 2002 as a user-friendly Debian-based Linux distribution.

Windows USB Kiwi Linux Flash Drive creation

Ubuntu Running From Windows

How to Create a USB Kiwi Flash drive: In the following tutorial, I will explain how to quickly and easily install Kiwi Linux to a USB flash drive using Windows and UUI. Kiwi Linux is a minimal remix based on Ubuntu that includes Adobe Flash along with audio and video codecs for restricted formats and support for encrypted DVDs. This distribution is for English, Romanian, and Hungarian speaking users. This tutorial does support the persistence feature, enabling you to save and restore most of your changes on subsequent boots.

Make a Persistent Eeebuntu Bootable USB

eeebuntu flash drive

This tutorial will guide you through the steps to create a bootable USB drive with Eeebuntu, a lightweight Linux distribution originally tailored for Asus EeePC netbooks. With persistence enabled, your portable operating system can save files, settings, and system changes between reboots, turning a basic flash drive into a powerful on the go portable Linux workstation.

Install MooLux to a USB Flash Drive in Windows

moolux linux

How to Install MooLux Linux Live to a USB Flash Drive Using Windows: Looking for a portable Linux distribution that you can run from a USB stick? This tutorial will guide you through the step by step process of installing MooLux Linux Live to a USB flash drive using a Windows computer. This lightweight, Slackware based Linux distro runs the KDE desktop environment and comes preloaded with a suite of tools for programming, office productivity, multimedia, and more.

Install xPUD to a Flash Drive from Windows

xpud backup and persistentce

Create a bootable xPUD persistent USB flash drive using Windows. xPUD is an intuitive, minimal Linux operating system originally created by Penk. It functions much like a kiosk-style OS, focusing on speed, simplicity, and low resource usage. It is ideal for quick web access, lightweight tasks, and portable computing.

It ships with several essential applications preinstalled, including the Firefox web browser, Gnome Media Player, Transmission BitTorrent client, Geany text editor, Gpicview image viewer, EPDFView PDF reader, and the Xterm terminal emulator. Additional Linux applications can be installed as needed, making it a flexible option despite its minimal footprint.

Install PUD Linux to a Flash Drive using Windows

pud linux desktop

Create a PUD Linux USB Flash Drive using Windows. In the following tutorial, we cover the process of installing PUD Linux to a USB Flash Drive using Windows and our custom installation script. This is a tiny 259MB Ubuntu based remix. It utilizes an (LXDE) Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment and a unique Modular Opt-Get Plugin System to add additional software applications.

Move WUBI Ubuntu Install to an external USB drive

files on the usb drive

Move WUBI Ubuntu to an External USB Drive: In this comprehensive tutorial, we show you how to move your existing WUBI Ubuntu installation to an external USB drive. This enables you to carry your personalized Ubuntu environment with you and boot it on any compatible PC without modifying your internal drives.

ALL In One PenDriveLinux 2008

all in one qemu pendrivelinux 2008

ALL In One PenDriveLinux 2008: The Portable Linux Breakthrough. This version was a groundbreaking portable Linux distribution designed to run seamlessly from a USB flash drive. It could operate either as a standalone operating system at boot or within Windows using a Virtual Machine (Qemu). This innovative design allowed users to enjoy a fully portable Linux environment, complete with persistent storage to save changes such as installed software, bookmarks, email, and contacts.

Make a gOS USB Flash Drive using Windows

screenshot of gos running from usb

The following tutorial explains how to create a bootable gOS USB flash drive using Windows. You can use either the popular Universal USB Installer or the command-line utility dd for Windows to get the job done. Both methods allow you to run gOS directly from a USB flash drive.

Make a MCNLive Bootable USB Flash Drive

mcnlive toronto screenshot

The following covers one way to make a MCNLive bootable USB flash pen drive in just a few steps from within Windows. By using this method, you don't need to burn the ISO to a CD and then run the USB installer from Linux. Instead, the Universal USB installer is used to automatically create the MCNLive USB flash drive for you.

Run Feather Linux from a bootable USB drive

USB Bootable Feather Linux

USB Feather Linux (Historical): Create a bootable USB drive for Feather, a very small (<128MB), minimalist Debian-based distribution designed for speed and efficiency. This guide shows how to write the ISO to a USB for booting, testing, or exploring lightweight Linux, primarily for archival or educational purposes.