How to Make USB Bootable on Windows

Easily Boot Windows 11 from USB on a VHDx Image

Easily Boot Windows 11 from USB, fully contained inside a Virtual Hard Disk (VHDx) image file. The following process enables you to take a full installation of Windows 10 or 11 with you wherever you go (Windows to Go alternative). Create a Windows bootable USB flash drive and then run the operating system portably on any computer that can boot from USB. For this process, we’ll use YUMI as our Windows media creation tool; however, you could also use Universal USB Installer if you prefer.

Make a Bootable KNOPPIX USB Flash Drive

Easily make a bootable Live KNOPPIX USB flash drive using the Universal USB Installer. KNOPPIX is another popular free and Open Source Live Linux distribution. It was one of the earliest Live Linux distributions ever made. This Live distro is based on Debian GNU/Linux and utilizes a lightweight LXDE desktop environment.

Boot from USB Ubuntu with Persistence

Boot from USB Ubuntu: Create a Bootable Ubuntu USB with Persistence. The following segment covers how to use YUMI as an Ubuntu bootable USB media creator tool from within Windows or in Linux via WINE. Once finished, you should be able to successfully boot from the Live USB. You can also use the removable device to install Ubuntu to a hard drive.

Make a USB Kubuntu Flash Drive via Windows

Make a USB Kubuntu flash drive using Windows. Kubuntu is a fork of Ubuntu, offered by Canonical Ltd. It utilizes a KDE desktop environment. KDE is often preferred over Gnome for its visual appearance and Windows familiar functionality. Once finished, your flash drive will act as a Live Bootable USB, to be used in place of a Live CD. A persistent file can optionally be created for saving and restoring changes on subsequent reboots.

USB Ultimate Boot CD (UBCD)

Easily create an Ultimate Boot CD (UBCD) bootable USB flash drive from Windows using YUMI, dd for Windows or dd from Linux. UBCD is a widely used computer diagnostics tool that consolidates over 100 essential system diagnostics and hardware troubleshooting utilities into a single ISO file.

Make a DBAN bootable USB Flash Drive

Create a DBAN bootable USB using the YUMI Multiboot tool. Easily run DBAN from a USB flash drive using Windows or WINE from within Linux. Darik's Boot and Nuke is a simple bootable data destruction tool. It can be used to securely wipe an entire hard drive or an attached external disk (IDE or SCSI). It works by completely deleting all contents of the disk.

Make a System Rescue USB using Windows

System Rescue (formerly known as System Rescue CD) is a Linux based live system toolkit that is designed to provide a variety of tools for repairing and recovering computers. It is primarily used to troubleshoot and repair an unbootable or otherwise damaged computer systems after a system crash. Helping you fix computers that are experiencing problems with their operating system, filesystem, or hardware components.

How to Create a Puppy Linux Live USB

Create a Puppy Linux Live USB from Windows. In the following section I show you ways to install, boot and then run a Live Puppy Linux from a bootable USB flash drive using the Universal USB Installer (UUI) from within Windows or dd from within Linux. Although cram packed with popular features, this Live Linux distribution aims to remain lightweight and small, allowing it to run very well on older computer hardware.

Create a Bitdefender Rescue USB

How to create a Bitdefender Rescue USB flash drive. Bitdefender Rescue CD is a free bootable Antivirus scanner that is based on Knoppix Linux and Gentoo Linux core Operating System. It can be used if you suspect a malware threat is affecting a computer. It works as a stand alone boot tool and can independently scan a computer for viruses, removing any threats it finds, if necessary.

Make a USB Bootable KALI Linux with Persistence

How to Effortlessly Make a USB bootable KALI Linux with persistence using YUMI from within Windows. KALI Linux, based on Debian, is designed specifically for penetration testing. It includes a vast selection of security tools such as network analyzers, password crackers, wireless tools, and fuzzers, making it ideal for cybersecurity.

Make an exFAT Bootable USB Flash Drive

Can you boot from an exFAT USB? Absolutely, but not by using one partition for USB booting. In order to make an exFAT bootable USB flash drive boot in UEFI mode, you will need to format the USB with multiple partitions. Then, install Grub2 on the boot partition. And finally, set your computer system BIOS or UEFI to boot from the flash drive to confirm that it boots.

How to Install GRUB2 on USB from Windows

Install GRUB2 on USB from Windows: Need a reliable way to create a USB stick that boots from both BIOS and UEFI? This guide will show you how to install the Grub2 bootloader onto a USB flash drive directly from Windows. Using the grub-install.exe utility, you’ll prepare a highly compatible bootable USB device.

Clonezilla USB Bootable Flash Drive Creation

How to make Clonezilla USB bootable flash drive from Windows. Clonezilla software is a free partition or disk clone tool that works similar to Norton Ghost and Partition Image. It can be used to backup (clone) information from media to media.

Easily Install Gentoo on USB from Windows

How to Install Gentoo on USB: The following step-by-step guide explains how to create a Gentoo Live USB bootable flash drive using Windows, a Gentoo Live DVD, and the Universal USB Installer tool. By the end of this tutorial, you'll have a portable version of Gentoo Linux that you can boot directly from a USB drive.

Install Ubuntu NetBook Remix to USB

Install Ubuntu NetBook Remix to USB using Windows. Ubuntu NetBook Remix (UNR) is a netbook oriented Linux distribution created by Canonical Ltd. It is based on Ubuntu.

Create a Bootable USB Debian Live Flash Drive

How to create a bootable USB Debian Live flash drive from Windows by using Etcher by Balena, YUMI Multiboot USB tool, DD for Windows or the Linux DD command. The following tutorial covers the process of installing Debian to a USB drive from within Windows or Linux. Resulting in a Live bootable USB with optional persistence. Upon completion, you can also use the resulting device to Install Debian from USB to an internal hard drive.

Create a USB Bootable Linux Mint Flash Drive

Make a USB Bootable Linux Mint Flash Drive with Persistence: Run Linux Mint from USB and also use it to install Linux Mint from USB to a hard drive. In the following tutorial, I cover one way to use YUMI to create your own portable version of this distribution from Windows. Additionally, I’ll include instructions for using the dd command to create a bootable USB with persistence.

Put Xubuntu on USB Flash Drive with Windows

Create an Xubuntu Live Bootable USB flash drive with Windows. In the following section, I will show you a simple method to put Xubuntu on USB flash thumb drive using Windows and YUMI Multiboot USB Boot creation software. This process does allow for running the Xubuntu Live USB with persistence. Simply choose a persistent file size to use for storing changes during step 4.

How to Make an OpenSUSE Bootable USB Drive

Effortlessly make an OpenSUSE Bootable USB drive. This tutorial demonstrates methods for creating a bootable OpenSUSE USB drive using YUMI or Etcher. Depending on your needs, you can choose to boot from USB a simple live portable OS environment or use the setup to install to another USB stick or internal hard drive.

Install xPUD to a Flash Drive from Windows

Create a xPUD Persistent USB Flash Drive from Windows. xPUD is an intuitive minimal Linux Operating system. It was created by Penk and functions like a Kiosk. It ships with the Firefox Browser, Gnome Media Player, Transmission Bit torrent Client, Geany Text Editor, Gpicview Picture Viewer, EPDFView and Xterm Terminal Emulator. More apps can be installed for other tasks.

Make a Damn Small Linux USB from Windows

USB Damn Small Linux (DSL)? This is a revisit of the Windows DSL USB installation tutorial: "Putting Damn Small Linux on a USB". Based on the 2.4 kernel, the tiny DSL distro is great to use for older and slower computers as well. It will fit and run on portable devices or drives as small as 64MB.

How to Create a Parted Magic Bootable USB

In the following tutorial, I cover how to create a Parted Magic bootable USB flash drive from within Windows. This fully functional portable Operating System doubles as a disk management utility to help you perform disk editing, disk imaging, and partitioning tasks with ease.

Install Puppy Arcade to a Flash Drive from Windows

In this section, we’ll guide you through installing Puppy Arcade on a USB flash drive using Windows. Puppy Arcade, created by Scott Jarvis, is a remixed version of Puppy Linux, optimized for Console Game Emulation. It comes preloaded with some of the most popular console game emulators for Linux. However, you will need to provide your own game ROMs.

Make a GParted Live USB Bootable Flash Drive

Make a GParted Live USB flash drive using YUMI to perform the task. Easily Create a GParted Live USB from Windows. GParted is a popular graphical partition editor headed by Curtis Gedak. This powerful tool that can be used to create, reorganize, and or delete disk partitions. Other Key features include the ability to create multiple partitions, enable or disable the boot flag, resize a partition, format, and much more.

Make a MCNLive Bootable USB Flash Drive

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.

How to Create a PCLinuxOS Bootable USB Drive

How to Create a PCLinuxOS Bootable USB Drive: PCLinuxOS is a clean, compact, and visually appealing Live Linux CD compilation developed by Texstar. Originally derived from Mandriva Linux, it has grown into a standalone Linux distribution known for its stability, rolling release model, and user-friendly design. This Live Linux OS is a versatile option for creating a portable operating system you can carry on a USB flash drive.

Create Lubuntu Bootable USB using Windows

How to create a Lubuntu bootable USB flash thumb drive using Windows. Lubuntu Linux is essentially Ubuntu with an LXDE desktop environment. LXDE is a lightweight X11 desktop environment. It makes for an optimal Linux operating system choice for older or slower computers and netbooks, because requires less processing power and RAM.

Make a USB Bootable Sugar on a Stick Flash Drive

Make a USB bootable Sugar on a Stick flash drive; Sugar on a Stick (SoaS) is a compressed version of Fedora Linux. It was created as a portable Linux for kids; as an alternative to using Fedora's office style desktop. It essentially consists of a learning platform for children that promotes collaborative learning through activities that encourage critical thinking.

How to Create a USB Bootable Runt Linux

Creating a USB Bootable RUNT Linux; This walk through illustrates how to install, boot, and run RUNT Linux from a USB flash drive. RUNT is a super super tiny and very basic Linux distro. It is recommended for intermediate to advanced users who prefer to do work without using a graphical interface like X. Beware that by default it does not feature a GUI, it uses a text only based interface.

Create a USB Recovery is Possible from Windows

Create a USB Recovery Is Possible (RIP) Linux bootable flash drive using YUMI from within Windows. RIP Linux is a Slackware based distribution created by Kent Robotti. This well known distribution can be used for USB recovery and system maintenance.

Run Feather Linux from a USB drive

The following detailed guide demonstrates how to install, boot, and run Feather Linux from a USB flash drive using either the Universal USB Installer on Windows or the dd command on Linux. Feather Linux is a compact (under 128MB), clean, and efficient Knoppix Linux remix, based on Debian. This minimalist Linux distribution is easy to set up, making it ideal for users looking for a lightweight operating system solution.

Run Ubuntu Server from USB

Run Ubuntu Server from USB; Easily create a Live USB Bootable Ubuntu Server using YUMI from within Windows. The following process covers one way to Install, Boot and Run Ubuntu Server from a USB Flash Drive. Upon completion, you can then use the portable version to Run Ubuntu Server Edition Live or install to an internal Hard Drive. This is very useful if your computer does not have a CD/DVD Drive, but can boot from a USB device.

Install MooLux to a USB Flash Drive in Windows

The following tutorial covers the process of installing MooLux Linux Live to a USB flash drive using Windows. It is a Live USB Linux distribution based on Slackware that utilizes the KDE desktop environment. This portable operating system can be taken with you containing tools for Internet browsing, email, chat, multimedia, office and software for C, Python, Perl programming tasks.

How to Make an OpenMandriva Linux Bootable USB

This simple tutorial explains how to put OpenMandriva on a USB Flash Drive from within a running Windows environment using either YUMI or Balena Etcher. Upon completion, the resulting Bootable USB can be used to try out OpenMandriva Live on USB or install it to your hard drive, instead of using a traditional CD/DVD ROM for installation.

Make an EasyPeasy USB from Windows

How to Install EasyPeasy to USB flash drive using Windows and the Universal USB Installer. Easy Peasy is a remix for Netbooks that is based on Ubuntu. It is an operating system optimized for netbooks.

Create an Ubuntu Rescue Remix Bootable USB

How to Create a Ubuntu Rescue Remix Bootable USB flash drive from within Windows. The following tutorial covers one method of installing and running (URR) Ubuntu Rescue Remix to a USB drive using a Windows PC and the Universal USB Installer to do the Boot creation. Upon completion, the distribution can then be booted and run from your removable device.

Create a Bootable Simply MEPIS USB

Create a Bootable Simply MEPIS USB by using YUMI or dd while running from Windows or Linux. MEPIS Linux was first founded by Warren Woodford in November 2002. Warren didn't like how current Linux desktops worked, so he decided to create his own. It is based upon the popular Debian Linux.

Install Wolvix to a Flash Drive using Windows

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).

USB CentOS Install: Create a Bootable CentOS USB

USB CentOS Installation: How to Create a Bootable CentOS USB Drive on Windows. The following tutorial covers the process of creating a CentOS bootable USB using Windows and the LiveUSB Creator. Once installed, the CentOS Live USB will operate like the Live CD, allowing you to test and install CentOS from USB to a hard drive. Note that a persistence feature is not included in this tutorial, so any changes made will not be saved on subsequent boots.

Create a Bootable USB Ophcrack in Windows

Create a Bootable USB Ophcrack from Windows. Ophcrack is an open source Windows password recovery utility that uses rainbow tables to find passwords. It can be run from Windows, Linux or Live CD. The following tutorial explains how to install and boot Ophcrack from a portable USB device.

Create a Bootable USB Ophcrack Windows Password Recovery Tool

Learn how to create a bootable USB Ophcrack flash drive to recover lost Windows login passwords. Ophcrack is a free and powerful Windows password recovery tool that utilizes rainbow tables for efficient password retrieval. This guide will walk you through the steps to set up and use this recovery tool effectively.

Install SliTaz to USB from Windows

How to Install SliTaz to a USB flash drive Using Windows. This tiny Linux distribution is a very fast running, free operating system that can be run entirely from system memory. Founded by Christian Lincoln, it remains one of the smallest portable Linux distributions available and can be stored and run directly from a bootable USB key or other removable storage media.

Make a SLAX Bootable USB from Windows

How to make a SLAX Bootable USB. In the following tutorial we show you how easy it is to create a SLAX Linux bootable USB flash drive from within Windows or Linux with WINE. SLAX is a popular tiny 200MB Linux distribution. It is essentially a stripped down version of Slackware Linux.

Windows USB Kiwi Linux Flash Drive creation

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 gOS USB Flash Drive using Windows

Create a Bootable gOS USB Flash Drive using Windows. The following tutorial explains how to create a bootable gOS USB flash drive using Windows, either by utilizing the popular Universal USB Installer or by using the dd command in Windows.

Install CrunchBang Linux to USB via Windows

Create a CrunchBang Linux Bootable USB drive using Windows. The following tutorial covers the process of installing CrunchBang to a USB flash drive from within Windows. This small distribution was originally a remix based on Debian. It featured a lightweight Open box window manager along with GTK+ applications.

Make a Persistent Eeebuntu Bootable USB

This tutorial will walk you through the process of creating a bootable, persistent USB drive for Eeebuntu, allowing you to save settings, files, and changes across sessions. Eeebuntu is a specialized, lightweight operating system based on Ubuntu, designed to optimize performance on Asus EeePC netbooks. With its tailored interface and low-resource requirements, Eeebuntu is a great choice for users seeking an efficient, portable OS.