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.
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.
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.
How to manually create a bootable USB from ISO Files Using the Linux dd Command. You can use dd to write ISO to USB from within Linux or any Unix based system. The dd command is powerful and can be used for copying data bit by bit from a source to a destination, in essence making an exact copy of the source at the destination.
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.
Convert a Virtual Machine into a Bootable USB Drive: Want to boot a VirtualBox VHD or VDI file directly on physical hardware? This guide walks you through the process of converting a VirtualBox Virtual Machine (whether in .vdi or .vhd format) into a bootable USB flash drive. This allows you to run your virtual system natively, without needing VirtualBox at all.
Win32 Disk Imager is a free and open source ISO to USB tool that can be used to write ISO or IMG files to USB drives, burn images, back up USB flash drives, and clone them. Whether you're flashing a bootable OS, duplicating a Raspberry Pi SD card, or creating a recovery backup of a USB, this tool offers a simple and effective solution. It's especially useful for IT professionals, hobbyists, and developers working with embedded systems.
Use Balena Etcher to easily burn ISO files to USB or Clone your USB drives. Ever wondered how to burn an ISO file to create a bootable USB drive? Or perhaps you're looking for a simple tool to clone a USB drive? Etcher, a freely available software utility, makes both of these tasks as straightforward as possible for users of all skill levels.
Ventoy is another excellent open source media creation tool for creating a Multiboot USB drive, allowing you to copy, boot, and run multiple ISO files from one USB device. Its intuitive functionality makes it straightforward to use. To get started, simply format and prepare your flash drive using the GUI utility, then just drag and drop your ISO files onto the prepared drive. Each ISO is automatically added to the boot menu, creating a multisystem bootable USB.
Rufus - easily boot DOS from USB: Creating a bootable USB flash drive to boot DOS from USB can be complicated. However, a tool called Rufus (Reliable USB Format Utility), created by Pete Batard, can make this task relatively simple. This utility can also be used to create a Bootable USB of a given distro from an ISO or image file.
LiveUSB Install is another neat little third party Live Linux Bootable USB Creation tool. You can use it to easily put a Live Linux distribution of your choice on your flash drive. Enabling you to quickly Burn an ISO to USB. This software also allows you to select from an existing ISO and or use a CD/DVD as the source. Or you might want to use the internet download option to obtain a Linux ISO file.
SARDU (Shardana Antivirus Rescue Disk Utility) is a powerful multiboot USB and DVD creation tool for Windows and Linux systems. Designed for IT professionals, system administrators, and tech enthusiasts, it supports multiple Live Linux ISOs, Windows setup installers (Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, XP), antivirus boot utilities, and recovery tools, all from a single USB flash drive.
Boot Multiple ISO from USB using GRUB2 from Linux. Here is one way to manually create a Multiboot USB Flash Drive (Multiboot ISOs) from a running Linux environment. Allowing you to store and run Multiple ISO files from one single USB drive.
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.
Easily create a bootable GParted Live USB flash drive from Windows using YUMI, or using dd in Linux or on macOS. GParted, a popular graphical partition editor developed by Curtis Gedak, is a powerful open source USB partition tool for managing disk partitions. It allows you to create, resize, delete, and reorganize partitions with ease. Additional features include managing boot flags, formatting drives, cloning partitions, and more.
How to Install Ubuntu Netbook Remix (UNR) to a USB Drive: Ubuntu Netbook Remix (UNR) is a lightweight version of Ubuntu Linux developed by Canonical Ltd. for netbooks and other low-powered computers. Though officially discontinued, it remains an excellent operating system for reviving old netbooks and laptops.
Boot Ubuntu from USB with persistence: Easily create a bootable Ubuntu USB with persistence for saving changes. 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 Ubuntu Persistent USB. You can also use the removable device to install Ubuntu to a hard drive.
Create a Casper-RW Partition Larger than 4GB on Your USB Drive. This tutorial will guide you through the process of creating a writable casper-rw partition larger than 4GB on your USB flash drive.
The Universal USB Installer (UUI) is a powerful bootable USB software tool for creating USB boot drives from ISO files — perfect for installing Linux or Windows, running live systems, or building diagnostic toolkits. This versatile ISO-to-USB software makes it easy to boot from USB and create Live USBs for Linux distributions, Windows setup installers, antivirus tools, and system diagnostic utilities. Whether you need a multisystem Windows Media Creation Tool, a Live USB Linux installer, or an all-in-one PC diagnostic toolkit, UUI offers a reliable and flexible Linux and Windows bootable USB creator.
Create a DBAN bootable USB flash drive containing a secure disk erasure tool using the YUMI Multiboot USB Creator. This tutorial covers how to run Darik’s Boot and Nuke from a USB stick using Windows or WINE on Linux. The utility is designed to thoroughly wipe traditional hard drives (HDDs) through multiple overwrite passes, ensuring permanent data destruction.
In this step by step 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 Linux console emulators for classic gaming systems.
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.
How to Boot a USB flash drive in VirtualBox. In this segment you will learn how to successfully boot a portable operating system from a USB flash drive or removable external hard drive while still running from within a Windows, Linux, or Mac OS X environment using vbox.
Can You Boot a Portable VirtualBox from USB? Yes, You Can! Want to run VirtualBox directly from a USB drive without installing software on the host PC or restarting the system? Thanks to Portable VirtualBox, it’s entirely possible!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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, this small Linux distro is a great choice for users seeking an efficient, portable OS.
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.
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.
Easily create a Fedora Live USB: This tutorial explains how to install and boot Fedora Linux from a flash drive using the Fedora Media Writer, YUMI, or the Linux dd command. Fedora is a free and open source Linux distribution sponsored by Red Hat and developed by a global community. It’s known for integrating cutting edge technologies while remaining stable and secure.
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.
Learn How to Set Up Ubuntu Remote Desktop Screen Sharing: Looking for an easy way to access and control your Ubuntu desktop remotely? This guide shows you how to set up Ubuntu Remote Desktop Screen Sharing using VNC Viewer.
Upgrade or Reinstall NVIDIA Drivers in Debian After Kernel Update: After a recent kernel update in Debian, you might find that your system no longer boots into the graphical interface. This is a common issue when using proprietary NVIDIA drivers, as they’re tightly linked to the Linux kernel. When your boot screen hangs or you're stuck in a terminal only interface, it likely means you need to reinstall or recompile your NVIDIA drivers to match the updated kernel.
Installing Compiz in Debian is a relatively simple process. It can be used to enhance the visual experience and usability of the Linux desktop environment. Probably one of the most popular effects is to create a Desktop Cube to navigate multiple screens or virtual desktops in a 3D space like shown in the Pendrivelinux homepage picture.
This step-by-step tutorial explains how a user can install Compiz on Ubuntu. Compiz is a composite window manager that allows the Linux user to attain stunning, 3D desktop effects with their personal desktop environment, as can be seen in the example Ubuntu Beryl Cube effect.
KNOPPIX Boot Options or Cheat Codes: Here is a comprehensive list of available KNOPPIX boot command options. These cheat codes, also referred to as KNOPPIX boot parameters or KNOPPIX startup options, enable you to modify the boot process. They are indispensable for troubleshooting, optimizing, and Live Booting KNOPPIX on even the most challenging hardware setups.
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.