Instructions

The first step is to prepare a flash drive to install the installation image of the Linux distribution on it. To do this, you need to download the USB Disk Storage Format Tool. You can easily find it on the Internet. With this utility you need to format the flash drive into the FAT file system (note not FAT32, but FAT) for better compatibility. The same can be done in Linux using built-in tools. On Ubuntu this is disks or gparted (needs to be installed separately).

Download and install the Unetbootin program. In Linux distributions, for example in Ubuntu and its derivatives, this utility is already in the repositories, so just install it through a package management program (Application Center, Synaptic, etc.). For Windows, the program can be downloaded from the official website http://unetbootin.github.io/

Insert the flash drive into the USB port. Launch the Unetbootin program from the menu. Please note that the program will require administrative privileges. If you have not yet downloaded the Linux distribution, you can do this directly in the Unetbootin program. At the top of the window, select the distribution and then the version. Then at the bottom of the window, select the USB drive and indicate which media you want to install on. I recommend disconnecting all unnecessary flash drives during the installation procedure so as not to destroy important data. Click the "OK" button, after which the image will begin downloading and its subsequent installation on the flash drive. The procedure may take a long time if you have a slow Internet connection.

If the Unetbootin menu does not contain the distribution you need or you have already downloaded the image yourself, then select the “Disk image” option at the bottom of the window. Then click on the button with three dots and find the distribution image. Specify the USB flash drive as in the previous step and click the "OK" button. The image will begin immediately unpacking onto the flash drive. This way you can install almost any image on a flash drive. For example Live CD Drweb or Hirens Boot CD.

Microsoft has a virtual monopoly among operating system providers, unless you take into account Apple's products, which use its own Mac OS. However, in search of an alternative, many users began to resort to installing certain versions of Linux, which at the moment also has an excellent graphical shell and functionality. In this case, it is very important to know how to create a bootable USB flash driveUbuntu to install a new OS, because DVD drives are now missing on almost all new laptop models, and users no longer always install them on computers.

As a rule, Linux distributions are installed by those who have already used or are currently using an OS from Microsoft. Accordingly, in order to proceed to the installation process, you first need to make an external bootable media using the already pre-installed operating system. As such, there are no standard tools for performing these actions, but on the Internet you can find many programs that are designed to solve this problem. One of the most popular is UNetbootin. It can be downloaded from the official website. Next, you need to download the image of the OS itself from the developer’s home page, selecting the appropriate bit depth. The vast majority of Linux versions, including Ubuntu, are distributed absolutely free, with the only exceptions being those that specialize in solving specific problems. After this application starts, you must:

Wait until the procedure is completed, after which, if the operation is successful, a window will appear on the screen, in which there will also be an entry stating that in order to boot from this media, it is necessary to make certain BIOS settings in the “Boot” section.

This kind of creation of bootable removable media can be done not only with the version of Linux Ubuntu, but with virtually any other.

Creating a bootable USB flash drive in Linux OS environment

If this version of the OS is already installed on your computer or laptop, such actions can be caused for several reasons:

• a slow Internet connection that does not allow you to update the operating system to its original state (a similar process can be compared to resetting a smartphone to factory settings, but here you need to have a connection to the global network);
• a decision was made to try other Linux distributions or the same one, but a different version;
• sometimes, when using several operating systems in parallel, problems may arise with the boot sector, which will make it impossible to start the operating system;
• You need to install Ubuntu on another computer or laptop.

A bootable USB flash drive can also be made using the already discussed UNetbootin program, only downloaded for the corresponding OS, but many users do not like to install additional software so as not to clog up the system. Similar actions can be performed using built-in tools and in several ways. Let's look at each of them:

1. Using Startup Disk Creator

The operating system provides a utility that allows you to work with disks. Before you launch it, you need to connect a flash drive to which recording will be made, and then:

Upon completion, a corresponding message will appear on the screen.

1. Using the terminal

Initially, Linux did not have any graphical shell and all commands, without exception, were entered using the command line. Therefore, even if it is possible to perform certain actions using a manipulator, experienced users still enter certain commands using the keyboard. To create a bootable USB flash drive with the appropriate OS version, you must:

Next, the creation process will begin, but there will be virtually no evidence of this except that it will be impossible to type any text in this terminal window. It will all end when the cursor is displayed here.

Make a bootable Ubuntu USB flash drive on Mac

Considering that this OS was developed similarly to Linux, the graphical shell and functionality are quite similar, although it can only be fully installed on Apple devices. Let's perform the necessary procedure using the same terminal. For this:

Once the cursor becomes active again, the operation is completed.

If you don’t particularly like typing in certain commands, you can also use UNetbootin here, after installing this application.

Summarizing all of the above, we can say that the procedure for creating a bootable Ubuntu flash drive is not complicated and even a beginner can handle it.

In contact with

Users of the Windows operating system can very easily create a bootable USB flash drive with an Ubuntu image on it. To do this, you can use special software.

To burn Ubuntu, you need to have an ISO image of the operating system, which will be stored on removable media, as well as the drive itself. It is important to understand that all data on the USB drive used will be erased.

Before creating a bootable USB flash drive, download the distribution of the operating system itself. We recommend doing this exclusively on the official Ubuntu website. There are many advantages to this approach. The main one is that the downloaded operating system will not be damaged or unfinished. The fact is that when downloading an OS from third-party sources, it is likely that you will download an image of a system modified by someone else.

If you have a flash drive from which you can erase all data and a downloaded image, use one of the methods listed below.

Method 1: UNetbootin

This program is considered the most basic in matters of recording Ubuntu to removable media. It is used most often. You can read how to use it in the lesson on creating a bootable drive (method 5).

We skip point 3 in LinuxLive USB Creator and do not touch it.

As you can see, the program has a rather interesting and non-standard interface. This, of course, is attractive. A very good move was adding a traffic light near each block. A green light on it means that you did everything correctly and vice versa.

Method 3: Xboot

There is another very unpopular, “unpromoted” program that does an excellent job of writing an Ubuntu image to a flash drive. Its huge advantage is that Xboot is capable of adding not only the operating system itself, but also additional programs to the bootable media. These could be antiviruses, all kinds of startup utilities, and the like. Initially, the user does not need to download the ISO file and this is also a big plus.

To use Xboot, follow these steps:

So, creating a bootable USB flash drive with an Ubuntu image is very easy for Windows users. This can be done in just a few minutes and even a novice user can cope with this task.

Written in Debian, Ubuntu is the most widely used version of the Linux operating environment. It is suitable for non-professional home use and allows everyone to burn an ISO for downloading from many “mirrors”. Thus, the user receives an original bootable image of Ubuntu Linux, from which you can later make a bootable USB flash drive and quickly install the operating system on the disk. Let's look at how to do this below.

If you are working on Windows OS

Let's start by considering how to burn ubuntu to disk when creating a bootable ubuntu flash drive in Windows, since today it is considered the most common in the world. Knowing that 64-bit OSes are most often used on PCs, you can use such exotic programs as grub4dos. But it is better to opt for more modern software.

The advisability of recording an image of the operating environment on a USB drive leaves no doubt, since CDs and DVDs are already becoming history. Another convenience lies in the small size of the flash drive; you can carry it with you always and everywhere. What are the most working methods for Windows OS.

The Ubuntu installation file can be downloaded from the main developer site. In this case, you should prefer, for example, version 16.04.1 LTS with a long-term key until 2021. Finally, there is enough in the arsenal to be able to record the image. First, we launch the flash drive using the UNetbootin program from under Windows. Let's consider this particular program as the first of the possible options.

We indicate the path to the distribution from which the operating system will be recorded in the context menu. Below you can select the image format and the device where it will be written, in this case it is a bootable Ubuntu flash drive.

At the bottom of the window that appears, you must specify the path to the image on the disk, what type of device it is, and be sure to check the letter and volume label of the hard drive. Especially if more than one drive is connected to the computer. When the process is completed, a message will appear indicating that Windows is creating a boot disk. In the final window, a reminder will appear that there is a need to select additional characteristics in the BIOS. This way you can burn the ISO onto a flash drive.

Using the UltraISO program

This method is suitable not only for owners of new computers with UEFI, but also for previous versions with BIOS.

You should download Ultraiso from the official resource on the Internet. To perform the operation, it will be enough to use the trial version of the program.

In the main menu, click “File”, then “Open” and select the ISO image. At the top of the “Boot” window and click “Burn HDD image”. In the next dialog box you must specify the main hard drive. Before recording, you need to format it in the FAT32 system, and then you can select “Burn” and wait for the process to complete. After burning the iso to a USB flash drive, you can install Ubuntu in Ultraiso.

Recording with Rufus

Rufus is another convenient tool for creating an ubuntu image on a USB drive, which is freely available.

To work with it you need to complete the following steps:

Download the program from an available online resource. Insert the flash drive and then click on start the program.

The media on which the image will be written should be selected in the “Devices” menu. In the Options window, check “Create a boot disk.” Next, you should select the type of OS that will be written to the flash drive. On the right is a button with a disk image. By clicking on it, you will be able to specify the path to the image.

Selecting the required image with the Ubuntu operating system. You should click “Start” at the bottom of the program window. The creation of a bootable flash drive starts, and its progress can be seen in the “Journal” section. After finishing work, you can install the operating system from USB.

Creating a bootable USB flash drive with Ubuntu without the help of third-party utilities

On modern computers with an advanced UEFI shell (instead of the old BIOS), it is possible to write ubuntu to a flash drive in a short time using the operating environment itself. You don't need a program to create a bootable ubuntu flash drive for this. This is achieved by simply copying the files necessary for installation onto the storage medium.

Work begins by formatting the media into the FAT32 file system. Next, you need to select all the necessary files on your computer to create a bootable ubuntu flash drive and “Send” them to a USB drive.

Once copying is complete, the media is ready for OS installation.

In addition to the Windows operating environment, it is possible, and sometimes even necessary, to create a bootable Ubuntu USB flash drive in Linux.

Creating bootable media in Linux

The reasons why you need to create an installation flash drive in Linux may be the following:

• impossible to update due to slow Internet;
• you need to install Ubuntu to a different version;
• When loading Windows, the main sector is faulty;
• you need to install Ubuntu OS on a flash drive on another PC.

It is possible to create a bootable Ubuntu flash drive in an already installed distribution.

Creating a boot disk (Startup Disk Creator)

The default set of programs in Linux usually includes programs for creating bootable flash media. In Ubuntu, this is the “Startup Disk Creator” program (or in the English version “Startup Disk Creator”).

Read more about the Ubuntu distribution in this

It is located in the main menu, and is executed after entering “usb” or “creation” in the search bar. Insert the USB flash drive and launch this application.

Usually, the usb is detected automatically in the dialog box and you are immediately prompted to burn the image to it. If not, then you need to specify the path using the “Browse” function and then press the “Create boot disk” button. The waiting time while a bootable USB flash drive with Ubuntu is created should not be long.

A negative factor may be that during installation there are no warning messages about errors and operation progress. But in general, the program copes with its function quite well.

Conclusion

As a conclusion, it should be noted that we were able to create several ways to create a bootable Ubuntu flash drive under different OSes and using a number of programs. It is also possible to do this using built-in utilities in the OS shell. Each has its own characteristics and functionality. Many are freely available on the Internet, and some have a trial period. In both cases, creating a USB drive with an installation OS is not difficult, and installation from it is quick and convenient both for computers with modern shells and with the already familiar Bios. The list of utilities is regularly updated with new ones and new versions of existing ones are created.