According to statistics from NetMarketShare, Linux is used on 2.14% of computers in the world. One of the most common versions of this OS is Ubuntu, based on Debian. Anyone can try this system by downloading an ISO image from the official page or from numerous “mirrors”. This way you get a ready boot disk Ubuntu Linux, which only needs to be written to disk. But whoever uses a CD/DVD drive now, most users have long preferred flash drives. It is for this reason that we will consider how to make a bootable USB flash drive Ubuntu Linux.

We work in Windows

Windows is the most widely used operating system in the world. Therefore, first of all, let's look at how to create a bootable USB flash drive Ubuntu in relation to this OS. Considering that 64-bit systems are increasingly being used on computers, we will not pay attention to exotic options such as grub4dos, but let’s turn our attention to more modern programs. To do this, we will use the cross-platform application UNetbootin. You can use it to create a bootable USB flash drive on any operating system.

The Ubuntu distribution can be downloaded from the official website by selecting version 16.04.2 LTS with long-term support until 2021. Now that we have everything we need, we can get down to work. To do this, you need to connect a USB flash drive and run UNetbootin.

In the main window that opens at the top, you can select the distribution for which the boot disk and its version will be created. At the bottom of the window, select the type of image, which in this situation is standard, ISO format, and the device on which it will be written, in this case a USB drive. Let's go through the necessary steps to set the desired parameters.

In the drop-down list, select the Linux distribution. As you can see, there is a wide choice of OS here; you will have to scroll the slider almost to the very end to find Ubuntu.

We will correct the version by selecting the 64-bit option, by default it will simply be offered 16.04_Live, you must select 16.04_Live_x64.

At the bottom of the window, indicate the location of the disk image, the type of device, which has already been specified above, and the path to the media; you need to check that the media letter matches. If you have more than one drive connected at the same time, then this must be done. In our case, there is only one drive, and Windows assigned it the letter “E” when connecting it. When all options are selected, the window should look like this.

Now all we have to do is click OK and wait.

During the process of creating a flash drive, it is indicated in detail what operation is performed in this moment.

After the process is completed, the bootable USB flash drive Ubuntu will be created from the Windows operating system. In the last window, a reminder will appear that in order to boot from the received media, you must set the appropriate parameters in the BIOS.

As you can see, the process is completely simple and, by analogy, a bootable USB flash drive with Linux of any version can be created. The only thing you need to do for this is to correctly indicate the distribution and its version, including the bit depth.

Preparing a flash drive in Linux

If you are already using Linux, you may also need to make a bootable USB flash drive with Ubuntu. There are several reasons for this:

• slow internet and network updates are not your option;
• decided to try a distribution kit of a different version;
• When installing or updating Windows, the boot sector is damaged;
• I needed to install Linux on one more computer.

As you can see, there can be many options when you need a bootable Linux flash drive. Let's look at creating a bootable USB flash drive in an already installed Linux distribution.

If you enjoyed working in the program UNetbootin, then you can download it for your distribution and use it, or you can work with standard tools from the operating system itself. Let's see in what ways you can Ubuntu create a bootable USB flash drive without using third-party programs.

Creating a boot disk ( Startup Disk Creator)

Linux distributions usually include their own tools for working with disks. IN Ubuntu such a tool is called " Creating a boot disk"(or "Startup Disk Creator" in English version). You can find it in the main menu by typing “usb” or “creation” in the search bar. We connect the flash drive and launch the application.

In the window that opens, we see that the flash drive and ISO image of the distribution were detected automatically by the OS. There was no need to make any choice in this case. If this does not happen, then you need to download the system distribution and specify its location using the Browse button... Next, click the button Create a boot disk and wait while the Ubuntu bootable USB flash drive is created using the operating system.

The execution window is not very informative, but the operation is completed quite quickly.

As a result, we receive a notification that our media is ready for cloning to other computers.

As you can see, this process is as easy as in Windows. The only difference is the lack of notifications during operation. But, nevertheless, the utility copes with its task quickly and reliably, which, in fact, is necessary.

Using the terminal

The review wouldn't be complete without talking about how to make a bootable USB flash drive with Ubuntu using the features Command line. For Linux, using the terminal is a completely natural phenomenon, and you can perform any operation in it in the same way as in the graphical interface familiar to the user. We call it in the same way as the previous utility, from the main menu using a text search.

First, you need to find out how our drive is designated. We execute the command shown in the screenshot and confirm it with a password.

As a result, we get a list of disks currently mounted in the system. We are interested in the flash drive, which is designated as Disk /dev/sdb.

Now you can give the command directly to create installation disk. It has the following syntax sudo dd if=/Path_to_image/name_image.iso of=/dev/sdb where Path_to_image is the path to our Ubuntu image, and name_image.iso is its name. In simple terms, we give the system a command to copy files from the image to the final device, which is a flash drive. The figure below shows the fully entered command with the correct paths for this flash drive.

The only unpleasant thing about this method is that while the bootable Ubuntu flash drive is being created, no messages are displayed, you just have to be patient. One option for peace of mind would be to use a storage device with a light indicator. While he is blinking, the recording process is ongoing. When finished, you will see a message in the terminal window similar to the one shown in the figure below.

The numbers will not necessarily match. The size of the distribution changes, the speed of writing to external media can be different on different machines.

We work in MacOS

Don't ignore the second most popular OS in the world. After all, you can’t install Windows or Linux specifically to create a flash drive once. We will not bother the user with a large choice, but will focus on only two methods. Firstly, it will be the already described cross-platform utility UNetbootin. Secondly, given that MacOS is still a UNIX-like system, let's consider the terminal.

Strictly speaking, the convenience of the terminal lies in the fact that to perform a one-time operation there is no need to bother searching for software. Agree, it’s not every day that you need to create bootable disks.

MacOS Terminal

The commands that perform a similar operation in this OS are in many ways similar to those described above, and have minor nuances that nevertheless must be taken into account. Let's look at the sequence of commands.

To view the disks connected to the system, enter the command diskutil list

Now you need to unmount the flash drive, in this case /dev/disk2, making it available for formatting and writing by entering the command diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk2

The last step will be the command to write sudo dd if=/Path_to_image/name_image.iso of=/dev/disk2 bs=4k As you can see, its syntax is slightly different from Linux, mainly in the names of the disks. The figure below shows the expanded text of the last command entered and its result.

Conclusion

We can safely say that now you know how to create a bootable Ubuntu flash drive in any operating system, and coping with this task will not be difficult.

Video on the topic

In this article, I will look at the process of creating a bootable USB flash drive (LiveUSB) in operating systems - Linux, Windows and MacOS. I will burn an ISO image of a Linux distribution onto a flash drive, but you can use the programs described below to burn any Live images.

As a rule, the user is faced with the task of writing an ISO image to a flash drive in order to obtain a LiveUSB as a result. For example, let's say you decide to install Ubuntu. To do this, you download an ISO image with the system, write it to a flash drive, boot from the flash drive, and the Live system or installer starts.

To boot from a LiveUSB flash drive, you must set boot from USB to first place in your computer's BIOS settings. For many motherboards, when you turn on the computer, you can call up a menu in which you can select which device to boot from. In this case, you do not need to change the BIOS settings. For example, for me this menu is called up by pressing a key F12.

Creating a bootable USB flash drive (on Linux, Windows and MacOS)

To create a bootable USB flash drive I will use a free program Etcher. This is a very simple and understandable program. Creating bootable media is extremely simple.

The program is cross-platform and can be used to create bootable flash drives in Linux, Windows and MacOS. It works the same on all systems.

The program can be downloaded from the official website https://etcher.io
Note: On Linux, no installation is required, just download the file etcher-1.2.3-x86-64.AppImage and run it.

Let's look at the process of creating a bootable USB flash drive in the Etcher program.

Video - How to create a bootable USB flash drive in Etcher

Creating a bootable USB flash drive using UNetbootin

There is a fairly popular program for Linux UNetbootin, which allows you to create bootable USB flash drives. It can burn disk images, as well as automatically download images of popular Linux distributions (although very old versions of distributions are available for download, so this function is unlikely to be useful to you).

The program is cross-platform and can be used on both Windows and MacOS. I only tested it under Linux. But she has one big drawback! Some flash drives created by her simply refuse to boot. For example, nothing worked for me until I formatted the flash drive in FAT16. I formatted the flash drive in the GParted program, the size of the partition on the flash drive was automatically set to 4GB, the rest of the free space was simply not used.

The process of creating a bootable USB flash drive in UNetbootin is described below.

Possible problems

Missing Operating System error

If you receive the message " Missing Operating System", then most likely the flash drive does not have the flag set Boot. To install it, restart your computer and log into your system. After this, run the command in the terminal (the flash drive must be connected):

Parted /dev/sdb set 1 boot on

Now restart your computer again.

Error No default or UI configuration directive found

I encountered another error while booting the computer - “No default or UI configuration directive found”. This problem was solved only by formatting the flash drive in FAT16 and re-creating LiveUSB.

Video - How to create a bootable USB flash drive in UNetbootin

In this article we will look at the process of creating a bootable Linux USB flash drive using free program UNetbootin. It is worth noting that using such media you can not only install Linux, but also run this operating system without installation on any computer or laptop.

So, for example, if your computer is running Windows control does not load, works very slowly, or there are other problems with it, and you urgently need to access files on your hard drive or access the Internet, then such a flash drive will be very useful - the operating system is already ready to work without installation.

How to Create a Bootable Linux USB Flash Drive Using UNetbootin

For example, let's create a bootable USB flash drive with Linux Mint OS (a popular Linux distribution based on Ubuntu). For other distributions (Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, CentOS and others), the process of writing bootable media is no different.

• Download the ISO image of Linux Mint from the official website;
• Connect the USB flash drive to the computer (with a capacity of at least 2 GB), first make sure that there is no important data on it, and format it in FAT32;
  
  
• and run the UNetbootin program (does not require installation);
• In the program window, check “Disk image” → click the button with three dots (in the screenshot) → specify the path to the Linux Mint ISO image in Explorer;
  
  
  
• Next, go to “Media” → select the flash drive prepared for recording → click “OK”;
  
  

That's all. Now we have a bootable USB flash drive with Linux OS, which allows, as noted earlier, not only to install Linux on a particular computer, but also to simply run this operating system without installation on any computer or laptop.

First, you need to understand the very concept of what is a bootable Linux flash drive? This topic is very popular; almost everything can be found on the Internet.

Option #1. Creating a bootable USB flash drive in UNetbootin

UNetbootin is a program for installing Linux without CD/DVD.

This utility allows you to install it on your computer or, otherwise, create a bootable Flash disk with special Linux/BSD distributions previously downloaded from the Internet.

Installation can be done either through Windows or Linux.

The program is installed on most Linux distributions, namely: Ubuntu, Fedora, openSUSE, CentOS, Debian, Arch Linux, Mandriva, Slackware, FreeDOS, FreeBSD, NetBSD and their varieties).

• Before you start working with this utility, you need to format (clean) the USB drive, it is best to select file system FAT32. How to do this is shown in the illustration below:

• After cleaning the Flash media, you need to run the UNetbootin program. As already mentioned, this program allows you to burn a DVD from the Internet, showing only the distribution and its version:

• To write a disk image of the operating system (in the example, the downloaded distribution is Debian Wheezy, you can find any other) onto a USB drive, select the “Disk Image” item, then activate the “ISO Standard”, also do not forget to indicate the path to the distribution with the extension .ISO, and also indicate the type of device and the media itself (as shown in the figure).
  The characteristics have been selected, now you need to click the “OK” button, the procedure for extracting and duplicating files occurs automatically. This process will take 5-10 minutes.

• After unpacking the necessary files, the program will automatically install the bootloader and notify you when the bootable USB flash drive is ready.
  If you wish, you can immediately install the Linux OS; to do this, you need to restart the computer and select in the BIOS to boot the system via a USB drive.

If installation is not required, then there is no point in restarting the computer; you should click on the “Exit” button. All! As you can see, it's not difficult at all.

Your bootable Linux flash drive is ready to go.

Option #2. Creating a bootable USB flash drive in Universal USB Installer

Unlike the first one, this program formats removable media spontaneously.

let's consider this program in details.

• You need to install and run the Universal USB Installer program.

1. The first step shows a list of Linux operating systems. Select the Linux that you want to use on the flash drive; if the one you need is not there, then indicate “Try Unlisted Linux ISO”.
2. The second step is to let the pre-downloaded Linux distribution on your computer, if you did not select the folder yourself, then look for it in the Downloads folder.
3. The third step is to indicate our flash drive, usually an H drive, followed by the name of your device.

We check everything again and click the “Create” button.

• Next, a warning will appear telling you to close all unnecessary windows, close everything and click next.
  The program will automatically format the USB drive, create the MBR boot area, change the volume label to the UUI name and install the Linux operating system image. We only need to confirm the action by clicking on the “Yes” button.

• Afterwards, the procedure for installing data on removable media is observed, as shown in the figure; literally in 5 minutes everything will be ready.

• The program completes the installation process on its own, see the figure below.

That's it, another bootable Linux flash drive has been created!

Option #3. Creating a bootable USB flash drive using the Xboot utility

In this case, the option of creating it using the Xboot utility is considered.

This program does not require installation on a computer; it can be launched immediately by first downloading it from the Internet.

The interface of this utility is quite simple.

To add images, you need to transfer iso files(Linux OS distributions) of each image to the main part of the program window, or click on File-open, as shown in the figure.

After the path to the image has been indicated, a window will open with the question: how to perceive this image?

Since we are making a bootable flash drive for Linux, we choose Utilitu - Ubuntu, but if you are making a flash drive for Windows!! select Add using Grub4dos ISO image Emulation.

Please note that the option to add Windows is selected by default.

A huge plus of this program is that, along with the system, you can install various antiviruses on a bootable USB flash drive, such as: Kaspersky Rescue Disc.

In the future, they will help protect your computer from Trojans, viruses and other nasty things.

Utilities that come with the program

As shown in the figure above, the program offers various utilities for both Linux OS and Windows.

Xboot is not installed on your computer, so all the utilities you select will be downloaded automatically from the Internet, you will only need to confirm all the steps, all steps are shown in the pictures.

To make it convenient for you to work with images, write a name for each. For example: Linux 1 WT, Linux 2 Mouse, Linux 3 Android.

Check all the steps again when everything is ready and if you are sure that you have not missed anything, then select the option to record on USB drive(do not confuse making a bootable DVD), before use you need to clear the flash in FAT32.

If you don’t know English well, then find two buttons at the bottom of the window, when you click the Create ISO button you will make a bootable DVD, but we need to click – Create USB.

When you press the Create USB button, a window will pop up with the choice of a USB gadget for recording and selecting a bootloader; Syslinux, recommended for the current work, will automatically be selected.

If an error occurs, then change the bootloader to Grub4dos, it fully supports NTFS formatting.

Before clicking the OK button, you should accurately and carefully check whether the correct media has been selected, so that the necessary information is not deleted from the portable media by mistake. hard drive.

After clicking OK, the same image creation operation will occur as when creating an ISO.

After loading from this flash drive is completed, an overview of a convenient menu pops up.

Here you can install the necessary operating system on your current computer, scan your hard drives for viruses, and much more.

You chose all these utilities yourself when creating the flash drive!

I hope our article helped you and now you know what a bootable USB flash drive is and most importantly, how to create it!

To learn more about the topic, you can watch the video on YouTube:

Creating a bootable USB flash drive with Linux Mint 17.2 Rafaela

Bootable Linux USB Flash Drive - Best Creation Options

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. A reminder will appear in the final window indicating that you need to select additional characteristics in 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.