How To Create Live USBs

A problem exists whenever you want to install Linux on a piece of hardware but it doesn't have a CD-ROM. This is quite common for netbooks, tablets and other up-and-coming technologies. Installing Linux to a USB drive is faster, quiter, and easier if you have the right tool for the job.

UNetbootin is a tool that can be used to install various distributions to a USB drive. You can find UNetbootin inside of the software manager or install it manually by going here:

https://launchpad.net/~gezakovacs/+archive/ppa/+packages

Once installed you'll find UNetbootin has a straight forward interface. The first option allows you to choose which distribution you will be using and the version. This also brings up some general information such has the project's homepage, a description and installation notes. Down on the bottom of the window, click on the Diskimage radio button and select ISO from the drop down list. Now find and select the ISO file from your hard drive. Also you must choose USB Drive under the Type option and then make sure the correct USB is selected under the Drive option. Click OK to start installing.

Here you can see the UNetbootin creating a live USB. The process is quick, only a few seconds.

Now we are prompted to restart the computer. Make sure to boot from the USB drive.

After a restart and selecting USB as a one time boot option we can run our new live USB just like Live CD.