To run Ubuntu from a USB stick, the first thing you need to do is insert a USB stick with at least 2GB of free space into your PC. The easiest way to put Ubuntu onto your stick is to use the USB installer provided at pendrivelinux.com. You’ll need to download and install and follow the instructions.
Download Pen Drive Linux's USB Installer
Universal USB Installer is a Live Linux USB Creator that allows you to choose from a selection of Linux Distributions to put on your USB Flash Drive. The Universal USB Installer is easy to use. Simply choose a Live Linux Distribution, the ISO file, your Flash Drive and, Click Install. Upon completion, you should have a ready to run bootable USB Flash Drive with your select operating system installed. Other features include; Persistence (if available) – note that casper persistence will only work with fat16 or fat32 formatted drives.
Universal USB Installer (UUI) Screenshots
1 . Select Ubuntu Desktop Edition from the dropdown list.
2 . Click 'Browse' and open the downloaded ISO file.
3 . Choose the USB drive and click 'Create'.
Universal USB Installer – Easy as 1 2 3
- Universal-USB-Installer-1.9.1.6.exe
- Windows XP/Vista/7 or WINE to create the USB (Win 98/2K WILL NOT Work!)
- *Fat16, Fat32, or NTFS Formatted Flash Drive
- PC with a BIOS that can boot from USB
- Your Favorite Linux ISO
Additional Important Information
- If you're running a Windows Vista or 7 Installer from your USB, after the first reboot, remove the flash drive and let the pc complete from the hard disk.
- When browsing for an ISO, UUI will only display ISO Files that match exactly what the tool is asking for. For example, if you chose to install Ubuntu 10.10 Desktop i386, you should not expect the tool to display your ubuntu-10.10-netbook-i386.iso as you have not chosen to install the netbook variant.
* Although you can use an NTFS formatted USB, Ubuntu based "persistence" features will only work with a Fat16 or Fat32 formatted drive. Additionally some Linux Distributions will not boot from an NTFS formatted USB.
This tool does not support installing and booting from multiple Linux Distributions. Only One Distribution can be installed per USB drive. However, the YUMI Multiboot USB Creator can be used to create a Multi System USB Device.
To try an unlisted ISO, I.E. "Ubuntu 9.10", choose one of the the last two options in Step 1, "Try Unlisted Linux ISO". Please inform me of unlisted "Linux ISOs" you get to work via these options, and I'll add them.
Resolved as of version 1.8.8.3 –>: *OpenSUSE will only work with some USB drives with this installer. A limit imposed by the use of MBRID to locate configuration files, instead of by drive LABEL or UUID. However, if you receive a boot error stating "No Devices Matches MBR Identifier", you may be able to fix it from a running Linux environment.
Fix the OpenSUSE "No Devices Matches MBR Identifier" error :
- Plug in your OpenSUSE USB
- Open a terminal, type sudo su and press enter
- Type fdisk -l and press enter
- Copy the 0x######## Disk Identifier listed to the mbrid file located at boot/grub/mbrid
Ubuntu Server "Failed to copy file from CD-ROM" Error (should be resolved now).
UUI will run in WINE under Linux. A dedicated Linux based method is planned (let me know if you are willing to port UUI to Linux). You can also visit the "How to install Linux from a Linux CD" section for Live CD based USB Linux installation tutorials, or use another Linux USB Creator.
More detailed technical instructions are available on the Ubuntu wiki
And if you get stuck… Ask Ubuntu
