LinuxLive USB Creator Powerful yet easy-to-use
http://www.linuxliveusb.com/ ABOUT: LinuxLive USB Creator is a free and open-source software for Windows. It will help you in your journey of discovery with Linux. For you, LiLi creates portable, bootable and virtualized USB stick running Linux. LiLi is designed to be used by both beginners and geeks. If you are a beginner, LiLi will let you try Linux for the first time, keeping Windows clean of any modifications. And if you are a geek, LiLi will allow you to test almost any Linux distributions directly from Windows, or just install them from a USB flash drive instead of CDs. This software has been created by Thibaut Lauzière (a.k.a Slÿm) and is coded using the excellent AutoIT framework. Sources are publicly available on the previous link. Formerly known as uSbuntu Live Creator, project started in November 2008, just for fun at first. Then I realize that many people were interested in such a tool and so I started to be more serious. LiLi USB Creator is released under GPL v3 License Terms which means you can do almost whatever you want with its source code. Big thanks to all the TuxFamily's team for their kick-ass free hosting platform ! CREATE A LINUX LIVE USB PENDRIVE FOLLOWING THIS TUTORIAL: This tutorial will show you how to create a Linux Live USB pendrive very easily. 1º) Preparation: Download LiLi if not already done and install it. Start LiLi USB Creator from your Start Menu -> All Programs -> LinuxLive USB Creator. 2º) Creating a LinuxLive key is then a five easy steps process : step 1 : choose a USB key or drive in the list. step 2 : select an ISO file or a CD. In our case: Debian Live 6.0.0 (Gnome) step 3 : choose the size of persistent datas (usually between 250MB and 2GB) step 4 : check the options you want step 5 : click the lightning button to start the creation Moreover, each mandatory step (1,2 and 3) has a traffic light to indicate its state. This is the interpretation: Red light : the step is not correctly fulfilled, you cannot start creating a Live USB Orange light : there is a non blocking problem on the step, you can still start the creation Green light : everything's fine
FIND OUT: What types of Operating Systems are? Why does LiLi only uses FAT32 and FAT filesystems? What is persistence? What is virtualization? How can you use your key directly in windows? Why does LiLi only uses FAT32 and FAT filesystems?
Step 1: Choosing a USB Key All you have to do in this first step is choosing your USB device (drive or key) on which you want to create a Live USB. Requirements are:
a USB device with a FAT32 or FAT partition (*) usually 810 MB of free space (but depends on what Linux you install) (**) (*) If your USB device is not in FAT32 or FAT, you will be asked to check the option "Format in FAT32" in step 4, be aware that this option w ill erase the data on you USB key. (**) If you don't have enough space, free some space or choose "Format in FAT32" in the options (step 4) For more information about FAT32 limitation see Why does LiLi only uses FAT32 and FAT filesystems?
Step 2: Choose a source Select a ISO file, CD or folder containing a Linux Live CD. If you don't have any ISO or do not know what to install, use the Download button and select a LINUX (Ubuntu 9.04 is a good choice to begin). e.g.: Debian Live 6.0.0 (Gnome) Step 3: Persistence In this step, you have to choose the size of the persistent data that could be stored. This feature is currently not working when using VirtualBox in Seven/Vista. Before going further, I recommend you to give a look to these questions in the FAQ :
What is persistence? What can I do and not do on a Persistent system ? Why can't I have more than 4GB for persistent data with LiLi?
How can I have more than 4GB of persistent data? If you don't know how much to give to persistent data, give between 300MB and 500MB. If you intend to make a heavy usage of your Linux, choose more than 1 GB. Putting 0MB means no persistency, only live mode. All changes made in your Linux will be lost on reboot. Be warned that you must not do system updates. Explanations here. If you don't have enough space, select the "Format" option in step 4. Step 4: Options. You have three options: a) Enable launching LinuxLive in Windows (= Virtualization). This is the most important option. It allows you to launch a LinuxLive directly in any windows without any configuration or software installation on your hard drive. You will not find this option anywhere else. LiLi USB Creator made it possible with a special home-made version of the famous virtualization software VirtualBox. It will download and put a portable (no installation) version of VirtualBox on your key and will set it automatically for you. If you don't know what virtualization is, then read What is virtualization ? Article of the FAQ. To launch your LinuxLive in Windows, just use the Virtualize_This_Key.exe* located in the VirtualBox folder in your key. Be aware that you need local admin privileges in order to launch VirtualBox. b) Hide created files on key This will just hide the created files on the key. The files will be invisible only in Windows because of attributes S (system) and H (hidden). To see the files, go in Folder Options and check "Show hidden files" and "Show system files". This option is quite useful because many files will be created on your key. c) Format the key in FAT32 Use this option if your key is using NTFS, if you need more space or if you want to clean your key. Be careful, it will erase EVERYTHING on your key. Do not ask me to make it work on NTFS, it does not depend on me. Step 5: Create Please close any windows/programs that use the key. This includes explorer windows opened on your key. All you have to do in this step is to click the lightning button to start the creation. If you use a proxy, please be sure that Internet Explorer have an internet access because Linux Live USB Creator uses its configuration. Once your key is ready, go on to next step. Step 6: Using your LinuxLive Key Your Live USB should now be ready! Don't forget to share LiLi with your friends if you liked it :-) Before going any further, properly unplug your USB device then reconnect it. This will force Windows to check the autorun of the key and updat e the icon. You now have two possibilities, first one is to boot your Linux directly in Windows (=virtualization), second one is to boot your PC from your key. In both methods, it is exactly the same Linux that is booted. It will load the same persistent data (if any). -Using your key directly in windows: open your key in Windows explorer. You should see a folder called VirtualBox. It contains two executables : Virtualize_This_Key.exe : will directly launch your Linux in Windows (inside VirtualBox) VirtualBox.exe: will launch the full VirtualBox interface. Be aware that persistence should NOT be used in VirtualBox. -Booting your PC on your Live USB: Shutdown Windows and insert your key in your PC's USB (prefers the rear USB ports for a desktop PC).Power on your PC and quickly press the keyboard key to go in the BIOS. Each BIOS have its own menu so this explanation is generic: Find the boot menu and put USB options before Hard drives/CD options in boot order. If you don't have any USB options it may means that your PC is not able to boot from USB. Save and exit from the BIOS. Your LinuxLive key menu should appear (options may vary) : Persistent Mode (your data will be persistent) Live Mode (all your data will be discarded after reboot) Install (to install Linux on your hard drive) Usually, you will boot with Persistent Mode. It's the default one. For any question or issue you may have, take a look to the FAQ.