The free operating system Ubuntu has long been established as an attractive alternative to paid operating systems by Microsoft and Apple. The latest Ubuntu versions are available online as ISO files todownload free of charge. An ISO file is a digital image of everything saved on a CD/DVD. To install Ubuntu, the first thing you need to do is burn the ISO file onto a DVD or copy it to a USB stick. This guide explains how to create an Ubuntu USB drive and use it to boot or install the popular operating system.
Requirements for installing Ubuntu from a USB drive
Launch Rufus and Insert your USB stick in Windows system In the Rufus main window, from the Drive drop down, select your USB stick drive. In the Boot Selection drop-down, select Disk Or ISO Image and then click the Select button. Choose the ISO file of Ubuntu/Linux which you have downloaded. So first go to the BIOS (look which Fxx key is the 'BIOS-entry' key on your model of computer) and look around. There may be Allow USB boot option somewhere. When you boot to the USB stick, you'll be able to install Ubuntu 20.04 on the computer or use the 'Try Ubuntu' option to boot into Ubuntu without actually installing the operating system on the machine. In this tutorial you will learn: How to create a bootable Ubuntu 20.04 USB stick on MS Windows.
Let’s start with the system requirements. For the latest Ubuntu version, make sure your PC has:
- A 2 GHz processor
- At least 4 GB of RAM (system memory)
- At least 25 GB of hard drive space
To install Ubuntu from a USB drive, you also need a removable storage device with sufficient storage space (at least 4 GB). You’re now ready to convert your USB stick into an Ubuntu USB stick and use it to install the operating system. Here are the steps you need to follow.
Preparation: downloading Ubuntu and installing LinuxLive USB Creator
Start by downloading the latest version of Ubuntu. Regular security and maintenance updates will be issued for version 18.04.3 LTS until 2023, making it a sensible choice. The ISO file is available to download for free from the official Ubuntu downloads page. The file is about 2 GB, so depending on your connection speed, the download might take a few minutes.
You now need to download LinuxLive USB Creator and install it on your computer. The software provides a simple way of creating a bootable Ubuntu USB drive. The installation files are available from the official homepage of the open-source software provider. Once you have downloaded the file, execute it and follow the installation prompts:
- Choose the installer language.
- As recommended by the Setup Wizard, close any programs and applications that are running in the background. Click “Next”.
- When you click “Install”, the program will be installed in the location you selected. This may take a few minutes.
- Click “Finish” to complete installation and open the program.
Now that you have downloaded the Ubuntu ISO file and installed the LinuxLive USB Creator, you can create the actual Ubuntu USB drive.
Creating your bootable Ubuntu USB drive
Before you begin, close any programs still running in the background, and then insert your empty USB drive into one of the USB ports on your computer. Now openLinuxLive USB Creator and follow these steps:
- Choose your key in the first drop-down menu:
- In the second box, select the source of the boot file. To do this, click on “ISO/IMG/ZIP” and browse to locate the Ubuntu ISO file you downloaded:
- In Step 3, you have to select the persistence of the Ubuntu drive. The persistence setting defines how much space will be kept free on the USB drive to store your individual Ubuntu settings and system data. It means that the next time you boot Ubuntu directly from the USB drive, your previous settings will be retrieved. Setting the persistence at around 300 MB will ensure you have sufficient space for any system settings.
- In Step 4, you can continue with the pre-selected options. If your USB stick is not formatted as FAT32, you will need to tick the appropriate box. However, most USB sticks ship with the FAT32 file system.
- You can now launch the creation process by clicking the lightning bolt icon in Step 5.
How do i play minecraft on my computer. The installation procedure can take up to 30 minutes. Once the process is complete, you will see the message “Your LinuxLive key is now up and ready!” You have successfully converted a standard USB stick into a bootable Ubuntu USB stick that you can use to install or boot Ubuntu on any connected device.
Installing Ubuntu from your USB stick
You are now ready to actually install the Ubuntu operating system on your computer. Shut down your computer and insert the Ubuntu USB drive that you have just created. To install Ubuntu from the USB stick, you need to boot your computer from the drive. To do so, access the BIOS setup of your computer. Different computers and manufacturers use different ways of launching the BIOS. Usually, you have to press one of the following keys while the computer is booting: F2, Del, F10 or Enter.
Once inside the BIOS, you can tell the computer which drive to use when booting. If you select your hard drive, Windows will start up as normal. However, if you select the Ubuntu USB stick, you can choose whether you want to “Install Ubuntu” or “Boot Ubuntu from USB drive”. Use the arrow keys to select “Install Ubuntu” and press Enter to confirm. The Ubuntu installation wizard will now open.
- Firstly, choose your preferred system language.
- Click “Continue” to confirm, and in the next window select a keyboard layout:
- In the next step, you will be asked to choose the type of installation. “Normal installation” is the easiest and simplest option for most users.
- You can now choose one of two options: “Install Ubuntu alongside Windows” or “Erase disk and install Ubuntu”. The second option removes Windows and installs Ubuntu as the only operating system:
- If you choose to delete Windows and install Ubuntu as the only operating system, in the next step, you will be asked to enter a security key. After installation, you will be able to use the password to access Ubuntu.
- Whichever option you choose (“Install Ubuntu alongside Windows” or “Erase disk”), the installation wizard will guide you through the final step. The window displays which hard drive Ubuntu will be installed on, how much free space is available on this drive, and roughly how much space the installed Ubuntu system will take up. Finally, click “Install now” to install Ubuntu from your USB stick.
This tutorial explains how to install Ubuntu Linux from the Pen drive or USB drive step-by-step with practical example. Learn how to create, prepare and use Ubuntu bootable USB drive in detail.
Downloading Ubuntu installation disk image
Ubuntu packs installation files in an archived package. This package is formatted and distributed as an ISO image file. You can download this ISO image file from the following webpage.
https://www.ubuntu.com/download
Since installation files are compressed and packaged in the ISO image file, we cannot use them directly in the installation.
Preparing Ubuntu installation disk from the ISO image file
To install Ubuntu from the downloaded ISO image file, we have to prepare an installation disk from this. By default, the ISO image file is packaged for the DVD. To use a DVD as the installation disk, we only need to burn the ISO image in DVD. For this, you can use any free and open source ISO burner software.
The ISO burning software automatically extracts installation files from the ISO image and burns them in the DVD. In burning process, it also adds the extracted boot files at the correct place.
Due to any reason such as; target system does not have DVD drive or you don’t have a blank DVD to burn the downloaded ISO image file, you can also use a USB/Pen drive for this purpose.
If you choose to use a USB/Pen drive for making the installation disk, you have to prepare it in different way. Just like we burn the ISO image to DVD, we cannot burn the ISO image to USB/Pen drive.
Besides this if we directly extract ISO image file in USB drive, it also does not work. As it does not place boot files at the necessary place. To make a USB drive bootable, we must have to create a MBR and place boot files in that. We also have to format the USB drive with the file system which Linux understands.
Sounds complicated, not exactly. You do not need to perform any of these actions manually. Just like the ISO burning software, there is plenty of USB burner software exist. You can use any USB burner software which makes the USB drive bootable and burns the ISO image.
Rufus
Rufus is the free and open source software. It not only makes USB drive bootable but also extract the contents of the ISO image file. It is available in two variations; installer and portable. The only difference between both variations is that the installer variation installs the Rufus in system permanently.
You can download the Rufus from the following webpage.
https://rufus.ie/
This software is currently available only for the Windows platform. You can use this software on any Windows system such as XP, Vista and Windows (7, 8.1, and 10).
Creating Ubuntu bootable installation USB/Pen drive
Download the Ubuntu installation ISO image file and Rufus USB burner software from their official webpages.
Once both files are downloaded, attach a USB drive with the system and launch the Rufus.
On starting, it takes confirmation for checking update online. If you want to update the Rufus before creating the Ubuntu bootable USB drive, click the Yes button otherwise click the No button.
The Rufus starts as a standalone application. It detects all attached USB drive and lists them in the option “Device”. Select the USB drive which you want to use for this process.
Click the Select button, and select the downloaded ISO image file of Ubuntu.
Leave the remains options as they are and click the Start button.
Once the START Wargame red dragon deck code. button is clicked, the Rufus starts the process.
In first step, it reads the files which make the drive bootable from the ISO image. If system is connected with the Internet, it also checks the latest version of these files online. If it finds newer version of any of these files, it prompts us to download the latest version of that file.
If prompted, click the Yes button to confirm the downloading.
Upon confirmation, it downloads and uses the latest version of that file. Asus vs238h p driver for mac.
After reading, downloading (if require) and verifying the necessary boot files, it checks the type of selected ISO image file. Based on the type of ISO image, it can write the extracted files in two ways; ISO Image mode and DD Image mode.
ISO Image mode: - In this mode, Rufus makes USB bootable in such a way that we can not only access the files stored in USB but also use the remaining space of USB to store additional data or application software.
DD Image mode: - In this mode, we cannot use the remaining space to store the additional data.
Boot From Usb Stick Ubuntu
Let’s take a simple example. We use 8GB USB drive for this purpose and after making it a bootable installation drive, 5GB space remains free. Depending on the used mode, we can or cannot use this remaining space to store additional data. If ISO Image mode is used we are allowed to use this remaining space while if the DD Image mode is used, we are not allowed to use it.
If prompted, select the desired mode and click the OK button.
To create a new supported file system, Rufus formats the USB drive before writing anything. In this process, all data stored in USB drive is removed. Rufus takes confirmation for this action. Click the OK button to confirm the action.
That’s all information and confirmation Rufus needs before starting the process. Now it performs all necessary steps and actions. It also displays the real time update of process in the Status section.
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Once all steps are done and the Ubuntu bootable install drive is created, it displays the Ready message in the status section.
Click the Close button to close the Rufus.
Remove the USB/Pen drive from the system. Now we can use this drive to install the Ubuntu.
Installing Ubuntu from the USB/Pen drive
Attach the USB/Pen drive which we prepared by following the above steps and start the system. When the system starts, press the Esc key on the first screen to open the boot menu.
In the Boot Menu, set the Removable Devices as the first boot device.
Setting the first boot device to Removable Devices forces the startup process to boot the system from the removable devices instead of the hard disk.
Once the initial booting process is finished, Ubuntu installation process starts.
Ubuntu To Usb Stick
Following image shows the first screen of the installation process.
Ubuntu installation involves several steps and options. Due to length of this tutorial, all these steps are explained separately in the following tutorial.
That’s all for this tutorial. If you like this tutorial, please don’t forget to share it through your favorite social network.