Everything about bootable USBs and how to make one for free to use as a flash drive to install Linux and Windows
If you’re trying to install a new operating system on a computer, you’ve probably read that a bootable USB can be useful. It’s also possible that the concept doesn’t make any sense to you or that you’ve thought it might be a new USB standard that you’ve never heard of. But the truth is, that’s not quite the case. Almost all USBs can be bootable, a word that simply tells you that they’ll help you install a new operating system on a computer.
Booteable is a word that comes from the English word boot, which means to start. So, what we are referring to when we talk about a bootable USB is that it is a USB device that we can use as a boot disk.
So what we refer to as a bootable USB is a USB stick that is capable of booting without the need for an operating system to do so. It is therefore an alternative to the operating system CDs that we used years ago when we wanted to install a new operating system. Considering that many computers today do not even have a CD reader, a USB flash drive is in many cases the only way we can install an operating system on a computer.
If you recently purchased a computer, it likely came with the operating system already installed, so it won't be necessary to use a bootable USB to boot it. However, if you purchased used equipment or formatted your computer and want to install a new operating system, you'll need it.
In general, using a bootable USB is not something that the general public usually needs, but it is more targeted at computer professionals or people who like to “tinker” with their machines and make changes to customize them at the same time. In case you want to install a new operating system and you have a computer that does not have a CD reader or this system was given to you by someone who did not originally have a disc format, it may be necessary for you to have this type of USB flash drive to do your job.
How to create a bootable USB
In order to create a bootable USB, we will need three things. First, we need an ISO image of the operating system we want to install. By ISO image, we refer to the files used to create an exact copy of the file system on the optical drive. That is, what we need is an image, as if in a mirror, of the CD or DVD that contains the operating system or application that we want to install using the USB flash drive.
Finally, we will need a program capable of creating a bootable disk on a USB drive by mounting ISO files. Copying and pasting the files will not be enough, but in order to convert them into a bootable USB, we will have to resort to a program. There are a large number of programs of this type for both Windows and Linux operating systems, and in general they are not very complex to use, although it must be taken into account that this procedure is mainly used by people with computer knowledge.
Programs to create bootable USB
One of the most interesting programs to create bootable USB is Rufus. It is a program with which you can create bootable drives for any GNU/Linux distribution, Windows, or even any other operating system. It even allows us to create boot disks in which the changes are saved for subsequent sessions. It is designed for use on Windows computers, and you can download it from the following link.
If you want to install Windows 10 on another computer, a program that can be very useful is the Windows 10 Installer. It is specially designed to create an ISO image of this operating system that you save on a USB memory to continue the installation process later on the installation on a new computer in the simplest possible way. You can download it from this link.
Unetbootin is a tool very similar to the previous ones, but it has the advantage that in addition to being able to use it on Windows, it also has versions for Linux or Mac. If you do not have an ISO image of the system you want to install, the tool itself has a list of sources that will allow us to automatically download it and put it on a USB memory. Therefore, it is one of the most practical options. You can download it at this link.
And if what you are looking for is a simpler and more colorful interface to make the process more lively, you always have the option of using Linux Live USB Creator. This program is only available for Windows computers, but it allows us to create a bootable USB for GNU/Linux distributions in a simple way. It is free and open source, so you can use it with complete peace of mind. To download it, you must access this link.
Read also: Save yourself! A great way to install Windows without a flash drive or CD