Newbie's Linux on Pen Drive

nucleusfermi · 30-07-2009, 04:51 AM

Namastey,
I have never used Linux before and don't have much hard-disk space; besides reading over a few articles over the web, I am willing to ask for your kind help over the choice for some Linux based operating system that I can use on a pen drive say of 8GB. I'm some unsure about whether it's possible or not so please hide your giggle

**Strider** · 30-07-2009, 02:02 PM

The first choice of a beginner linux user is bootable Live CDs.

Download Ubuntu, burn it to a CD and boot from it.

Download Ubuntu | Ubuntu

Quote:

I'm some unsure about whether it's possible or not so please hide your giggle

Off course it's possible provided your computer supports USB booting.

Now for using Ubuntu from a USB Pendrive, there are a number of ways. Checkout this page for details:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/In...n/FromUSBStick

I would suggest UNetbootin, it's easy and works from Windows. You still need the latest ISO of ubutnu to use it.

UNetbootin - Homepage and Downloads

nucleusfermi · 14-08-2009, 03:24 PM

Thanks again Strider, it worked fine for me, I wanted to extend this thread by asking you, could there be any possibility with the Windows XP for the similar set up? I mean, can XP also be used in the way any Linux distros are used with this method?

**Strider** · 15-08-2009, 10:09 AM

Yes, you can create a Windows XP live CD even though it is not officially supported by Microsoft. You'll need the help of a software called pebuilder.

Checkout the tutorial here. Once the ISO image is created burn it into a CD and boot from it. You should be able to make a bootable USB drive from this ISO; search Google for tutorials.

nucleusfermi · 15-08-2009, 11:21 PM

I tried BartPE and with it managed to create a working .iso disk image. Then I tried Unetbootin to create a bootable USB, there after the entire process, on booting from that USB, I got the message "corrupt kernal", I think Unetbootin doesn't support other images than that of the Linux-distros'. Now could you kindly tell me some application with which I can use this .iso file for creating a bootable USB? I searched a lot and am totally confused, some one wrote somewhere:-

Code:

First, you must format the target USB drive to be bootable (using PE2USB or similar), then place the following files to the ROOT of the USB drive: ntdetect.com, ntldr, winnt.sif & the bootable ISO of your choice.

Now bear in mind that this would load the ISO into memory, (so dont expect ISO's of over 300MB to load in UNDER 5 mins)

Now, take your winnt.sif file & make it like so:
CODE
[SetupData]
BootDevice = "ramdisk(0)"
BootPath = "\I386\SYSTEM32\"
OsLoadOptions = "/noguiboot /fastdetect /minint /rdexportascd /rdpath=YourISOfilename.iso"


Then reboot your machine, and make sure that USB booting has been enabled & boot to USB, there ya have it, a really easy way to boot your CD's from USB!

Now from where those above mentioned files can ba attained? Am I to create them myself with note pad or should search in Installations or system files of XP operating system?
Some one replied for that answer as this:-

Code:

Not really only those based on XP/2003 files.

It's a rather known method.

It can be used also for .img files, and the image can also be compressed.

The limit for such a booting is 512 Mb of size for the image (uncompressed), which is within the Microsoft RAMDISK.SYS/RAMDISK.SY_ driver.

There are other drivers, some with bigger capacity.

A list is here:
http://www.boot-land.net/forums/?showtopic=1507

The NTLDR (actually a renamed SETUPLDR.BIN) (and RAMDISK.SYS) must come from SERVER 2003 SP1 or R2.

Which version did you use?

We miss reports whether this works with XP SP3 files.

Some related threads:
http://www.911cd.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=10482
http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=19333
http://www.911cd.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=10482

This:
http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=18846

should cover your multi-boot question

Now I traveled throughout all these links, including those Japanese as well but couldn't get the solution. And this search has invoked another desire in me to create a USB drive with all major operating systems that can run on my hardware configuration having a Boot menu like GRUB or preferably without it, I know it's a far ahead dream since my short vacations are about to end, so please tell me about some process or application through which I can use USB flash drive as bootable apparatus with that .iso file that I created with BartXP. Sorry for the length of writing, thanks a lot for reading, specially Strider.
Apology for getting off track with the original topic, open for any moderation pertaining that.

30-07-2009, 04:51 AM	#1
nucleusfermi Regular Member (100+) Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 123 Thanks: 11 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Rep Power: 0	Newbie's Linux on Pen Drive Namastey, I have never used Linux before and don't have much hard-disk space; besides reading over a few articles over the web, I am willing to ask for your kind help over the choice for some Linux based operating system that I can use on a pen drive say of 8GB. I'm some unsure about whether it's possible or not so please hide your giggle __________________ Long Live The Universe http://nucleusfermi.blogspot.com

14-08-2009, 03:24 PM	#3
nucleusfermi Regular Member (100+) Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 123 Thanks: 11 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Rep Power: 0	Re: Newbie's Linux on Pen Drive Thanks again Strider, it worked fine for me, I wanted to extend this thread by asking you, could there be any possibility with the Windows XP for the similar set up? I mean, can XP also be used in the way any Linux distros are used with this method?

15-08-2009, 10:09 AM	#4
Strider Founder Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: The Last City Zion! Posts: 3,539 Thanks: 287 Thanked 345 Times in 298 Posts Rep Power: 62 OS:	Re: Newbie's Linux on Pen Drive Yes, you can create a Windows XP live CD even though it is not officially supported by Microsoft. You'll need the help of a software called pebuilder. Checkout the tutorial here. Once the ISO image is created burn it into a CD and boot from it. You should be able to make a bootable USB drive from this ISO; search Google for tutorials. __________________ Want to ask a question? Try This! A guide on how to post a question, reply to a post etc.

15-08-2009, 11:21 PM	#5
nucleusfermi Regular Member (100+) Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 123 Thanks: 11 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Rep Power: 0	Re: Newbie's Linux on Pen Drive I tried BartPE and with it managed to create a working .iso disk image. Then I tried Unetbootin to create a bootable USB, there after the entire process, on booting from that USB, I got the message "corrupt kernal", I think Unetbootin doesn't support other images than that of the Linux-distros'. Now could you kindly tell me some application with which I can use this .iso file for creating a bootable USB? I searched a lot and am totally confused, some one wrote somewhere:- Code: First, you must format the target USB drive to be bootable (using PE2USB or similar), then place the following files to the ROOT of the USB drive: ntdetect.com, ntldr, winnt.sif & the bootable ISO of your choice. Now bear in mind that this would load the ISO into memory, (so dont expect ISO's of over 300MB to load in UNDER 5 mins) Now, take your winnt.sif file & make it like so: CODE [SetupData] BootDevice = "ramdisk(0)" BootPath = "\I386\SYSTEM32\" OsLoadOptions = "/noguiboot /fastdetect /minint /rdexportascd /rdpath=YourISOfilename.iso" Then reboot your machine, and make sure that USB booting has been enabled & boot to USB, there ya have it, a really easy way to boot your CD's from USB! Now from where those above mentioned files can ba attained? Am I to create them myself with note pad or should search in Installations or system files of XP operating system? Some one replied for that answer as this:- Code: Not really only those based on XP/2003 files. It's a rather known method. It can be used also for .img files, and the image can also be compressed. The limit for such a booting is 512 Mb of size for the image (uncompressed), which is within the Microsoft RAMDISK.SYS/RAMDISK.SY_ driver. There are other drivers, some with bigger capacity. A list is here: http://www.boot-land.net/forums/?showtopic=1507 The NTLDR (actually a renamed SETUPLDR.BIN) (and RAMDISK.SYS) must come from SERVER 2003 SP1 or R2. Which version did you use? We miss reports whether this works with XP SP3 files. Some related threads: http://www.911cd.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=10482 http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=19333 http://www.911cd.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=10482 This: http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=18846 should cover your multi-boot question Now I traveled throughout all these links, including those Japanese as well but couldn't get the solution. And this search has invoked another desire in me to create a USB drive with all major operating systems that can run on my hardware configuration having a Boot menu like GRUB or preferably without it, I know it's a far ahead dream since my short vacations are about to end, so please tell me about some process or application through which I can use USB flash drive as bootable apparatus with that .iso file that I created with BartXP. Sorry for the length of writing, thanks a lot for reading, specially Strider. Apology for getting off track with the original topic, open for any moderation pertaining that. Last edited by nucleusfermi; 15-08-2009 at 11:41 PM..

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Newbie's Linux on Pen Drive

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