How to create a bootable USB stick with multiple OS
The good news is that once you have a bootable USB Stick, anybody will be able to use it without risking her/his computer , but the process of making the bootable disk itself is fraught with mine fields for the uninitiated.
STATUTORY WARNING
BEFORE YOU START TRYING OUT THE STEPS , PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT CREATING A BOOTABLE DISK REQUIRES BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF PARTITIONS IN A HARD DISK AND THE BOOT PROCESS ITSELF. BACK UP ALL DATA BEFORE STARTING . THE PROCESS IF ATTEMPTED WITHOUT A BASIC UNDERSTANDING CAN RESULT IN THE SYSTEM NOT BOOTING AT ALL OR EVEN HARD DISK GETTING WIPED OUT.
We know many things can go wrong with a computer, but unlike dumb machines , say a lawn mower, a computer has an extraordinary capability to do self-diagnosis . But to initiate that process the system has to boot itself .
So, assuming that the motherboard processor and RAM are okay, a system should be able to run from an optical drive or a USB drive . As a matter of fact the first computer I used was designed to be booted only through a floppy and there was no hard disk!
The idea is to make a bootable usb drive for the purpose of repairing a bootloader , do a back up of the hard disk or simply to do some productive work on the computer. A search on the web would point to a number of applications like YUMI and unetbootin. I would stick to multi-boot usb .
MultiBootUSB is a cross platform software written in python which allows you to install multiple live linux on a USB disk non destructively and option to uninstall distros.
This is an advanced cross platform application that is installable in Linux or Windows. So, how do we go about it ?
Step 1 : Download the ISO image
Download the ISO image of the Operating System of your choice. For Microsoft products you’ll have to visit this site . There would be copyright issues and requirement for activation key . The real fun would be in exploring the options available in the universe of Open Source Software.
Since troubleshooting is the most likely purpose , Boot-repair disc would be a great place to start with .
Though it is an avatar of ubuntu, it can be a great boon to windows users as well. The interface is intuitive and graphical and there would be absolutely no need for any command line job.
Step 2. Install Multiboot usb application
It is simple enough . Just follow this guide .
Step 3. Create a USB boot disk
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- Plug in a blank USB with a capacity of 8GB or above formatted in 32 FAT file system
- Run Multibootusb program
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Step 4 : Install Preferred OS
Select the USB drive . MS calls it G: or H: drive while linux calls it sdb1 or sdb2 etc
Select your the ISO image you have downloaded in step 1
Click on install distro after selecting the usb drive and the iso image.
You will be prompted to confirm that you would like to proceed with the installation
Click yes and your bootable USB disk will be ready in minutes.
This process may be repeated with additional ISO images to install any number of operating systems as long as there is space in the USB drive.
Step 5 : Reboot and bot through your USB Drive
Reboot the computer and choose usb drive as the first device in the booting sequence.
It can be done in two ways ..
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- Going to bootmenu . for Dell it is press F12 at the time of booting For other makes check out
- Going to setup bios by pressing F2 aat the time of booting and changing the boot order
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Once you manage to select usb drive as the preferred boot device you will get a boot menu as under
Select boot repair disk or any other operating system you want to boot from and that’s it. Your are done. you will be greeted by the screen below:-
