Portable Linux [Download]

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Portable Linux

What is Linux?

Linux is an operating system that was initially created as a hobby by a young student, Linus Torvalds, at the University of Helsinki in Finland. Linus had an interest in Minix, a small UNIX system, and decided to develop a system that exceeded the Minix standards. He began his work in 1991 when he released version 0.02 and worked steadily until 1994 when version 1.0 of the Linux Kernel was released. The kernel, at the heart of all Linux systems, is developed and released under the GNU General Public License and its source code is freely available to everyone. It is this kernel that forms the base around which a Linux operating system is developed. There are now literally hundreds of companies and organizations and an equal number of individuals that have released their own versions of operating systems based on the Linux kernel. More information on the kernel can be found at our sister site, LinuxHQ and at the official Linux Kernel Archives. The current full-featured version is 2.6 (released December 2003) and development continues.

Portable Linux?

Install your favorite Linux operating system on a flash drive or USB key no larger than your thumb (Thumb Drive). Your Portable Linux operating system can then be run from any computer that can boot from a USB flash device, allowing you to bring your entire operating system, desktop, applications, files, email, personal settings, favorites, games and more with you. It’s your own personal operating system you can carry in your pocket.


USB Creators (Windows Based)

Linux Live USB Creator

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The Linux Live USB Creator is an awesome tool that can be used to install various Linux compilations, versions and distributions to a USB Flash Drive. The end result is a Bootable Live USB (in some cases with Persistence as well). Created by Thibaut Lauzière, LiLi USB Creator formerly known as uSbuntu Live Creator, can create your Linux USB Flash Drive from a source Image, ISO or CD. It can also download the IMG or ISO for you. But it doesn't stop there. LiLi USB Creator can also install a Portable Virtualbox on the USB device. You can then either boot the Linux installation from inside Windows emulated using Virtualbox on USB or Boot from USB natively (if your computer supports booting from USB).

Note: This is one of our favorite GUI tool for creating a Linux Flash Drive from Windows! Thibaut's work is outstanding. However, you should know that this tool was created using autoit scripts and some antivirus software WILL report false positives.



LiLi USB Creator Website: http://www.linuxliveusb.com
How to install and use Linux Live USB Creator

1. Download Linux Live USB Creator and extract the zip to your PC
2. Run LiLi USB Creator.exe from the Linux Live USB Creator Folder
3. Simply follow Steps 1- 5 from the Menu. Once complete, you should have the Portable Linux Distribution you can carry with you in your pocket to run on any PC either emulated with Virtualbox Portable or natively.

Universal USB Installer

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Universal USB Installer is a Live Linux USB Creator that allows you to choose from a selection of Linux Distributions to put on your USB Flash Drive. The Universal USB Installer is easy to use. Simply choose a Live Linux Distribution, the ISO file, your Flash Drive and, Click Install. Other features include; Persistence (if available), and the ability to format the flash drive (recommended) to ensure a clean install. Upon completion, you should have a ready to run bootable USB Flash Drive with your select Linux version installed.


Download

UNetbootin

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UNetbootin is a Live USB creation tool that can be used to create a Live Linux USB flash drive from an ISO. Many Linux distributions are supported out of the box with custom install options available for Linux distributions that are not. It is important to mention that Live Linux USB flash drives created with this tool, do not currently utilize a persistence feature. The resulting USB Linux install will function just as it does from a CD. By default you will not be able to save and restore your changes.

UNetbootin was created by Geza Kovacs, released under GNU GPL v2.

How to use UNetbootin to create a Live Linux USB flash drive

The following assumes your working from within Windows and have a current copy of the ISO you wish to convert.

1. Download UNetBootin for Windows
2. Download your favorite Linux ISO
3. Double click the Unetbootin Executable to start the program
4. (1) Click the Diskimage radio box (2) browse to select your ISO (3) Set your target USB drive (4) click OK to start the creation


Once the UNetbootin installer has completed, click Reboot Now


Set your system BIOS or boot menu to boot from the USB device and enjoy your favorite Live Linux on USB

Distro

Mandriva 2010

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This simple tutorial explains how to put Mandriva 2010 on a USB Flash Drive from within Windows via the Seed tool created and supported by Mandriva. If a Mandriva One 2010 ISO is installed, the resulting USB Flash Drive can be used to try out a Live USB Mandriva, and or to Install Mandriva from USB to your Hard Drive, instead of using the CD/DVD. All recent Mandriva ISOs from Free to One are hybrids, meaning that they can be copied to the flash drive using the Seed tool.

Warning: Upon completion, Windows will think the Flash Drive is not formatted. This is because Mandriva's Seed tool creates an image of the ISO on your Flash Drive using DD. By default, the remaining space will be unusable in Windows. Additionally to reformat the device, you will need to Restore Your USB Key as Windows will not detect the space occupied by the image and will report incorrect capacity.

Distribution Home Page: http://www2.mandriva.com

Minimum Flash Drive Capacity: Depends on the ISO used

Persistent Feature: No

Mandriva One 2010 Live USB Flash Drive Creation Essentials

* Windows PC (XP/Vista/7)
* Mandriva ISO
* 1GB-8GB USB flash drive
* Mandriva Seed Tool

How to put Mandriva One 2010 on a USB Flash Drive

1. Download the Mandriva One ISO
2. Download the Mandriva Seed Tool for Windows
3. Start Mandriva-Seed.exe (Run as Admin)
4. (1) Browse and Select your Mandriva ISO (2) Select your USB Flash Drive (3) Click Create Live USBMandriva Seed Tool For Windows


5. Once the tool has finished, restart your PC and set your BIOS or Boot Menu to boot from the USB device, save your changes and reboot

If all goes well, you should now be running Mandriva 2010 from your USB Flash Drive.

Linux Mint 9

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Run Linux Mint 9 from a USB Flash Drive by using Windows to create the Linux Mint 9 Live USB. In the following tutorial, we cover one way to use our third party Universal USB Installer to create your own Portable Linux Mint 9 USB Flash Drive from Windows. Headed by Clement Lefebvre, Linux Mint 9 "Isadorais" is based on Ubuntu 10.04. Key features include; new software manager, new backup tool, streamlined look and feel, quicker boot times and much more.



Distribution Home Page: linuxmint.com

Minimum Flash Drive Capacity: 2GB

Persistent Feature: Yes

USB Linux Mint 9 Flash Drive creation essentials:

* 2GB or Larger USB Flash Drive (Fat32 formatted)
* Linux Mint 9 ISO
* Universal USB Installer

How to Create a Linux Mint 9 USB Flash Drive:

1. Download the torrent and then download the LinuxMint 9 ISO using your favorite torrent client
2. Download and run Universal USB Installer, select Linux Mint 9 and follow the onscreen instructions
3. Reboot your PC and set your system BIOS or Boot Menu to boot from the USB device, save your changes and reboot booting from the USB memory stick

Upon reboot, you should be running your very own Live USB Linux Mint (Portable Linux Mint 9) from your flash memory stick.

Xubuntu 10.04

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Create an Xubuntu 10.04 Live USB Flash Drive with Windows: In the following tutorial, we show you a simple method to put Xubuntu 10.04 on a Flash Drive using Windows and our Universal USB Installer. Xubuntu 10.04, codenamed (Lucid Lynx), is a product of Canonical Ltd. Xubuntu utilizes the XFCE desktop environment.

XFCE created by Olivier Fourdan, is both lightweight, making it less resource intensive than most other Linux desktop environments, and suitable for slower computers.



Distribution Home Page: xubuntu.org

Minimum Flash Drive Capacity: 2GB

Persistent Feature: Yes

Essentials for creating a Xubuntu 10.04 Live USB

* Windows PC to perform conversion
* Xubuntu 10.04 ISO (downloaded via a bittorrent client)
* 2GB or larger USB flash drive (Fat32 formatted)
* Universal USB Installer (does the conversion)

Create an Xubuntu 10.04 Live USB Flash Drive from Windows

1. Download the Xubuntu 10.04 torrent and use your favorite bittorent client to download the ISO
2. Download and run our Universal USB Installer, select Xubuntu 10.04 Desktop i386 and follow the onscreen instructions
3. Once the script has finished, restart your PC and set your BIOS or Boot Menu to boot from the USB device, save your changes and reboot

That's all there is to it, you should now proceed to boot from your Xubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx Live USB.