How to Tekk: Mobile Linux OS, Bootable Linux Flashdrive

Hello my furry friends.  Today I am going to show you the simple easy way to create a bootable Linux flashdrive.  This is useful for carrying around a OS you are familiar with.  Not to mention your files.  You could also carry around a utility version Linux such as Hiren's Boot CD or Kali.  Those two are just a few examples and they have multiple tools in them to learn.  I may cover some of them later.  For now though, lets get on to building that bootable drive.




First things first is you need and ISO file for the OS you want and you need to download a tool for making a USB bootable.  We will be using Linux Live USB Creator, aka LiLi.  For our operating system we will be using Xubuntu.  Now why did I choose Xubuntu.

Xubuntu is a spin off of the Ubuntu version of Linux.  It is extremely light weight.  So light in fact that it can be used on older computer that came with Windows XP.  So it should work like lightening on almost any system you boot it up on.  Xubuntu comes with some powerful yet lightweight programs already installed.  Such as Firefox, and an alternative for Microsoft Word and Excel.  Plenty for everyday use.  The best part is that Xubuntu has support for persistence.  This means that any files you save on the OS will still be there the next time you plug the USB into another computer.  Without persistence you would lose your work.  Unless, of coarse, you saved your files to a service like Dropbox or Google Drive.

Now how to use LiLi.  It is quite simple.  After installation run the program and you will get a menu like the one on the left, that pops up.  At the top where it says choose your key you need to pick a blank USB drive.  It needs to be blank because we will be overwriting it.  Under choose a storage you need to select the ISO file that you downloaded.


If the OS you are going to install support persistence then under Step 3 you will get a slider for how much room you want to use for persistence.  Step 4 are a few basics options.  You want to check Format the key in FAT32, this will erase the flash drive, and Enable launching Linux live in Windows.  LinuxLive is a feature that will allow you to plug in this USB drive into a Windows computer, after Windows is already started up, and let you run Linux as a virtual machine.  Useful if you just want to test Linux or a specific version Linux before installing it on any hardware.  This would also give you a portable OS and your files but still allow you to use Windows for most tasks where ever you are.  Now just click the lightning bolt and LiLi will run.

Once complete you can plug your USB Drive into another computer and either boot to it or use LinuxLive so you can play with Linux but still have Windows.  Not too complicated right?

I know I have been quite the past couple days and I apologize to everyone for that.  But I do it with good reason.  I am working on some new posts that have a decent amount of content to them.  That takes time though so I have been writing fewer posts.  Keep checking in to see whats coming up.

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