How to Create a Bootable USB Drive for Ubuntu

A USB drive can serve as an excellent startup rescue tool for computers that support USB boot devices.

The Ubuntu Linux distribution is designed to be easy for beginners to use with a large repository of available applications that make it attractive to more experienced users. Ubuntu includes a utility for creating a USB boot drive that can be used as a "rescue disk" in the event Ubuntu fails to boot. Create a USB boot drive using the "USB Startup Disk Creator" included with Ubuntu as a backup so you have access to the computer system if startup fails.

Things You'll Need

• USB drive with over 800 MB of space
• Ubuntu Live CD

Instructions

1. Click the "System" button located on the Ubuntu desktop's Gnome taskbar and click "Administration," and then click "USB Startup Disk Creator."

2. Insert a Ubuntu Live CD into the CD/DVD drive of the Ubuntu computer. The "USB Startup Disk Creator" will automatically detect the Ubuntu Live CD.

3. Plug the USB drive into the Ubuntu computer. The "USB Startup Disk Creator" will automatically recognize the USB drive.

4. Click the "Stored in reserved extra space" radio button and move the slider to select the amount of space you wish to reserve on the USB drive for documents and files. Note the amount of space is limited by the free space on the USB drive, less the 700 MB required for the Ubuntu operating system that will be copied to the USB drive.

5. Click the "Make Startup Disk" button, and the "USB Start Up Disk Creator" will copy files to the USB drive and create a bootable Ubuntu USB drive.

References

• GHacks: How to Create a Bootable USB Ubuntu Drive
• Tombuntu: Create a Bootable USB Drive The Easy Way in Ubuntu 8.10