Do It Yourself - Bootable Linux Flashdrive

In my earlier post I had posted an article on "Bootable Windows 7 Flashdrive". This time I will give an idea on how to make a persistent(i.e. all your data including desktop settings will remain intact) Linux flash drive. Booting from Linux is great but its better if you can carry your whole Operating System with you. This insures that you are always secure from malicious objects and also add that little personal touch wherever you go.

Using USB Disk Creator tool one can easily make a persistent Linux flashdrive. I have used Universal USB Installer for this purpose. UNetbootin also does the work but it does not make a persistent drive. The process of doing so is listed below:

1. First download and install Universal USB Installer. You can download it from pendrivelinux.com.

2. After downloading the file, click on the executable the run the program.

3. Now choose your favoured linux distro or download it.

4. Browse to the folder where the distro is located and open it.

5. Choose the flashdrive drive letter and then select the persistence option from the dropdown box.

6. Click create button and its done.

It is important that you choose the persistance option or else it will act as a Live CD. Also have patient while its creating the disk as it may take sometime. One disadvantage of creating a persistant disk is that you can't use it as a regular flashdrive for storing data.

Source: Digit Issue 08 Vol. 10