Live USB with Ubuntu 10.04 LTS

Creating a Live USB with Ubuntu 10.04 LTS is an excellent way to always have your favorite Ubuntu system and software with you at all times and it makes for one of the simplest ways to conduct an install to a hard drive.

The following steps provide three options of putting the fresh new release of Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (as known as Lucid Lynx) on a USB stick. The first method will create a bootable USB stick with a live version and the second process will create a live version with persistence.

What do you need to Download:

• Ubuntu (700MB): http://releases.ubuntu.com/lucid/ubuntu-10.04-desktop-i386.iso
• UNetBootIn (4.3MB): http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/unetbootin-windows-latest.exe
• LinuxLiveUsb (2.3MB): http://www.linuxliveusb.com/downloads/?version=stable

Now we are ready to start, provided that you already downloaded the above file.
Option 1: Live USB without persistent
The UNetbootin is a MS-windows program to allow you to create a bootable USB stick with your new distribution. The UNetbootin file will step you through the process.

All you need to do first is click on the box on the right side across from “ISO” and point to the .iso file you previously downloaded.

Next, simply verify that UNetBootIn has selected the correct USB stick—if not, just point it to the correct one, and then click OK.

When UNetBootIn finishes, your USB is ready

just choose exit and remove the USB stick for use.

Make sure your system is set to boot from the USB drive in the system BIOS or by choosing F12 or whatever is the appropriate key for your system to allow you to decide the boot sequence.

Congratulations! You are now through and should have a bootable USB stick for installing Ubuntu on computers or just for testing to make certain it will work on various configurations before installing.

Option 2: Live USB with persistence
If you want to create a persistent, bootable USB stick, you will need to use LinuxLiveUsb  that is the Linux Live USB creator.

Just double click on the executable file (LiLi USB Creator.exe) and follow the instructions.

First step is to choose the USB stick you wish to use.

Next you choose the file to use and since it is an .iso, if you have been following these instructions, you would click on that icon and point it to the appropriate file.

Once it has verified the distribution, you will be able to choose how much space to allocate to persistence.

Your maximum persistence size is 4000 MB since this is a limitation of the FAT32 file type. The larger you make the persistence area, the more software and/or updates you can install to keep your USB stick system up-to-date.

Next you need to check the options:

– hide created files

– format the USB stick as FAT32

The last thing to do after you have answered all the questions is click on the lightning bolt and wait.

You will be given feedback in the bottom box relative to what is happening along with an approximate time until complete.

You should now have a USB stick with Ubuntu 10.04 LTS that is persistent. Better yet, if you clicked all the options as I did, you can also run your new Linux distro on windows in a Sun Virtual Box environment.

Option 3: Live USB with Virtual Box
If you may need to run the Ubuntu Linux as virtual machine on your Windows system:

Follow the same steps as in the (Live USB with prersistence)

Then, you will need to check the options:

– hide created files

– format the USB stick as FAT32

– to be able to run your new distribution in a virtual box environment.

Virtual Box is installed on the USB drive and if, when you plug it into a USB port it does not automatically boot from the autorun file, you can view the files on your USB stick and double click on Virtualize_This_Key.exe to start it.

The USB stick did not automatically run on my Windows box but once I double clicked on the file above, everything worked as it should. Sun Virtual Box will be launched on your Windows machine and your new Linux distro will appear within Virtual Box.

Words of caution,

a) You are advised to plug the USB stick into a port on the computer rather than into the monitor or a multi-port USB adapter.

b) Keep in mind that neither of these options (running the live USB stick with or without persistence, or Virtual Box) will be anywhere near as fast as if you have Ubuntu installed on your hard drive.

Having said all that, it is still great to be able to carry a complete operating system and software around in your pocket

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