On the Internet we can find different solutions to install an operating system on a USB stick and do it bootablethat is, it is able to start on its own without depending on the computer’s storage unit.
The first thing we need to be clear about is that if you think about install windows on a usb stickyou can forget it now. While it is true that it is a doable process, it is not simple as it requires a large number of steps and requires extensive knowledge.
When creating a USB to boot a PC we have several options. The first is to use a Linux distribution.
We can also use the suite of applications Rental boat. This creates a bootable USB drive with Windows 10 PE, making it perfect for users who don’t want to touch Linux with a drive.
Another option, if we like to try different Linux distributions, is to use Ventoyan application that allows different ISO images on the same USB drive for any PC. We will talk about this application in another article.
How to create a USB stick to turn on a PC
The first thing we need to be clear about when creating a USB to boot a PC is the type of operating system we want to use. If we want to use a Linux distribution with Live version (allows you to use the operating system without installing it), like Ubuntu LTSjust download it from their website and we can access it from here.
If we want to start the PC with Windows 10 PEThe easiest way to do this is, as we mentioned above, to use Hiren’s Boot application bundle which we can download from their website through this link.
In both cases, a minimum 8 GB USB key is required. Once we have downloaded the Ubuntu ISO (or any other ISO of a Linux distribution, always in the same format) or Hiren’s Boot, we need a program to create a bootable USB key with the ISO images.
The best application to create a bootable USB from an iOS image of any operating system is Rufus, a free open source application fully translated into Spanish that we can download from its website.
We can download a portable version of this application which does not need to be installed. As soon as we run the application, first of all we must select the unit where the desired USB stick is located. start the PC.
Next, we select the ISO image that we downloaded. Depending on whether it is a Windows or Linux ISO distribution, the application will automatically configure the necessary settings to carry out the process.
Finally, we click on To start and we wait for the progress bar to indicate that the process is complete. From this moment we can use this USB key to boot any computer.
