Rufus 3.14 or Rufus 3.14 Portable?

Sherri is a Cat

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 8, 2021
Messages
1,067
Reaction score
566
Credits
9,266
I want to run Linux from a thumb drive.

I'm about to download Rufus, but I'm not sure which one I need. For my purposes it seems like I need the portable one?

Rufus.JPG
 


that should be fine ; that should download the rufus-3.14p.exe file. then its just a matter of :

1) downloading a linux .iso file to your PC
2) having a usb of around 4 gig, attaching it to PC
3) clicking on that .exe fiel you downloaded
4) booting your pc from that usb once rufus has done its stuff

that should get you to a point where you have Linux running live from your usb stick
 
So ..have you had any thought or looked around for any Linux Os that looks a good candidate.. or you might be open to suggestions ?
 
So ..have you had any thought or looked around for any Linux Os that looks a good candidate.. or you might be open to suggestions ?
Zorin looks like Windows which is what I'm used to. But I would prefer something that can work with Wine. I have design software I need for work.

I seem to remember that Fedora might be a good one for me too. At this point I really don't know. I'll have to keep using Windows for design stuff while I cut my teeth on Linux. I've got a lot of things to learn!
 
good attitude - take your time. You can continue to use windows and still play with Linux live from the usb stick.

if you have enough room on your PC you can also do a dual boot. Once you get a live OS up and running you can use the tools its has to look at size of your HD etc (people on this forum will help )with commands to do that , take screen shots etc and post them here.
 
if you have enough room on your PC you can also do a dual boot.

I read somewhere that Microsoft will/can/has interfered with this kind of thing to keep people from switching over to Linux. Kind of like them hijacking computers when they were pushing Win10. I don't trust Microsoft at all and I wouldn't put it past them to do that.
I'd rather get used to Linux on a USB drive for now.
I have an extra hard disk with Win7 partially installed. I really liked Win 7. I've only kept Win 8.1 because I might need it for something work related. What I'd really like to do it erase the whole thing from my hard drive completely. The drive Win 8 is on is a much bigger disk. But I'm not ready to that just yet.
 
it will help us here if before you do any thing along the line of erasing that you will post info about your system ; using the live Linux.

I have previously dual booted Linux and Windows from same HD. I also got a new laptop about a year and a half ago a HP notebook that had Windows 10. I rushed straight in and wiped everything .Then i to my cost realized that the notebook had a uefi motherboard; that i had wiped the esp partition and so then had to manually re-create it.

So first gather information ; way it up and make an informed decision

The main issue with Windows 10 seems to be to do with updates and it occasionally messing up other OS on same partition.
 
... realized that the notebook had a uefi motherboard...

That UEFI stumped me when I was trying to put Win 7 on my other disk. I did A LOT of research trying to figure out how to do what I wanted to do and get into the legacy bios!!!

I'm just so fed up with Microsoft, I don't care how much I have to do to free myself of these chains. I'm so tired of checking every single update to make sure I'm not getting some **** I don't want and KNOWING they are spying on me!
 
Right now I'm looking around at all the Linux stuff. Getting more of an idea of what I'm getting myself into.
 
Right now I'm looking around at all the Linux stuff. Getting more of an idea of what I'm getting myself into.
well done, research will take you a little time , but can save you hours in the long run, as possibilities are almost endless
 
I really liked Win 7
G'day and welcome
I quiet agree with @brickwizard and will add an old proverb "An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure." and research and study is the prevention and the errors and boo-boo's you make requires you to cure them, frustration and wasted time.
Yes! I liked Win7 as well easy to use though the version I had though called pro it wasn't as it would not display Asian characters,.
But I love my Mint 19.2 Tina and from when I installed I didn't have to worry about character recognition as it recognised Asian characters straight off the bat and I ain't about to go back to Vindows full time but I do have a maintenance task that I cannot carry out as it requires Vindows to carry out that task on a Linux based Router. o_O This is the only reason my lap top is not been Linux converted (Linuxed) due to it having the required OS to carry out said maintenance task.
 
My brain started spinning last night and my eyes got red looking around at all the distros and watching YouTube videos. I finally decided to just jump in and go for it.

I'm running Fedora live from a USB thumb drive. I think that's how you say it? I wanted a system I could start using right away so I can get away from Microsoft. Fedora looked like my best bet to do that right away without getting overwhelmed!

I have the full blown OS installed on a USB drive, persistent and live. I got a 128GB drive specifically for Linux. I didn't want to use a VM or partition the drive with Windows on it. I don't trust Microsoft. I'm no expert with PC, but I have no doubt they could figure out what I'm up to!

Oh, crap! I didn't disconnect the disk drive before starting this up! Is it apparent that my biggest reason for trying out Linux is to guard my privacy?

So far it's not that much different than the Windows I'm use to. I'm itching to look around under the hood! I have this thing for knowing how things work and how to tweak them to my liking!

I'm going exploring now. I will definitely be back. Thanks for all the help and encouragement!
 
i don't know anything about Fedora , but i think you previously mentioned you have 2 hard drives.

So the basics of it, i think - others might agree to disagree would be install fedora onto your 128gig drive.

make that drive the highest priority to boot from first in bios/bios hybrid/uefi . Then from Fedora update grub , which i think Fedora has. In theory that should find OS on other drive and from grub menu give options to boot any of your OS's



Don't get phased by grub; the basics of updating are simply from a terminal :
# update-grub

//# means root authority no idea if fedora has sudo
 
Last edited:
I have the full blown OS installed on a USB drive, persistent and live.
Just to clarify, a system running from a USB in persistent mode, is a Live system capable of retain changes you make to it across reboots; install new programs, perform updates, customizations and so on. Likewise, a system running from a USB in Live mode and no persistence enabled, is a Live system uncapable of saving your changes across reboots; you can try and install stuff, change themes, however, every change you made to the Live OS, will be lost upon reboot. In short;
1. You can install the OS to an HDD/SDD: changes will be saved.
.2 You can run the OS from a USB in live mode with persistence: the system keeps running in Live mode but changes will be saved.
3. You can run the OS from a USB in live mode without persistence: the system keeps running in Live mode but changes won't be saved.
Also, some distros like openSUSE, creates a COW(copy-on-write)partition in the USB when in Live mode, which allows a certain level of persistence; customizations made to the system like theme changing will be saved, as well as downloads, documents, wifi passwords, and anything else in the /home directory will be available across reboots, but changes made to the system like updates and programs installed won't.
 
A simple way of clarifying this would be to ask -

Sherri, did you use 2 USB thumb drives to create your install? You would need to for a full install on a thumb - one containing the Fedora iso, and then boot from that and use it to install Fedora to the other.

Wiz

BTW

Don't get phased by grub; the basics of updating are simply from a terminal :
# update-grub

... does not apply to Fedora, only to Debian-based distros including Debian itself, Ubuntu, Linux Mint and the like, and Manjaro only amongst the Arch-based distros.

For Fedora with UEFI, it would be

Code:
sudo grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/efi/EFI/fedora/grub.cfg

... but we can cover that in a separate Thread with questions from Sherri over at

Distribution Specific

Fedora subforum.

Cheers

Wizard
 
A simple way of clarifying this would be to ask -

Sherri, did you use 2 USB thumb drives to create your install?0

Cheers

Wizard

No, just the one.
Now I know why it kept asking me if I want to install Fedora on the hard drive!

After taking it for a run, I'm going to try out another distro.
I only ever used a Mac a few times, but that's what Fedora reminds me of.
 
i don't know anything about Fedora , but i think you previously mentioned you have 2 hard drives....

I have 3 hard drives,
* 500 GB- This one external. It's the first place I keep backups
*1 TB-Currently installed in the tower with Win 7 partially installed
*2 TB- Also in the tower with my soon to be ex-master Win 8.1. Once I feel liberated it will go bye-bye!

I bought a 128 GB thumb drive for playing around with Linux until I'm ready to put it on a hard disk
Multiple other USB drives ranging from 250 MB to 4 GB
[/QUOTE]
 
No, just the one.

That's what I was guessing :)

If you want to run a full install from a thumb drive, just sing out and we'll help you.

But by all means have a look around and see what Distro/s might take your fancy and check your boxes for functionality, appeal, performance and so on.

I run around 70 Linux on this rig, so I have an opinion on lots of things (stop laughing, everyone).

Cheers

Wiz
 

Staff online

Members online


Top