Any Alternative to "USB Startup Disk Creator"?

[frillybob]

this only works on vista/win7 srry



. Insert your USB (1GB+ preferable) stick to the system and backup all the data from the USB as we are going to format the USB to make it as bootable.

2. Open elevated Command Prompt. To do this, type in CMD in Start menu search field and hit Ctrl + Shift + Enter. Alternatively, navigate to Start > All programs >Accessories > right click on Command Prompt and select run as administrator.
3. When the Command Prompt opens, enter the following command:
DISKPART and hit enter.
LIST DISK and hit enter.
Once you enter the LIST DISK command, it will show the disk number of your USB drive. In the below image my USB drive disk no is Disk 1.
4. In this step you need to enter all the below commands one by one and hit enter. As these commands are self explanatory, you can easily guess what these commands do.
SELECT DISK 1 (Replace DISK 1 with your disk number)
CLEAN
CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY
SELECT PARTITION 1
ACTIVE
FORMAT FS=NTFS
(Format process may take few seconds)
ASSIGN
EXIT
Don’t close the command prompt as we need to execute one more command at the next step. Just minimize it.
5. Insert your Windows (in this case your ubuntu cd) DVD in the optical drive and note down the drive letter of the optical drive and USB media. Here I use “D” as my optical (DVD) drive letter and “H” as my USB drive letter.
6. Go back to command prompt and execute the following commands:
D:CD BOOT and hit enter. Where “D” is your DVD drive letter.
CD BOOT and hit enter to see the below message.
BOOTSECT.EXE/NT60 H:
(Where “H” is your USB drive letter)
7. Copy Windows (Ububntu) DVD contents to USB.
You are done with your bootable USB. You can now use this bootable USB as bootable DVD on any computer that comes with USB boot feature (most of the current motherboards support this feature). Note that this bootable USB guide will not work if you are trying to make a bootable USB on XP computer.


sorce- http://bootdisk.com/pendrive.htm

[hanzj]

A better alternative to Ubuntu 9.10's USB Startup Disk Creator is... the Ubuntu 10.04 version. I got the 10.04 version and it's much better. formats and installs iso flawlessly.

UPDATE: I'm not so sure if the iso installation is flawless. I've tried several ubuntu isos (desktop amd64; desktop i386, alternate amd64) and I still can't complete the ubuntu 10.04 install.

[k3lt01]

Old Fred gave you some links to look at in post 19 about 7 hours ago. In your other thread dealing with this same issue I gave you the same link. Try it out.

[hanzj]

will try the "HOWTO: Booting LiveCD ISOs from USB flash drive with Grub2" method

[C.S.Cameron]

You might be dealing with a bad iso download.
Check your MD5SUM.

[G.D.C.]

I had a similar issue attempting to create a USB startup disk. To solve the issue where the Startup Disk Creator wouldn't let me format, I had to unmount the drive before I could format it.

When I tried to boot from the disk, it seemed that for whatever reason, the USB stick was showing up in the BIOS as a hard drive instead of a removable storage device, and below my internal HD on the list of priorities. I had to change that, and then change it back once the install had completed.

[hanzj]

Could all 4 ISOs be bad?

How do I check the MD5Sum? Where is a copy of the correct MD5Sum?


Found correct md5sum hash numbers at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuHashes
(from https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HowToMD5SUM)

[hanzj]

I was able to upgrade to the ubuntu10.04 version of usb-creator-gtk (USB startup disk creator).

I downloaded afresh the ubuntu10.04-desktop-i386 iso and verified the md5sum.
I loaded the iso onto my 1GB SDCard/USBCard-reader.
After the copy was finished, I rebooted the computer and booted from the SDCard/USB.

I choose "Try Ubuntu without installing" option.
The new Ubuntu10.04 logo appears. Then I get a black screen with this message:

Busybox v1.13.3 (ubuntu 1:1.13.3-1ubuntu11) built-in shell (ash)

(initramfs) Unable to find a medium containing a live file system.

.


After this failed attempt, I restarted the computer and tried the "Install Ubuntu" option, but got the same error message.

Help.

[k3lt01]

hanzj, please stick to using one thread. I have answered your question, partially, on the other thread.

[dakra137]

YES, there is another alternative to USB Startup Disk Creator, if what you want to do is really use what you create, rather than use it to install onto another system:

I did an INSTALL from CD onto an 8GB stick.

• Did NOT select side-by-side installation onto the computer's disk.
• Did specify installation onto USB drive.
• Set it up as 6GB EXT3 root and 2GB SWAP.
• Clicked on ADVANCED options to install the boot manager onto the stick too.

By doing this, it has my userid and password. I can install software onto it, have updates automatically processed, etc.

It also boots faster.

When using it, for maximum portability, do not activate any special drivers for the video card on the machine you install at.