Booting a computer from your USB flash drive may seem like a daunting task, but it is actually quite easy. With the right equipment and some basic knowledge, this very useful technique can be taken advantage of in all sorts of different circumstances.
Boot From USB : Linux Version
Step 1 : Checking Your USB Device.
The first thing you will need to do this is a compatible USB flash drive. Most drives are bootable but some are not, so it pays to ask before making a purchase or to do a bit of research online before picking your drive. This is not something the average salesperson will know nor do most companies make it clear on the packaging, so the internet is your best source here.
Try to find a drive which has been used successfully in the past, like Corsair's Flash Voyager. The size of the drive is going to be an issue depending on your requirements. If you need to place an entire operating system on the drive, for example, you may need something a bit larger than what you have lying around.
Step 2 : Compatible motherboard.
The next step is to make sure that the motherboard which you are working with supports USB booting. To do this simply enter the BIOS (this can usually be done by press the Delete key while the computer is posting) and go into the menu selection titled something like, "Advanced Features". This process is a bit different for every BIOS so you may have to search a bit. Once here look for the boot devices, which will be placed in order: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and so on. Normally the computer will attempt to boot from the CD-ROM or a specific hard drive first, but you want to change this to the USB drive.
The proper selection to do this varies depending on your BIOS version but it be USB RMD-FDD, USB ZIP, USD HDD, USB CD-ROM, or something close to these. Once these is chosen as the 1st boot device you can move your hard drive and/or optical drive down the line (so they will be used if a USB device is not present) or remove everything (so that the computer will only boot from USB). A little trial and error may be needed here to make sure you have chosen the right boot device.
With the BIOS properly configured all that is left to be done is to save the settings and exit. A quick restart and you will be ready to boot from USB. Of course, this is supposing that your USB flash drive already contains the appropriate data.
Step 3 : Formatting USB.
This part is either very easy or a bit tricky depending on what you need to do. To properly format the USB flash drive you can either use a utility program or use a specialized tool within the software with which you will be booting. Many USB drives will include some sort of software utility which will allow you to format the drive and make it bootable. If your drive did not include any software HP has a program available which is quite popular. You can find it here. When formatting make sure to use the FAT file system.
Step 4 : Choosing The Linux Flavor.
If you looking into booting Linux from a USB flash drive there are a few different options, but I have had the highest success rate with Syslinux. This is a lighweight Linux bootloader mainly used for floppy media. This can be useful for distributions of Linux which are tough to get to boot from USB, but some do not need this.
Puppy Linux is extremely easy to get to boot from USB and it actually has a built in tool for formatting a USB drive to do this. Other Linux distributions, like Feather Linux and even Fedora Core 3, have been known to work as well.
Step 5 : Installing The Linux.
The quickest way to install Puppy Linux onto a USB drive is to first use it as a Live CD. With is running as a Live CD all you have to do is:
Setup > Install onto a USB stick > (Answer the questions)
Step 6 : Boot Using USB Flash Device.
After this is over your USB flash drive will be ready to boot Linux onto practically any system. Puppy Linux is the easiest, but the a similar process can be applied to many other distributions.
Booting from your USB stick is quite simple once you know the basics. When you want to start your computer in DOS mode at the A: prompt, boot into Linux, or something more complex, it just takes a little bit of hardware, a few programs, and some patience.
_________________
Original guide : Hddsaver.com
Original guide is posted here
This is not my guide(just tagged & edited), all credits go to Hddsaver.
Concise & upto the point guide.
Warning : Would only work on m/c that support booting from removable/usb devices, check your bios, most of the new gen m/c should do fine.
[break=MS-DOS version]
Bootable USB : MS-DOS version
Ok, this is one more way to create a bootable usb which can also flash your bios. This runs Ms-dos.
Previously, I posted a couple small guides on bootable USB drives, but recently I’ve been receiving reports that the utility mentioned in the guides is not working correctly. In all fairness, the utility was created only for use with a certain type of drive, and whoever made it hasn’t updated it, so problems with newer, unsupported drives are unavoidable. A newer, better utility is now available from HP, the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool. (Don’t worry, it can be used with non-HP drives, verified with my Sandisk Cruzer Mini.) The HP utility will allow you to easily create a bootable USB drive, provided you have a disk available with the proper DOS system files, for example a Windows 98 boot floppy. If no boot disk is available visit bootdisk.com for some downloadable images, or simply use HP’s included DOS files.
To clarify the process, I’ve decided to post an update on how to manually make a bootable USB drive.
First, there are a few system requirements that must be clarified:
Now that we have all the prerequisites taken care of, let’s get to how to actually make the drive bootable:
_______________
Boot from USB Key Addendum
All credits go to aaltonen.us for this wonderful guide.
Original guide is posted here.
[break=Alternate Method 1]
Alternate Method 1 :
Step 1 :
Before we can make a USB device bootable (specifically refering to USB thumbdrives!), we do need to get our hands on a bootable floppy. In all current Windows versions (including Windows 2000 and XP) we can do that by formatting a floppy disk.
Open the Windows Explorer and right click the A: drive.
Choose "Format..." from the upcoming popup menu.
A window appears with some option: Check the option "Create an MS-DOS startup disk".Verify if Windows is indeed formatting the right drive! Usually it should show "Format 3½ Floppy (A
".Once you're sure about the drive, click the "Start" button - Windows will now format the disk and make it bootable.
Step 2 :
After creating this bootable floppy, we will now extract the bootsectors from this floppy using Bart's MKBT.
Open a DOS Window and go to the directory where you extracted MKBT.Type mkbt -c a: bootsect.bin as shown below.
D:\Downloads\mkbt20>mkbt -c a: bootsect.bin
* Copy bootsector mode (-c)
D:\Downloads\mkbt20>Note: Here "a:" represents the drive that holds the newly made bootable floppy!
Once the command prompt returns, you will have a bootsector stored in the file "bootsect.bin".
Do not close this DOS window yet, we will need it again in step 3!
Step 3 :
Type mkbt -x bootsect.bin G: as shown below. Make SURE that you set the right drive letter here! "G:" represents the thumbdrive! So if your thumbdrive has another drive letter, then change the "G" accordingly!
D:\Downloads\mkbt20>mkbt -x bootsect.bin g:
* Expert mode (-x)
* Warning different filesystem IDSize=0bytes OEM="(=_[sIHC" VolLabel="NO NAME" FileSys=""
D:\Downloads\mkbt20>!! AGAIN: MAKE SURE YOU SELECT THE RIGHT DRIVE LETTER !!Here "G:" represents the thumbdrive!
Once the command prompt returns, you will have a bootsector on your thumbdrive.
Step 4 :
Same as all other methods, boot using your USB device
_____________
Source : Weethet
[break=Alternate Method 2]
Alternate Method 2 :
OK, this is the easiest way by far...you don't need to find any files, or disks, and it won't let you do it if it's not correct.
First, double click on the usb removal icon, click on dispaly device componets, then click on storage device and click on properties, then go to policies, and then select optimize for performance, then click ok, and close.
Now make sure you look and see what drive letter your usb drive is using.
Now go to the run command and type in cmd for the command prompt. Here comes my favorite command because it brings me back to my dos days.
Now type this is, of course substituting your USB drive letter for the part where it says drive letter here.
format (drive letter here): /FS:NTFS /X
Now, once this has been completed, here is the trick, open up My Computer, and go up to and click, tools, options, view, and click on Show hidden files and folders, and uncheck Hide protected operating system files(recommended), click yes to the dialog box warning you about this, and then click apply and then ok. Ok, now click on your C Drive and browse down the the files ntdetect and ntldr and COPY them to the base folder of your flash drive.
Now your done.
If this doesn't work, right click on the My Computer icon and then select Manage. Now go down to the Disk Management title on the left side of the window and click on it. This will load the logical disk manager and allow you to check to see if your USB drive has the partition set to active. If it doesn't, right click on the lower window where it gives the information to your USB drive, and select Mark Partition as active.
______________
Courtesy : Frapster, Oriellynet
[break=Alternate Method 3]
Alternate Method 3 :
How make USB thumbdrive boot disk and Read\write to NTFS partition
First you need download couple utilities :
1. HP bootable flash utility:http://h18007.www1.hp.com/support/files/hpcpqdt/us/download/20306.html
2. NTFS for DOS: http://www.datapol.de/dpe/freeware/
Steps to make USB thumbdrive bootable and ability read\write to NTFS partition:
1. Format diskette using xp Select FAT as "file system" and check "create an MS-DOS Startup disk" under "format options"
2. Connect your USB thumbdrive to USB port on your computer
3. Using "HP USB Disk storage Tool" format your USB Drive select FAT as File system and check "create a DOS startup disk" option, "Using DOS system files located at:" the diskette created in step 1.
4. Change your bios to boot from USB first choice then verify that you can boot from your USB drive.
5. Using NTFS 4 DOS utility Click on "Create NTFS capable boot foloppy". Select the Drive letter correspond to your USB drive and click Next then Next on the following screen.
6. If successfull you end-up with Emergency bootable USB drive that can read\write to NTFS partition.
__________
Courtesy : Rezak, Oriellynet
[break=Alternate Method 4]
Alternate Method 4 :
Floppyless :
You can always download a floppy image from somewhere like bootdisk.com, and use a floppy drive emulator to extract the files (there are several I've tried that worked fine - look for either "filedisk" or "vfd"/Virtual Floppy Drive).If you use a floppy emulator, you can even use windows to format that disk and extract the files, so you don't need to grab an image from bootdisk.comGood luck!
___________
FloppyLess -
Courtesy : EricFitchett, oriellynet
[break=XP On Your Thumb Drive]
XP On Your Thumb Drive
Fred Langa offers a step-by-step and illustrated guide on how to boot XP from an ordinary USB drive.
Preview :
Chances are you already either have a USB "thumb" drive, or you will have one in the near future--these little solid-state flash memory devices are inexpensive, nearly ubiquitous, and very, very handy. Not only can they replace floppy drives for casual file transfers, but the larger capacity thumb drives also can serve as the basis for an excellent, fit-in-your-pocket software repair kit, letting you diagnose and repair PCs, including those that might otherwise be unbootable or that are locked by password or other problems.
We've discussed USB drives before in "What's Behind The USB Drive Revolution". We also looked at ways to make a USB drive bootable from DOS in "Solving USB Boot Problems". We've also mentioned ways to boot from Linux (such as is discussed in this HowTo or in this Google search.) If you missed either of those earlier articles and references, this would be a good time to click back and catch up so we'll all be starting on the same page.
But when we left off our discussion of USB drives, there was no good way to boot XP from a thumb drive because of the way that XP takes over USB control as the operating system starts -- in effect, XP tries to take over the USB system it's already using to boot from, with unpredictable results.
Since our earlier discussions, three things have happened that can make it much, much easier to get XP to boot from a USB device. First, Microsoft released new software that can manage the USB handover much more smoothly. The new software is part of Service Pack 1 for Windows Server 2003, but can work fine in booting XP and even Win2K from USB. (We'll tell you how to get free copies of the new software in a moment.)
The second piece involved Bart Lagerweij and his justly famous "BartPE" software: The BartPE software is a free and powerful way to create custom bootable, self-contained XP CDs that are ready-to-run and that come with a full battery of software tools for PC diagnosis and repair. The BartPE XP CDs are like the "live" versions of Linux -- everything runs right from the CD. (See "A Must-Have Repair And Recovery Tool").
Bart produced a new USB installer for his tool, making use of the files that came in SP1 for Server 2003. The installer is actually a highly-automated series of scripts that can build a self-contained USB-bootable version of the BartPE XP repair and recovery environment. This gives you what's arguably the most powerful recovery and repair tool ever -- and a self-contained version of XP -- that can fit on, boot from, and run on a modest 256MB USB thumb drive!
The final piece fell into place when some other software authors helped resolve some of the most common remaining issues, so that XP-boot-from-USB now can work in many, many cases.
For the complete guide Click Here
Source : InformationWeek
Boot From USB : Linux Version
Step 1 : Checking Your USB Device.
The first thing you will need to do this is a compatible USB flash drive. Most drives are bootable but some are not, so it pays to ask before making a purchase or to do a bit of research online before picking your drive. This is not something the average salesperson will know nor do most companies make it clear on the packaging, so the internet is your best source here.
Try to find a drive which has been used successfully in the past, like Corsair's Flash Voyager. The size of the drive is going to be an issue depending on your requirements. If you need to place an entire operating system on the drive, for example, you may need something a bit larger than what you have lying around.
Step 2 : Compatible motherboard.
The next step is to make sure that the motherboard which you are working with supports USB booting. To do this simply enter the BIOS (this can usually be done by press the Delete key while the computer is posting) and go into the menu selection titled something like, "Advanced Features". This process is a bit different for every BIOS so you may have to search a bit. Once here look for the boot devices, which will be placed in order: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and so on. Normally the computer will attempt to boot from the CD-ROM or a specific hard drive first, but you want to change this to the USB drive.
The proper selection to do this varies depending on your BIOS version but it be USB RMD-FDD, USB ZIP, USD HDD, USB CD-ROM, or something close to these. Once these is chosen as the 1st boot device you can move your hard drive and/or optical drive down the line (so they will be used if a USB device is not present) or remove everything (so that the computer will only boot from USB). A little trial and error may be needed here to make sure you have chosen the right boot device.
With the BIOS properly configured all that is left to be done is to save the settings and exit. A quick restart and you will be ready to boot from USB. Of course, this is supposing that your USB flash drive already contains the appropriate data.
Step 3 : Formatting USB.
This part is either very easy or a bit tricky depending on what you need to do. To properly format the USB flash drive you can either use a utility program or use a specialized tool within the software with which you will be booting. Many USB drives will include some sort of software utility which will allow you to format the drive and make it bootable. If your drive did not include any software HP has a program available which is quite popular. You can find it here. When formatting make sure to use the FAT file system.
Step 4 : Choosing The Linux Flavor.
If you looking into booting Linux from a USB flash drive there are a few different options, but I have had the highest success rate with Syslinux. This is a lighweight Linux bootloader mainly used for floppy media. This can be useful for distributions of Linux which are tough to get to boot from USB, but some do not need this.
Puppy Linux is extremely easy to get to boot from USB and it actually has a built in tool for formatting a USB drive to do this. Other Linux distributions, like Feather Linux and even Fedora Core 3, have been known to work as well.
Step 5 : Installing The Linux.
The quickest way to install Puppy Linux onto a USB drive is to first use it as a Live CD. With is running as a Live CD all you have to do is:
Setup > Install onto a USB stick > (Answer the questions)
Step 6 : Boot Using USB Flash Device.
After this is over your USB flash drive will be ready to boot Linux onto practically any system. Puppy Linux is the easiest, but the a similar process can be applied to many other distributions.
Booting from your USB stick is quite simple once you know the basics. When you want to start your computer in DOS mode at the A: prompt, boot into Linux, or something more complex, it just takes a little bit of hardware, a few programs, and some patience.
_________________
Original guide : Hddsaver.com
Original guide is posted here
This is not my guide(just tagged & edited), all credits go to Hddsaver.
Concise & upto the point guide.
Warning : Would only work on m/c that support booting from removable/usb devices, check your bios, most of the new gen m/c should do fine.
[break=MS-DOS version]
Bootable USB : MS-DOS version
Ok, this is one more way to create a bootable usb which can also flash your bios. This runs Ms-dos.
Previously, I posted a couple small guides on bootable USB drives, but recently I’ve been receiving reports that the utility mentioned in the guides is not working correctly. In all fairness, the utility was created only for use with a certain type of drive, and whoever made it hasn’t updated it, so problems with newer, unsupported drives are unavoidable. A newer, better utility is now available from HP, the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool. (Don’t worry, it can be used with non-HP drives, verified with my Sandisk Cruzer Mini.) The HP utility will allow you to easily create a bootable USB drive, provided you have a disk available with the proper DOS system files, for example a Windows 98 boot floppy. If no boot disk is available visit bootdisk.com for some downloadable images, or simply use HP’s included DOS files.
To clarify the process, I’ve decided to post an update on how to manually make a bootable USB drive.
First, there are a few system requirements that must be clarified:
- Obviously, your computer’s BIOS must allow booting from a USB device. Most recently manufactured computers allow this functionality.
- You’ll also need a bootable floppy disk or CD. For example, you can use a Windows 98 CD or a Dell Resource CD.
- You will also need a utility with the ability to create a master boot record, create and set active partitions, and format and transfer boot files. The DOS fdisk and format utilities that are present on the Windows 98 CD will handle this perfectly.
- A USB drive that is capable of being made bootable. There are a few that have strange partition structures that do not allow for making bootable partitions. Contact the manufacturer if you’re not sure your USB drive is bootable.
Now that we have all the prerequisites taken care of, let’s get to how to actually make the drive bootable:
- Make the USB drive the first drive in the drive sequence. This is necessary because fdisk will not allow a partition to be active (bootable) unless it’s the first drive. This can usually be accomplished by plugging the drive in, powering on the computer, and going into the BIOS to change the boot sequence. If this is unsuccessful, simply disabling or unplugging the other drives in your system (except the CD-ROM, of course!) will do the trick.
- Boot the computer to a DOS shell from the bootable floppy or CD with the USB drive plugged in.
- Run fdisk.
- Set the primary partition on the USB drive to active by using "set active partition" (option 2) in fdisk. If you don’t already have a primary partition on the USB drive, use fdisk to create one.
- Exit fdisk.
- Reboot the computer to a DOS shell from the bootable floppy or CD with the USB drive plugged in.
- If you want, use the DOS command dir c: to verify the contents of the primary partition on the USB drive.
- Format and copy the boot files to the primary partition using the DOS format /s c: command.
- Run fdisk /mbr to write the master boot record to the USB drive without altering the partition table.
- Restart the computer, this time booting from the USB drive. If everything went well, you should see the C:> command prompt.
_______________
Boot from USB Key Addendum
All credits go to aaltonen.us for this wonderful guide.
Original guide is posted here.
[break=Alternate Method 1]
Alternate Method 1 :
Step 1 :
Before we can make a USB device bootable (specifically refering to USB thumbdrives!), we do need to get our hands on a bootable floppy. In all current Windows versions (including Windows 2000 and XP) we can do that by formatting a floppy disk.
Open the Windows Explorer and right click the A: drive.
Choose "Format..." from the upcoming popup menu.
A window appears with some option: Check the option "Create an MS-DOS startup disk".Verify if Windows is indeed formatting the right drive! Usually it should show "Format 3½ Floppy (A

Step 2 :
After creating this bootable floppy, we will now extract the bootsectors from this floppy using Bart's MKBT.
Open a DOS Window and go to the directory where you extracted MKBT.Type mkbt -c a: bootsect.bin as shown below.
D:\Downloads\mkbt20>mkbt -c a: bootsect.bin
* Copy bootsector mode (-c)
D:\Downloads\mkbt20>
Once the command prompt returns, you will have a bootsector stored in the file "bootsect.bin".
Do not close this DOS window yet, we will need it again in step 3!
Step 3 :
Type mkbt -x bootsect.bin G: as shown below. Make SURE that you set the right drive letter here! "G:" represents the thumbdrive! So if your thumbdrive has another drive letter, then change the "G" accordingly!
D:\Downloads\mkbt20>mkbt -x bootsect.bin g:
* Expert mode (-x)
* Warning different filesystem IDSize=0bytes OEM="(=_[sIHC" VolLabel="NO NAME" FileSys=""
D:\Downloads\mkbt20>
Once the command prompt returns, you will have a bootsector on your thumbdrive.
Step 4 :
Same as all other methods, boot using your USB device

_____________
Source : Weethet
[break=Alternate Method 2]
Alternate Method 2 :
OK, this is the easiest way by far...you don't need to find any files, or disks, and it won't let you do it if it's not correct.
First, double click on the usb removal icon, click on dispaly device componets, then click on storage device and click on properties, then go to policies, and then select optimize for performance, then click ok, and close.
Now make sure you look and see what drive letter your usb drive is using.
Now go to the run command and type in cmd for the command prompt. Here comes my favorite command because it brings me back to my dos days.
Now type this is, of course substituting your USB drive letter for the part where it says drive letter here.
format (drive letter here): /FS:NTFS /X
Now, once this has been completed, here is the trick, open up My Computer, and go up to and click, tools, options, view, and click on Show hidden files and folders, and uncheck Hide protected operating system files(recommended), click yes to the dialog box warning you about this, and then click apply and then ok. Ok, now click on your C Drive and browse down the the files ntdetect and ntldr and COPY them to the base folder of your flash drive.
Now your done.
If this doesn't work, right click on the My Computer icon and then select Manage. Now go down to the Disk Management title on the left side of the window and click on it. This will load the logical disk manager and allow you to check to see if your USB drive has the partition set to active. If it doesn't, right click on the lower window where it gives the information to your USB drive, and select Mark Partition as active.
______________
Courtesy : Frapster, Oriellynet
[break=Alternate Method 3]
Alternate Method 3 :
How make USB thumbdrive boot disk and Read\write to NTFS partition
First you need download couple utilities :
1. HP bootable flash utility:http://h18007.www1.hp.com/support/files/hpcpqdt/us/download/20306.html
2. NTFS for DOS: http://www.datapol.de/dpe/freeware/
Steps to make USB thumbdrive bootable and ability read\write to NTFS partition:
1. Format diskette using xp Select FAT as "file system" and check "create an MS-DOS Startup disk" under "format options"
2. Connect your USB thumbdrive to USB port on your computer
3. Using "HP USB Disk storage Tool" format your USB Drive select FAT as File system and check "create a DOS startup disk" option, "Using DOS system files located at:" the diskette created in step 1.
4. Change your bios to boot from USB first choice then verify that you can boot from your USB drive.
5. Using NTFS 4 DOS utility Click on "Create NTFS capable boot foloppy". Select the Drive letter correspond to your USB drive and click Next then Next on the following screen.
6. If successfull you end-up with Emergency bootable USB drive that can read\write to NTFS partition.
__________
Courtesy : Rezak, Oriellynet
[break=Alternate Method 4]
Alternate Method 4 :
Floppyless :
You can always download a floppy image from somewhere like bootdisk.com, and use a floppy drive emulator to extract the files (there are several I've tried that worked fine - look for either "filedisk" or "vfd"/Virtual Floppy Drive).If you use a floppy emulator, you can even use windows to format that disk and extract the files, so you don't need to grab an image from bootdisk.comGood luck!
___________
FloppyLess -
Courtesy : EricFitchett, oriellynet
[break=XP On Your Thumb Drive]
XP On Your Thumb Drive
Fred Langa offers a step-by-step and illustrated guide on how to boot XP from an ordinary USB drive.
Preview :
Chances are you already either have a USB "thumb" drive, or you will have one in the near future--these little solid-state flash memory devices are inexpensive, nearly ubiquitous, and very, very handy. Not only can they replace floppy drives for casual file transfers, but the larger capacity thumb drives also can serve as the basis for an excellent, fit-in-your-pocket software repair kit, letting you diagnose and repair PCs, including those that might otherwise be unbootable or that are locked by password or other problems.
We've discussed USB drives before in "What's Behind The USB Drive Revolution". We also looked at ways to make a USB drive bootable from DOS in "Solving USB Boot Problems". We've also mentioned ways to boot from Linux (such as is discussed in this HowTo or in this Google search.) If you missed either of those earlier articles and references, this would be a good time to click back and catch up so we'll all be starting on the same page.
But when we left off our discussion of USB drives, there was no good way to boot XP from a thumb drive because of the way that XP takes over USB control as the operating system starts -- in effect, XP tries to take over the USB system it's already using to boot from, with unpredictable results.
Since our earlier discussions, three things have happened that can make it much, much easier to get XP to boot from a USB device. First, Microsoft released new software that can manage the USB handover much more smoothly. The new software is part of Service Pack 1 for Windows Server 2003, but can work fine in booting XP and even Win2K from USB. (We'll tell you how to get free copies of the new software in a moment.)
The second piece involved Bart Lagerweij and his justly famous "BartPE" software: The BartPE software is a free and powerful way to create custom bootable, self-contained XP CDs that are ready-to-run and that come with a full battery of software tools for PC diagnosis and repair. The BartPE XP CDs are like the "live" versions of Linux -- everything runs right from the CD. (See "A Must-Have Repair And Recovery Tool").
Bart produced a new USB installer for his tool, making use of the files that came in SP1 for Server 2003. The installer is actually a highly-automated series of scripts that can build a self-contained USB-bootable version of the BartPE XP repair and recovery environment. This gives you what's arguably the most powerful recovery and repair tool ever -- and a self-contained version of XP -- that can fit on, boot from, and run on a modest 256MB USB thumb drive!
The final piece fell into place when some other software authors helped resolve some of the most common remaining issues, so that XP-boot-from-USB now can work in many, many cases.
For the complete guide Click Here
Source : InformationWeek