We will present in this article an easy method to create a bootable linux usb pendrive or SD card, from any linux distribution, and in just a few minutes.

If this is your first visit at eeextra, you can see in the linux category that we tried many linux operating systems on the eee pc. Netbooks don’t have a CD or DVD drive, so the main installation method would be to first create a bootable USB drive. You can make one if:

• the os has a dedicated tool
• you edit the Lilo/Grub bootloading list
• you install the bootloader by hand

I have spend hours sometimes to make it work for some systems.

I found about a fantastic project – Unetbootin, that created a tool to easily install any linux distribution on a USB disk and save you the money from buying an external drive for installation purpose. You can find at the project page Linux and windows versions.

Create a linux USB disk under windows

The program offers a few way to make your bootable disk.

You can choose from a list of Gnu/Linux or BSD distributions, there are a lot of supported versions. The program is updated very often with the latest links.

Your USB drive should be detected, as on the picture. Clicking on OK will start the download of your Linux to a temporary folder, and install everything on your disk afterwards, automatically.

If you don’t have a reliable broadband connection, you can download the .iso image of the linux you want to install, select the diskimage option as on the picture below:

I have downloaded the latest Gentoo 2008 linux for this test. Again, be sure to double-check the targeted drive. If you choose your computer’s hard disk, you could damage your bootloader. Unetbootin should not delete the existing files though.

Your files will be extracted from the iso file, copied to your usb pendrive, and unetbootin will install the bootloader, making your drive bootable. All in an automated fashion!

There is a third option for more experienced users, where you can choose the kernel, the image, tweak options, and install the bootloader.

My bootable linux usb pendrive was ready in just a few minutes, and I had Gentoo running on my Asus eee pc. Unetbootin is an amazing piece of software, a must have for any netbook owner.