GNU / Linux is a good operating system to be used on slower and older PCs, so as to give them new life and continue to use most of the programs we are used to without fear of viruses (Windows prerogative) and with a system that in many cases is significantly more responsive than the Windows counterpart on limited hardware. But if we wanted to install it what procedures can we follow "> Best light and fast Linux based portable operating systems
Download Linux and create optical CD / DVD Live disc
The easiest way to try Linux is to personally download the ISO (ie the image file) of the chosen Linux operating system and burn it to an empty disc using any burning program.
Linux is available for free without any license, so we just have to choose one of the many distributions and start downloading.
For the guide we will see how to download Ubuntu, the best Linux distribution with excellent support.
The link to download Ubuntu for free is available here -> Download Ubuntu .
If we want to try other Linux distributions we can find others at the link present here -> DistroWatch .
Once the ISO disk image is obtained, we choose the burning program that we have installed on the PC and we start burning the file just downloaded.
If we don't have a burning program on Windows we can use ImgBurn to burn the ISO image; download the program from the link here -> ImgBurn .
We open the program and use the Burn an image option to start the ISO image burning procedure.
At the end of the burn we will have an optical disc ready to be used as a test of the new operating system or to install it on a PC.
Modern distributions all require the use of blank DVDs for burning, but some have remained so light that they require blank CDs.
Download Linux and create USB Live stick
The optical drive can be very slow, making the Linux test or installation really frustrating.
In these cases we can create a USB Live stick containing the same files as the disk, so that we can try or install Linux at a much faster speed than optical disks.
Let's get a USB stick of at least 2 GB (possibly without important files inside, since it will be formatted) and then choose the preferred Linux distribution among those present in DistroWatch, reachable here -> DistroWatch .
Once the ISO image of the Linux system we are interested in is obtained, let's get a small free program to create USB sticks suitable for installation (technically Live USB); the best program is Unetbootin, available for free from here -> Unetbootin .
We download the tool and start it directly (it is portable, it does not require installation), then select the item Disk image and use the key with the three points to open the file manager and select the downloaded ISO ISO image of Linux.
Make sure that at the bottom of Type there is a USB drive and that in the drive there is the letter of the USB stick that we have already inserted in the PC, then click OK to start transferring the files from the ISO image to the stick.
Unetbootin can be used to directly obtain the desired ISO image without having to open any dedicated website, simply select the Linux system chosen in the Distribution section.
We choose the preferred distribution and the version to download, we select the USB stick to use in the Unit field below then we click OK to start the automatic download of the Linux distribution and its transfer to the USB stick.
Finally we can use Unetbootin to create a Linux Ubuntu distribution with permanent space on the USB stick, just specify when the space of the stick we want to reserve for this special Linux feature in the Reserved space field.
This space will be used to save files, settings and new programs thus making the key able to run a complete operating system, without the need to install anything (leaving this field at 0 we will instead create a Live USB, which will lose the settings at each restart until physical installation on the machine).
LinuxLive USB Creator, tool to create USB sticks on Windows
Another free program that we can use to download Linux and create USB sticks on Windows is LinuxLive USB Creator, downloadable from here -> LinuxLive USB Creator .
Once downloaded, start it to find ourselves with a very complete interface, as visible in the image below.
By following all the indicated steps we will be able to create the USB Live stick on Windows in a simple and fast way.
In step 1 we select the USB stick to use; we will notice that the traffic light next to the entry will turn green to indicate that the key is suitable for the purpose.
In step 2 we will have to choose the source of the Linux distribution; we can choose an ISO image previously downloaded to the system, another CD or download a new distribution immediately by clicking Download .
In step 3 we can choose whether to keep only Live mode (it will lose files and settings) or to activate the resident installation on the stick (to keep files and settings).
In step 4 we select all the items present to format the stick, hide the files and make them accessible from Windows.
At the end we click on the lightning bolt symbol in step 5 to start formatting the USB stick and transferring files for the Linux operating system.
READ ALSO: Install a Linux ISO on USB
