Replace /home/user/file.img with the path to the IMG file on your file system and /dev/sdX with the path to your USB or SD card device. Insert the removable media and run the following command on Ubuntu: sudo dd if=/home/user/file.img of=/dev/sdX bs=1M Linux users can use the dd command to directly write an IMG file’s contents to a removable media device. You can also use this tool to create IMG files from USB drives and SD cards. Provide a downloaded IMG file and the tool will write it directly to your drive, erasing its current contents. Use Win32 Disk Imager to write an IMG file to a USB drive or SD card.
An IMG file is a raw disk image that needs to be written directly to a USB drive. Some operating system projects provide an IMG file instead of an ISO file. For example, Ubuntu includes a Startup Disk Creator tool for creating bootable Ubuntu USB drives. You can see a full step-by-step guide here. Run the tool, select your desired distribution, browse to your downloaded ISO file, and choose the USB drive you want to use. There are many tools that can do this job for you, but we recommend a free program called Rufus-it’s faster and more reliable than many of the other tools you’ll see recommended, including UNetbootin.ĭownload the Linux distribution you want to use in.
RELATED: How to Create a Bootable Linux USB Flash Drive, the Easy Way
RELATED: How to do a Clean Install of Windows 10 the Easy WayĪlternatively, if you’re installing Windows 10, you can download an ISO or burn Windows 10 installation media directly using Microsoft’s Media Creation Tool. Provide the ISO file and a USB flash drive and the tool will create a bootable drive. If you don’t have one, you can download Windows 10, 8, or 7 installation media for free - you’ll need a legitimate product key to use them, though. You’ll need a Windows installer ISO file to run this tool. Use Microsoft’s own Windows USB/DVD download tool to create a bootable drive you can install Windows from. RELATED: Where to Download Windows 10, 8.1, and 7 ISOs Legally
And if your desktop computer doesn’t support USB 3.0 you can always upgrade it to add support. You can even get it in sizes up to 128 GB if you want.ĭon’t worry about compatibility, these faster drives are fully compatible with an old USB 2.0 system, you just won’t get the speed boosts. Refer to the following message from Ubuntu's mailing list if you want to learn more.Editor’s Note: We use this Silicon Power USB 3.0 drive here at How-To Geek, and at $15 for a 32 GB version, it’s well worth the upgrade.
Warning: The driver descriptor says the physical block size is 2048 bytes, but Linux says it is 512 bytes.Īll these warnings are safe to ignore, and your drive should be able to boot without any problems. Try making a fresh table, and using Parted's rescue feature to recover partitions. Is this a GPT partition table? Both the primary and backup GPT tables are corrupt. Or perhaps you deleted the GPT table, and are now using an msdos partition table. Perhaps it was corrupted - possibly by a program that doesn't understand GPT partition tables. However, it does not have a valid fake msdos partition table, as it should. dev/xxx contains GPT signatures, indicating that it has a GPT table.
Ubuntu images (and potentially some other related GNU/Linux distributions) have a peculiar format that allows the image to boot without any further modification from both CDs and USB drives.Ī consequence of this enhancement is that some programs, like parted get confused about the drive's format and partition table, printing warnings such as: