Do you need to install an operating system in your Computer? Then quickly grab a CD or DVD and burn the OS in it to install. Is that sounds good? Nah, it is an old school trick. Now we just use a pen drive to create a bootable USB for installation of OS. We do not need any CD/DVD to install Windows or Linux on our laptop or PCs. Just a simple 4Gb or 8Gb USB drive, anyone can do this with little knowledge and the right tools in possession.

Insert your USB stick (select ‘Do nothing’ if prompted by Ubuntu) On Ubuntu 18.04 and later, use the bottom left icon to open ‘Show Applications’. In older versions of Ubuntu, use the top left icon to open the dash. Use the search field to look for Startup Disk Creator. Follow the guide down below to create a bootable USB stick from a MAC: Make sure that you prepare a USB flash drive with at least 2GB of space and backup any important information away from. Next, we’ll need to reformat the USB stick with the Disk Utility software. To do this, click the Spotlight. After you have got your installer media, you can use ubunut's built-in utility Startup Disk Creator to make a bootable USB. SO, open dash and search for Startup Disk Creator and open it. Follow the on-screen instructions or refer to this document from ubuntu. UNetbootin allows you to create bootable Live USB drives for Ubuntu, Fedora, and other Linux distributions without burning a CD. It runs on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. From the makers of UNetbootin: HabitLab, a tool to help you waste less time online (for Chrome).

How to Make a Bootable USB?

• Take a pen drive.
• Mount it to your computer or laptop
• Download the ISO of the operating system you want to install.
• Install any of the below-given Pen drive bootable creators.
• Select the attached USB drive and Insert ISO file.
• And start the flashing process to burn the file of the OS from the computer to your USB drive to produce a Bootable USB.
• Then simply restart the system to start the booting for OS installation.

So, in the context of the same here are some best free or opensource software to create the bootable USB.

Rufus- Open source USB bootable creator

I just cannot ignore Rufus when we talk about the bootable software to create a bootable USB. It should be top of the list for the nature it has. The open-source availability of it makes an advantage for us to access Rufus freely and get the job done quickly. Another very useful point it brings to us is there is no need for its installation, being a portable bootable USB creator we can directly run it. The .exe file is enough to process the software. Users feel very comfortable to use the services of it and it is very easy to handle. You can use Rufus to flash Linux, FreeBSD, Windows and other OS on any USB drive or Memory Card. Download

Article: How to use Rufus to create a bootable drive.

Supported platforms to run: Windows only

Key Features

• It is an open-source program with no need to spend a penny on it.
• Rufus has the features to support verity of OS and BIOS
• While booting, the user will get a chance to customize it.
• The simplicity of it makes things easy to control.

Etcher- Free & Easy to Use

It is the new baby that created a mark in the sector of bootable USB and it made a quiet impression. It can wipe out many complicating problems while doing the task of creating the bootable USB. It just shortens the distance of the road to manage the process that needed a minimum time and effort to change it. The multi-platform acceptance is it’s one of the main USP. Download

See: How to create a bootable USB flash drive using Etcher

Supported Platforms to run: Windows, Linux, macOS

Etcher Features

• Etcher is very handy to implement.
• It has the feature of multi-platform support.
• Open-source access can make the day for you.
• It is very much new in the market so you can try this if you are looking for something new.

Universal USB Installer

This is another best bootable USB creator app with which users are familiar and many people use it when it comes to creating a bootable USB. Apart from a USB bootable drive, it is also can be used for making other drives like a rescue drive or security drive and many more. The drop-down menu option is one of the main attributes in this software that we can use to choose an OS, even downloading of the same is possible from its interface, however, it makes difficulty level less for the consumers. Just like Rufus, you can also use it flash various Linux and Windows OS. Download

Supported Platforms to run: Windows only

Create Bootable Usb Ubuntu From Mac

Key features

• It is most suitable for the users of Linux.
• It will support any OS.
• For Linux users, it will give the option to persistent storage that can be handled to view settings or backups.
• It can check bad blocks
• The customization option is available there.

Create Bootable Usb Ubuntu For Mac Windows 10

Windows DVD/USB Tool

Windows DVD/USB Tool, the name is speaking clearly what it does and where it does. If you want to install OS for windows then the official tool of Microsoft is here to create a bootable USB. The functionality and operation are very friendly and you do not have to use your brain too much while working with this app. The burning process is next to nothing in terms of effort. It is just a one-click job done way after mounting the pen drive with your system. Apart from USB, it can also be used to create bootable CD/DVD drive od Windows 10/8/7/Vista. The thing to be noted, it can’t be used for Linux or other operating systems. Download.

See: How to create Bootable USB from ISO on Windows 10?

Supported Platform: Windows only

Key elements

• The first thing you should remember that it is windows only. Thus, only works on windows.
• The customization option is limited in the app.
• It does not check for any bad block in the USB drive.

RMPrepUSB

RMPrepUSB is one of the most customizable software for creating a USB bootloader. And because of the vast customizable feature, it is not easy to use for everyone apart from the people or professionals who have a good knowledge of it and know how to use it. So I strongly recommend avoiding it would be the best option for the people who do not have proper knowledge in that particular case. You can use it to convert the USB into a multiple USB bootable platform. The high customization option is very tricky and hard to learn but it also gives it some uniqueness to customize many of the things while using it. RMPrepUSB can be used to create both Linux and Windows bootable USB drives. Download

Supported Platforms to run: Windows only

Key features

• It can be used from the .exe that we can download for free.
• The software supports different OS channels
• The highly customizable option is available while creating the bootloader.
• Users have the advantage to use the QEMU Emulator to boot it quickly.

Choose wisely

I would find many more apps to create a USB bootable device. I listed the best 5 option to select consisting 4 popular apps and 1 (Etcher) horse in the market that is quite good in my knowledge. Nearly every person who uses a computer or laptop would need software like them to install an OS. We are just helping them to sort things out to save some time and energy.

Other Articles:

With a bootable Ubuntu USB stick, you can:

• Install or upgrade Ubuntu
• Test out the Ubuntu desktop experience without touching your PC configuration
• Boot into Ubuntu on a borrowed machine or from an internet cafe
• Use tools installed by default on the USB stick to repair or fix a broken configuration

Creating a bootable Ubuntu USB stick from Microsoft Windows is very simple and we’re going to cover the process in the next few steps.

Alternatively, we also have tutorials to help you create a bootable USB stick from both Ubuntu and Apple macOS.