How to: 5 minutes to install Ubuntu

I was getting tired of burning CDs every time I wanted to reinstall using latest daily build, so I decided to try using a USB Flash drive. It works perfectly and now I install Ubuntu in ~5 minutes and without needing to burn a CD and it's a lot easier to carry around than a CD.

Steps for doing this from Windows:

1. get a good USB Flash drive - they can vary enormously in performance so do some research

1. format to FAT32 with HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool

1. burn ISO with UNetbootin

1. change HDD boot priority in BIOS so that USB is first (see your mobo manual for help on that)

1. reboot and install Ubuntu as usual - except it will be *much* faster than usual with a CD

Note: you can still store stuff on your bootable Ubuntu USB drive - just create extra folders as necessary.

Yup... a USB Flash drive is just great !

gparted is a great tool for Linux and formats, also for FAT and FAT32

Packageinfo: http://packages.ubuntu.com/jaunty/gparted

Screenshots with gparted in action: http://gparted.sourceforge.net/screenshots.php

Just be sure to be on right disk and partition...#-oO:)

I use gparted for all formatting and partitioning though I have been known to use the partitioner in the Ubuntu installer :lol:

I keep meaning to try USB installing. My AMD64 has USB boot opttion - other machines are too old.

I used that to install ubuntu-eee to my eee after my usb dvd drive died . It is much faster , speed of install isn't really a concern to me though since with Ubuntu you just answer a few questions and then wander off and do something else while the cd grinds away no constant interacting with the installer .

plun said:

gparted is a great tool for Linux and formats, also for FAT and FAT32

Just be sure to be on right disk and partition...#-oO:)

Thanks. I should've mentioned that this is for anyone coming from Windows - I've updated the OP.

Heh - yes, I learnt the hard way to triple check you're about to wipe the correct drive.

ronacc,

I was as much concerned about wasting plastic for no good reason. I occasionally left the Ubuntu install CDs I no longer needed around town - but don't know if they were used as install disk or frisbees. ;)

Why do I need to use HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool to format the USB drive? any particular reason?

DavidONE said: ronacc,

I was as much concerned about wasting plastic for no good reason. I occasionally left the Ubuntu install CDs I no longer needed around town - but don't know if they were used as install disk or frisbees. ;)

Yup, So am I... "Technotrash" :mad:

What do you want to do with your technotrash? http://www.greendisk.com/gdsite/Default.aspx

So burning CDs is something we must avoid, if possible...

USB-creator is another great tool.. "Made in Ubuntu"

MaX,

You may not. This was my first attempt at setting up a bootable Flash drive and I wasn't successful immediately. One of the many articles I read suggested using the HP tool to format to FAT32. I did and shortly after got everything working, although it may not have been necessary as my drive was already formated as FAT16.

plun said: Yup, So am I... "Technotrash" :mad:

What do you want to do with your technotrash? http://www.greendisk.com/gdsite/Default.aspx

So burning CDs is something we must avoid, if possible...

Absolutely.

We've got the world's biggest rubbish dump damaging the ecosystem.

We're shipping off mountains of toxic electronic waste for poor people to break down by hand.

Every little bit that we all do helps slow down the destruction.

I've been using cdrws for burning iso's. Only had one coaster in months. I think it must have been a manufacturing dud. And these are cheapo pc world own brand ones.

Just tried the USB stick. Got the filesystem on there using UNetbootin - but it came up with a message saying it needed "z7zip-full" to be installed, which I did using Synaptic. Then it worked.

Now to try installing on my AMD64 machine.

Later on AMD64... No joy - doesn't work and the bios boot selection ssaid "No bootable device found"

Anyone have any suggestions please?

What would be the minimal size requirement for installing to an SD card from another USB startup disk? I used a 2GB SD card in an EeePC but it failed enough writing space.

thanks, Robert

As I recall, Ubuntu needs about 3.5GB to install into. Alternatively, you could install a CLI system and then add whatever apps you require.

Gina said: Later on AMD64... No joy - doesn't work and the bios boot selection said "No bootable device found"Found the reason for that. Firstly I tried again with Intrepid and got the same result using F11 at startup to choose boot device and choosing "Removable" so I went to boot from hard drive. I got the choice of my hard drive plus two USB devices - chose one of these and it booted (Intrepid Desktop version). So with my AMD64 the USB memory stick is a *hard drive* not a *removable drive* :confused:

I've been burning to a DVD+RW for a while now - 4x DVD burns in about two minutes with no formatting needed. It also reads much quicker than a CD-RW and I don't have to sacrifice my 8GB USB stick (for some reason I've ended up with three sticks: 128MB, 256MB and 8GB). :D

I think I'll be going back to DVD+RW - still having problems with the USB stick - can't get install to work.

I've got a 256MB and two 2GB ones - I'm using a 2GB one.