In the past, the installation of operating systems on computers was done through CD or DVD discs. With the advancement of technologies, optical discs have become obsolete and in their place has been their digital representation in a format called ISO. It is very common to have ISO files that contain installations of various operating systems (Microsoft Windows, GNU Linux, etc.) or tools that are LiveCD. That is, that allow them to be executed without installing it (ERD Comanders, WinPEs, Hirens Boot, etc.). To install them, it is necessary to prepare USB flash drives.
The computer startup process has also evolved, so there are many that use the traditional mode (Legacy), others the UEFI mode and some both modes, although the trend is to move to UEFI.
In this article, we will introduce you to some of the most popular software tools for preparing USB storage devices for use as bootable installation media or LiveCD. There are many applications for this purpose, but we bring a selection of the most popular. In subsequent articles, each of them will be explored in depth.
Programs to prepare USB drives
Sardu
With this tool you can create MultiBoot USB flash drives with multiple Windows installers, virus removal, unlimited Linux distributions, utilities and more Legacy BIOS mode and UEFI boot, on PC and Mac x86.
Rufus
Rufus is a utility that helps you format and create bootable USB media such as pen drives, memory cards, etc.
It is especially useful for:
- Create USB installation media from bootable ISOs (Windows, Linux, UEFI, etc.)
- Work on a computer that does not have an operating system installed
- Update the firmware or BIOS of a computer from DOS
- Run a low-level utility
Yumi
YUMI (Your Universal Multiboot Installer) is a USB boot tool that can be used to create a multiboot USB drive. With it you can quickly create a multiboot USB flash drive containing multiple ISO files. Use it to boot your favorite Live Linux operating systems, Linux and Windows installers, antivirus utilities, disk cloning, backups, penetration tests, diagnostic tools, and much more.
Balena etcher
Also known as Etcher, it is a free and open source utility that is used to transfer image files (.iso, .img) for bootable systems to USB flash drives for use as installation media or live CDs for operating systems. . It is developed by Balena and uses the Apache License 2.0.
The tool is very simple and easy to use.
https://github.com/balena-io/etcher/releases/
In the following link, you can see a small tutorial on how to use Balena Etcher step by step
Of these tools to prepare USB flash drives with multiboot, we recommend Ventoy. It is capable of directly reading the ISO files inside the device, making it very easy to add or remove ISO files, in addition to the facilities provided by the use of the tool.
