|
| '''Important notes:''' |
| * This guide favors NEW USB drives. Used drives will work, but I recommend buying a new drive just for this purpose. They generally cost so little it doesn't make sense to reuse one unless that's all you can do. |
| * I have removed any information related to DVD burning. Most new laptops do not have internal optical drives (plus USB optical drives are available) and USB booting has been widely supported for years. If you bought the laptop used, there is a very good chance the optical drive may need to be replaced, especially if the problem has been neglected. The main benefit with USB is media reusability, since USB drives can be reformatted, so you do not have to throw them out once the distro becomes EOL, or you switch distros. This is not possible with DVD's. |
| * If your system that has trouble booting from USB flashdrives directly, you can use a boot manager to mitigate the problem. There is a link to a guide that covers this. '''Note: While this is an option for stubborn systems, these are very rare and you only need this for legacy systems in many cases.''' |
| '''Important: READ THIS IF YOU ARE USING A USED FLASH DRIVE!''' |
| * If your USB drive is used, use Rufus. This will format the drive, to ensure the file system is intact. Unless the file system is too damaged for Rufus to handle, it should be able to format the drive. |
| * Follow the guide in this order, if you have to format the USB drive manually: '''Computer Management: 5/6/7/1/2/3/4''' '''Windows format prompt: 8/1/2/3/4''' |
| [https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6HsFZ5508HPazYtemRyWlY4Q1E/view?usp=sharing|Legacy guide with CD burning instructions (Note: VERY OUT OF DATE)] |
| ++ '''Important guide notes:''' ++ |
| * This guide favors NEW USB drives due to how cheap a good drive generally is. If you want to reuse an old drive (or have no choice), this is also okay. However, I recommend buying a new drive to make things as simple as possible. |
| * I have removed all information from this guide that is specifically related to using a dedicated DVD. Many new laptops do not have an internal optical drive (and even some desktops are no longer including them). On top of this, USB optical drives are cheap and widely available if you still insist on using DVD. |
| * Many laptop owners end up neglecting the optical drive if it fails. This is because they are rarely used these days. If the internal drive has failed, your options are to use a USB stick or external optical drive. |
| * USB drives can be formatted multiple times and have multiple distros written to it over the life of the USB drive. Many USB drives last longer then DVD's before they fail as well. DVD media is generally going to be single use only. |
| ++ '''READ ME IF YOUR SYSTEM HAS TROUBLE BOOTING FROM USB DIRECTLY.''' ++ |
| If your system that has trouble booting from USB media directly, you can use a boot manager on CD to mitigate the problem. I have included a link to such a boot manager in the guide. |
| The guide can be found here: |
| [https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/How+to+use+PlopKexec+%28Subguide%29/54074|PlopKExec] |
| [https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/How+to+use+Plop+Boot+Manager+(Subguide)/54031|Plop Boot Manager] |
| '''Note: Most users will not need to use this. In most cases, the only readers who will need to use this type of boot manger are using legacy systems (or systems with a buggy USB boot implementation).''' |