Try Linux Without Installing It
Maybe you're not sure if Linux's for or your trying to decide on a distro and just want to try it out. There's no need to install Linux or set up a virtual machine to try it. In this guide I'm going to show you, how to try Linux without installing it.
What you're going to need
- USB flash drive
- Computer
- ISO from a Linux distro of your choice
Get ISO file
First, you're going to need to download the ISO of the distro of your choice. You can do this by going to the corresponding website. Look for a Download page. Then download it.
Creating Live USB
In this step we're going to create something called a Live USB. It enables you to boot an operating system from a USB. You'll use Balena Etcher to write the ISO on the USB. Download it and install it. Then open it. Click on Flash from file and select the ISO file. Then select the target, your flash drive. And press flash.
Disabling Secure Boot
All most every modern computer has a feature called Secure Boot. It only allows operating system signed with a special key to run i. e. Windows. To run Linux we'll have to disable it. To do this you have to open the BIOS by pressing a specific key during startup. This key is PC brand specific. Here's a list of common BIOS keys by brand that may help:
Acer: F2 or DEL
ASUS: F2 for all PCs, F2 or DEL for motherboards
Dell: F2 or F12
HP: ESC or F10
Lenovo: F2 or Fn + F2
Lenovo (Desktops): F1
Lenovo (ThinkPads): Enter + F1.
MSI: DEL for motherboards and PCs
Microsoft Surface Tablets: Press and hold volume up button.
Origin PC: F2
Samsung: F2
Sony: F1, F2, or F3
Toshiba: F2
If you managed to open the BIOS setting you need to find the Secure Boot setting in your BIOS menu. If possible, set it to Disabled. This option is usually in either the Security tab, the Boot tab, or the Authentication tab. Then save your changes and exit.
Boot Linux
For booting on a live USB there are different options for different computer types:
On a Windows computer
- Insert the flash drive we created
- Reboot
- During the inital startup screen, press ESC, F1, F2, F8 or F10. (Depending on your PC brand)
- When you choose to enter BIOS Setup, the setup utility page will appear.
- Using the arrow keys on your keyboard, select the boot tab. All of the available system devices will be displayed in order of their boot priority. You can reorder the devices here.
- Move USB to be first in the boot sequence. Note: If you cannot find USB or Removable Devices among the device options, your BIOS may list it under Hard Drive Devices. In that case, you’ll need to: Move Hard Drive Devices to the top Expand to show all hard drive device options Move USB device to the top of that hard drive list
- Save the change and then exit the BIOS Setup.
- The computer will restart using the new settings, booting from your USB drive.
- Stay alert! Depending on your BIOS, you may be prompted with a message to Press any key to boot from external device and you will only have a few seconds to respond. If you do nothing, your computer will go to the next device in the boot sequence list, which will likely be your hard drive.
In the future, your computer will first check the USB port for boot media when starting up. That won’t be a problem, since the BIOS will move to the next device in the boot sequence ... unless you keep the boot media in the USB port. Then the system will launch from that device every time.
On a Mac
- Insert the flash drive we created
- Reboot
- When you hear the startup chime, press and hold Options key: Holding that key gives you access to Mac OS's Startup Manager. Once the Startup Manager screen appears, release the Options key. The utility will look for any available drives that contain bootable content.
- Using either the pointer or the arrows on the keyboards, select the USB drive you wish to boot from.
- Once selected, either hit the Return key or double-click your selection. The machine will start to boot from the USB drive.
And voila! You now have booted a Live USB with Linux on it. If you wish to get back to your original OS, simply reboot and remove your flash drive.
Conclusion
Now that you've read this post you know: How to create a Live USB, what Secure Boot is and how to disable it and how to boot a bootable drive.