Creating a Linux bootable USB on a GNU/Linux machine is too easy, especially via GUI. Here, we’re looking at the extra work required to make a Windows variant.
Step 1: be sure to locate the correct device to match the intended USB
root@kimlinux:/home/kim# fdisk -l /dev/sdc
Disk /dev/sdc: 7.47 GiB, 8004304896 bytes, 15633408 sectors
Disk model: Cruzer
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x00696988
Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sdc1 * 2048 15633407 15631360 7.5G c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
Step 2: Format or reformat the drive
WARNING: the correct disk must be known prior to executing these instructions as picking the wrong device will wipe out its data beyond recovery (if changes were not reverted immediately)
# select the device (not partition) for formatting
root@kimlinux:/home/kim# fdisk /dev/sdc
Welcome to fdisk (util-linux 2.34).
Changes will remain in memory only, until you decide to write them.
Be careful before using the write command.
# Print the config prior to changes
Command (m for help): p
Disk /dev/sdc: 7.47 GiB, 8004304896 bytes, 15633408 sectors
Disk model: Cruzer
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x00696988
Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sdc1 * 2048 15633407 15631360 7.5G c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
# Delete partition(s)
Command (m for help): d
Selected partition 1
Partition 1 has been deleted.
# Create a new partition
Command (m for help): n
Partition type
p primary (0 primary, 0 extended, 4 free)
e extended (container for logical partitions)
Select (default p): p
Partition number (1-4, default 1):
First sector (2048-15633407, default 2048):
Last sector, +/-sectors or +/-size{K,M,G,T,P} (2048-15633407, default 15633407):
Created a new partition 1 of type 'Linux' and of size 7.5 GiB.
Partition #1 contains a vfat signature.
Do you want to remove the signature? [Y]es/[N]o: yes
The signature will be removed by a write command.
# Set partition file system type
Command (m for help): t
Selected partition 1
Hex code (type L to list all codes): L
0 Empty 24 NEC DOS 81 Minix / old Lin bf Solaris
1 FAT12 27 Hidden NTFS Win 82 Linux swap / So c1 DRDOS/sec (FAT-
2 XENIX root 39 Plan 9 83 Linux c4 DRDOS/sec (FAT-
3 XENIX usr 3c PartitionMagic 84 OS/2 hidden or c6 DRDOS/sec (FAT-
4 FAT16 <32M 40 Venix 80286 85 Linux extended c7 Syrinx
5 Extended 41 PPC PReP Boot 86 NTFS volume set da Non-FS data
6 FAT16 42 SFS 87 NTFS volume set db CP/M / CTOS / .
7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT 4d QNX4.x 88 Linux plaintext de Dell Utility
8 AIX 4e QNX4.x 2nd part 8e Linux LVM df BootIt
9 AIX bootable 4f QNX4.x 3rd part 93 Amoeba e1 DOS access
a OS/2 Boot Manag 50 OnTrack DM 94 Amoeba BBT e3 DOS R/O
b W95 FAT32 51 OnTrack DM6 Aux 9f BSD/OS e4 SpeedStor
c W95 FAT32 (LBA) 52 CP/M a0 IBM Thinkpad hi ea Rufus alignment
e W95 FAT16 (LBA) 53 OnTrack DM6 Aux a5 FreeBSD eb BeOS fs
f W95 Ext'd (LBA) 54 OnTrackDM6 a6 OpenBSD ee GPT
10 OPUS 55 EZ-Drive a7 NeXTSTEP ef EFI (FAT-12/16/
11 Hidden FAT12 56 Golden Bow a8 Darwin UFS f0 Linux/PA-RISC b
12 Compaq diagnost 5c Priam Edisk a9 NetBSD f1 SpeedStor
14 Hidden FAT16 <3 61 SpeedStor ab Darwin boot f4 SpeedStor
16 Hidden FAT16 63 GNU HURD or Sys af HFS / HFS+ f2 DOS secondary
17 Hidden HPFS/NTF 64 Novell Netware b7 BSDI fs fb VMware VMFS
18 AST SmartSleep 65 Novell Netware b8 BSDI swap fc VMware VMKCORE
1b Hidden W95 FAT3 70 DiskSecure Mult bb Boot Wizard hid fd Linux raid auto
1c Hidden W95 FAT3 75 PC/IX bc Acronis FAT32 L fe LANstep
1e Hidden W95 FAT1 80 Old Minix be Solaris boot ff BBT
Hex code (type L to list all codes): b
Changed type of partition 'Linux' to 'W95 FAT32'.
# Set partition as Active
Command (m for help): a
Selected partition 1
The bootable flag on partition 1 is enabled now.
# View pending changes
Command (m for help): p
Disk /dev/sdc: 7.47 GiB, 8004304896 bytes, 15633408 sectors
Disk model: Cruzer
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x00696988
Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sdc1 * 2048 15633407 15631360 7.5G b W95 FAT32
Filesystem/RAID signature on partition 1 will be wiped.
# Commit or write changes
Command (m for help): w
The partition table has been altered.
Syncing disks.
# Format the partition
root@kimlinux:/home/kim# mkfs.vfat /dev/sdc1
mkfs.fat 4.1 (2017-01-24)
mkfs.vfat: /dev/sdc1 contains a mounted filesystem.
# Unmount the partition
root@kimlinux:/home/kim# umount /dev/sdc1
# Re-try formatting the disk as FAT32
root@kimlinux:/home/kim# mkfs -t vfat /dev/sdc1
mkfs.fat 4.1 (2017-01-24)
Step 3: Create startup disk
# Type 1: Linux ISO
# call a utility named 'dd' to copy from an ISO to the USB partition, block size 4096k, convert data stream to fully synchronize between source and destination to avoid incomplete transfers
root@kimlinux:/home/kim/Downloads# dd bs=4M if=Linux.iso of=/dev/sdc1 conv=fdatasync
919+1 records in
919+1 records out
3858546688 bytes (3.9 GB, 3.6 GiB) copied, 827.498 s, 4.7 MB/s
# Type 2: Windows ISO
# Install unetbootin, if it's not already available on the system
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gezakovacs/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install unetbootin
# Mount the USB partition onto the expected mount directory
root@kimlinux:/home/kim/Downloads# mount /dev/sdc1 /mnt
NTFS signature is missing.
# Start Unetbootin
root@kimlinux:/home/kim/Downloads# unetbootin &
[1] 105143
Click on the three dots ‘…’ > locate the ISO file > select Type = USB Drive, Drive = /dev/sdc1 (or whichever is your USB address on your system) > click OK
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