试试只用U盘加载Linux系统
Linux USB
也许你听过Linux并对它有点好奇，终于想要实际体验一下，但可能不知道从哪儿开始。


很可能你已经在网上搜索过一些信息，然后遇到一些像双系统和虚拟机这样的词汇。它们对你来说也许太专业了，所以你肯定不会仅仅为了尝试一下Linux而牺牲正在使用的操作系统。那我们该怎么办？


如果你手上正好有个U盘的话，那就可以试试做一个USB Linux启动盘。它是一个包含了整个操作系统并可以直接引导开机的U盘。创建它并不需要什么专业技术能力，让我们来看看怎么做，以及如何从USB引导进入Linux系统。


![Penguins gathered together: Linux for the win](/data/attachment/album/201502/16/115710s9qtzwq3g9ztftkr.png)


### 你需要准备的


除了一台台式机或笔记本电脑外，你还需要：


* 一个空白的U盘-最好容量能有4GB或更多。
* 一个你想尝试的Linux发行版[ISO镜像](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_image)（一种把所有磁盘内容打包起来的档案文件）。待会再详细介绍。
* 一个叫[Unetbootin](http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/)的应用程序，它是一个开源的，跨平台的工具，用来创建USB启动盘。运行它并不需要启动Linux。在下面的教程中，我是在MacBook上运行的Unetbootiin（LCTT 译注：它还有 Windows 和 Linux 版本）。


### 开始干活


把U盘插到你电脑的USB端口上，然后启动Unetbootin。然后会要求你输入当前电脑的登录密码。


![Unetbootin main window](/data/attachment/album/201502/16/115712am88k1l9k13dordo.png)


还记得之前提到的ISO镜像文件吗？有两种方式可以获得：要么自己从你想尝试的Linux发行版网站上下载，或者让Unetbootin帮你下载。如果选后者，在窗口顶部点击**选择发行版**，选择你想下载的发行版，然后点击**选择版本**来选择你希望尝试的发行版版本。


![Downloading a Linux distribution](/data/attachment/album/201502/16/115714oitworqifqwdqwli.png)


或者，你也可以自己下载发行版。通常，我想尝试的Linux发行版都没有在列表中。如果选择自己下载，那么点击**磁盘镜像**，然后点击按钮来选择你下载好的.iso文件。


注意到下面的选项**预留每次重新启动后保存文件的空间（仅Ubuntu有效）**吗？如果你尝试的是Ubuntu或它的任一个衍生版（比如Lubuntu或Xubuntu），你可以在U盘上留出几M空间用来保存文件，比如网页书签或你自己创建的文档。当用这个U盘下次启动Ubuntu的时候，你可以继续使用这些文件。


![Ready to create a live USB](/data/attachment/album/201502/16/115715as6coof43zg6ge33.png)


在加载好ISO镜像后，点击**确定**。Unetbootin大概需要不到10分钟来创建USB启动盘。


![Creating the live USB](/data/attachment/album/201502/16/115717otf1p1fedbdddgkg.png)


### 检验USB启动盘


这个时候，你需要拥抱一下自己内在的极客精神。这不会太难，不过你将需要进入[BIOS](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIOS)去偷看一下你的电脑内部空间。你的电脑的BIOS会加载各种硬件，并控制电脑操作系统的引导或启动。


BIOS通常会按这个顺序搜索操作系统（或者类似的顺序）：硬盘，然后是CD/DVD光驱，然后是外部存储设备。你需要调整这个顺序，让外部存储设备（在这里，指的是你的U盘启动盘）成为BIOS第一个搜索的设备。


要做到这一点，请把U盘插到电脑上再重启电脑。在看到提示信息**Press F2 to enter setup**之后，按它要求的做。在有的电脑上，这个键可能是F10。


在BIOS里，用键盘上的向右方向键切换到**Boot**菜单。然后你将看到你电脑上的驱动器列表。使用键盘上的向下方向键选中名字为**USB HDD**的选项，然后按下**F6**移动这个选项到列表的顶部。


完成后，按下**F10**来保存改动。然后你会从BIOS里被踢出来，然后电脑会自己启动。等一小会，你就会看到一个你正在尝试的Linux发行版的启动菜单。选择**Run without installing**（或者最类似的选项）。


在进入桌面后，你可以连接上无线或有线网络，看看网页，试一试预装的软件。你还可以看看，比如说，你的打印机或扫描仪是否能在你试的这个发行版下正常工作。你要是真的想不开，也可以去摸一下命令行。


### 能干什么


根据你尝试的Linux发行版和你使用的U盘的速度，操作系统可能会需要较长的时间来加载，而且很可能比直接装到硬盘上会慢一点。


还有，你也只能运行Linux发行版里预装好的基本软件。通常会有网页浏览器，一个文字处理软件，一个文本编辑器，一个媒体播放器，一个相片浏览器，以及一套实用工具。这些应该足够给你使用Linux的感觉了。


如果你决定使用Linux，你可以双击安装器从U盘安装到硬盘。




---


via: <https://opensource.com/life/14/10/test-drive-linux-nothing-flash-drive>


作者：[Scott Nesbitt](https://opensource.com/users/scottnesbitt) 译者：[zpl1025](https://github.com/zpl1025) 校对：[wxy](https://github.com/wxy)


本文由 [LCTT](https://github.com/LCTT/TranslateProject) 原创翻译，[Linux中国](http://linux.cn/) 荣誉推出


OK
Maybe you’ve heard about *Linux* and are intrigued by it. So intrigued that you want to give it a try. But you might not know where to begin.

You’ve probably done a bit of research online and have run across terms like *dual booting* and *virtualization*. Those terms might mean nothing to you, and you’re definitely not ready to sacrifice the operating system that you’re currently using to give Linux a try. So what can you do?

If you have a USB flash drive lying around, you can test drive Linux by creating a *live USB*. It’s a USB flash drive that contains an operating system that can start from the flash drive. It doesn’t take much technical ability to create one. Let’s take a look at how to do that and how to run Linux using a live USB.

## What you’ll need

Aside from a desktop or laptop computer, you’ll need:

-
A blank USB flash drive—preferably one that has a capacity of 4 GB or more.

-
An

[ISO image](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_image)(an archive of the contents of a hard disk) of the Linux distribution that you want to try. More about this in a moment. -
An application called

[Unetbootin](http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/), an open source tool, cross platform tool that creates a live USB. You don’t need to be running Linux to use it. In the instructions that below, I’m running Unetbootin on a MacBook.

## Getting to work

Plug your flash drive into a USB port on your computer and then fire up Unetbootin. You’ll be asked for the password that you use to log into your computer.

Remember the ISO image that was mentioned a few moments ago? There are two ways you can get one: either by downloading it from the website of the Linux distribution that you want to try, or by having Unetbootin download it for you. To do that latter, click **Select Distribution** at the top of the window, choose the distribution that you want to download, and then click **Select Version** to select the version of the distribution that you want to try.

Or, you can download the distribution yourself. Usually, the Linux distributions that I want to try aren’t in the list. If you go the second route, click **Disk image** and then click the button to search for the .iso file that you downloaded.

Notice the **Space used to preserve files across reboots (Ubuntu only)** option? If you’re testing Ubuntu or one of its derivatives (like Lubuntu or Xubuntu), you can set aside a few megabytes of space on your flash drive to save files like web browser bookmarks or documents that you create. When you load Ubuntu from the flash drive again, you can reuse those files.

Once the ISO image is loaded, click **OK**. It takes anywhere from a couple of minutes to 10 minutes for Unetbootin to create the live USB.

## Testing out the live USB

This is the point where you have to embrace your inner geek a bit. Not too much, but you will be taking a peek into the innards of your computer by going into the [BIOS](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIOS). Your computer’s BIOS starts various bits of hardware and controls where the computer’s operating system starts, or *boots*, from.

The BIOS usually looks for the operating system in this order (or something like it): hard drive, then CD-ROM or DVD drive, and then an external drive. You’ll want to change that order so that the external drive (in this case, your live USB) is the one that the BIOS checks first.

To do that, restart your computer with the flash drive plugged into a USB port. When you see the message **Press F2 to enter setup**, do just that. On some computers, the key might be F10.

In the BIOS, use the right arrow key on your keyboard to navigate to the **Boot** menu. You’ll see a list of drives on your computer. Use the down arrow key on your keyboard to navigate to the item labeled **USB HDD** and then press **F6** to move that item to the top of the list.

Once you’ve done that, press **F10** to save the changes. You’ll be kicked out of the BIOS and your computer will start up. After a short amount of time, you’ll be presented with a menu listing the options for starting the Linux distribution you’re trying out. Select **Run without installing **(or the menu item closest to it).

Once the desktop loads, you can connect to a wireless or wired network, browse the web, and give the pre-installed software a whirl. You can also check to see if, for example, your printer or scanner works with the Linux distribution you’re testing. If you really, really want to you can also fiddle at the command line.

## What to expect

Depending on the Linux distribution you’re testing and the speed of the flash drive you’re using, the operating system might take longer to load and it might run a bit slower than it would if it was installed on your hard drive.

As well, you’ll only have the basic software that the Linux distribution packs out of the box. You generally get a web browser, a word processor, a text editor, a media player, an image viewer, and a set of utilities. That should be enough to give you a feel for what it’s like to use Linux.

If you decide that you like using Linux, you can install it from the flash drive by double clicking on the installer.

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