Ubuntu Live USB with YUMI exFAT Persistent Linux

Download Ubuntu ISO

This is a very large file. Make sure your Windows computer has enough space for download. We want the Intel or AMD 64-bit architecture.

Download YUMI exFAT

This is a Windows application that runs from the directory and is not installed in your computer. This is the up-to-date version and is optimized for modern UEFI and larger ISO files.

Be careful! This is a program that erases drives on computers. Make sure you have selected the correct options.

Insert USB Key

Make sure you can erase all data on this USB. It must have enough Gigabytes to hold Ubuntu. At least 8GB is required. The key goes in before we start YUMI.

Open YUMI

You can double click. There are warning disclaimers.

Select USB Device

Look at the options on this panel, most are grayed out. We start by selecting a USB or SD storage device to use for booting.

Prepare

This is where we erase the USB key. It will format in exFAT format so that we can work with the rather larger ISO file. This is only the first time, but there will be updates.

Select Distro

Certainly a lot of options here. All of the Ubuntu based distros are fully supported with persistence. Some of the listed Linux will run best without persistence.

Tip: at the end of the list is the unlisted iso option which may work with an interesting distro, but not with persistence option.

PENDING

Now we have to navigate to our ISO file. Default is to the same directory with the YUMI application.

Open the ISO

Persistence

Move the slidey thing until we've allocated about 4GB of flash drive for us to store added applications and data to persist from boot to boot. This fills up fast.

Create

Click on Create and we begin a rather long process to create first a copy of our ISO and then a blank persistence memory of 4GB. Twenty minutes is a reasonable time. Screens will change and you can follow progress.

Next

Watch the Next button and click.

Add More

YUMI is a multi-boot program, we can add more Linux distros on to our USB key as long as there is sufficient space. Click No then Finish and eject your USB.

Casper R/W

Look on your USB key and see two files for each Linux distro. One file is a copy of the original ISO that we downloaded from the interweb. The second is our persistence file.

Like a storage device our persistence file can become full or corrupted and a fresh one will work. It is called an overlay, we always start with the original ISO then add the applications, updates and user files on top.

Ventoy is where all the YUMI stuff is located. It will want updates in the future. Look but don't touch.

Eject and Boot Computer

Today's desktop and laptop computers are Intel AMD 64 bit computers. Tablets and phones are ARM processors. Our USB key should work with PCs from the last ten years.

You may have to look up how to boot from USB on your PC. Do a websearch for BIOS and UEFI for your model of computer.

The directory of Linux-ISOs is pretty upfront. There are a couple of categories we could see. Unlisted ISOs is another useful option with difficult software.

Select Ubuntu

Navigate with <enter>, <arrows>, <esc> keys. We could see other popular distros in this directory.

Boot in normal mode

Select persistence. Tip: installs may work better without persistence.

Try Ubuntu

An explanation: every time we boot Ubuntu from this USB we will be starting with our original download ISO. Abort by Boot from the next volume. This is also a really good shortcut to get into UEFI Firmware Settings.

Our first run with persistence requires the formatting and preparation of our overlay file. It will take a bit extra. Often you see a splash graphic from the PC.

Welcome

You may not be familiar with this interface. Hover your cursor over the left side of the screen to see the menu. Look for applications and menus.

Change something. Right-click on desktop and change the background. Click in upper right for wifi menu and connect. We want to be able to reboot the computer and see something retained.

You should update your software lists but not perform a full upgrade. Applying all updates will fill your persistence file and degrade performance. Updating device drivers is a good idea.

Reboot

Watch the screen for a message to remove the USB media. Leave USB in PC and just hit enter. Repeat the steps from above. You should see the desktop changes and see wifi connect automatically.

Further

Try other distros and try YUMI for Windows Installers. The persistence feature is most reliable with Ubuntu type Linux and will not work with Windows. Unlisted ISO/IMG works with image files with .img extension.

There are archived versions of YUMI that may be more effective with older computers.