HOWTO: Build a Multibootable USB Drive For Free
Submitted by Jason on June 3, 2011 – 2:25 pm9 Comments
I’ve done a few Bootable USB’s before but I’ve never tried out a Multiboot Installer, so today I decided to try something new. YUMI (aka Your Universal Multiboot Installer) is available at pendrivelinux.com. This tool can be used to create a Multibootable USB Flash Drive containing multiple operating systems, antivirus utilities, disc cloning, diagnostic tools, and more.
There are two ways YUMI can boot an operating system, using either Syslinux or Grub.
Syslinux is a suite of lightweight bootloaders for starting computers with the Linux kernel. It comes in multiple flavors. There’s: SYSLINUIX for booting from a FAT filesystem — like our USB drive here; ISOLINUX for booting CD-ROM isos — typically used for Live CDs; PXELINUX for booting off the network; EXTLINUX for booting from Linux filesystems; And MEMDISK which is used to boot older operating systems like DOS.
Similarly, Grub — short for GNU Grand Unified Bootloader — is sort of the defacto standard for booting muiltiple operating systems, or different versions of the Linux Kernel. You’ll normally see this if you’re dual booting say Windows and Linux.
Now YUMI doesn’t use Grub unless it really has to. If an ISO won’t boot with Syslinux it’ll “Chain Load” it using Grub. Chain Loading is where a running program is replaced with another. It’s a pretty cool process, but outside the scope of this HakTip. Let’s get started building our first Multiboot USB with YUMI.
Almost all the files are stored on the USB in a multiboot folder, so you can still use the USB for other stuff, like storing files.
It’s easy to create a Multiboot USB Drive using YUMI. Download YUMI (aka Your Universal Multiboot Installer). Run YUMI-0.0.1.5.exe and follow the onscreen instructions. Choose your USB thumb drive for Step 1. You can also format the drive and remove any installed items off the drive during this step as well. Under step 2, choose the tool you want to have on your USB. If you don’t have the ISO downloaded, you can check the box that says ‘Download the .iso/zip/tar’, or you can visit the website where the tool is located.
After adding the program you want to boot, run it again to Add More ISOs to the drive. As usual, make sure you have chosen the drive letter for your USB drive, not your operating system!
And that is all there is to it.
Now, lets see if it works. Restart your PC and choose to boot from USB. You may need to reconfigure the boot list by hitting F12 or a similar button.
Choose the USB drive and select the tool you want to boot, and it should work! So, I’ll choose Ophcrack and boot.
And if I want to exit out and try another tool, I’ll restart my computer and try another.
What program or command is giving you warm fuzzies? Hit me up – tips@hak5.org
And be sure to check out our sister show, Hak5 for more great stuff just like this.
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