The Acer laptop comes without optical drive, which means that I have to install Linux from an USB device. But how do you get the Linux installation files on the USB device and ensure that Linux can be booted and installed from the device?

I remembered that I have reviewed UNetBootin, the Universal Netboot Installer, in 2008. The program is still around and updated regularly to include popular Linux distributions.

A friend recommended a similar program called Universal USB Installer which offered a similar functionality. And since I have not reviewed that program yet, I made the decision to use that program to install Linux on my notebook.

Preparing the USB device

Universal USB Installer is a portable application for Microsoft Windows operating system. Just run it to open the configuration screen. Everything is handled on that screen. Make sure you plug in your USB stick before you start the program, as it will not be recognized by the program otherwise. The stick needs to have a size of at least 2 Gigabytes. It should also be reasonably fast as the copying and installation may take a long time or fail if it is to slow.

You start by selecting one of the available Linux distributions from the pulldown menu under Step 1. Available are the latest stable releases of Ubuntu, Debian, Linux Mint, Open Suse and a couple dozen more.

You can select to download the ISO from the project homepage, or select an existing ISO image from the local hard drive. Downloads were processed in Microsoft Internet Explorer, even though that was not the default web browser on my computer system.

You select the usb flash drive letter under step 3. Only removable drives are displayed by default. You can override that option to display all drives but that is usually not recommended as installation on a local hard drive may break the installed operating system on those drives.

It is recommended to format the drive which will erase all contents stored on it before the Linux distribution is copied to it. Persistent file size is only necessary if you plan to run the Linux system from USB stick. Since my intention was to install it on the notebook, I did not need to configure that storage.

Installation of the Linux distribution on the device takes time, especially if the device is not that fast. A progress bar indicates the remaining time and the current state of the copying process.

Using the Linux distribution on USB

Now that Linux has been installed on the USB device, you can make use of it in two different ways. You can plug it into any computer to run Linux directly from the device, or use it to install Linux on that computer. One thing that you probably need to do is to enter the BIOS setup to change the boot order. The notebook’s hard drive is usually the first boot device, and you need to change that so that your USB device comes first and the hard drive second.

The loader of the selected Linux distribution is displayed once you have made the boot order change. It is then just a matter of selecting to Install the Linux distribution on the hard drive, or run it from USB device.

Verdict

The process of copying Linux to an USB device has been pleasant. It took less than five minutes to download and copy all relevant files on the USB device. The first USB stick that I tried caused a problem during installation, probably because it was not fast enough. The second USB stick that I tried was faster and installation commenced without further problems.

Users who want to install Linux on a netbook without optical device can use the Universal USB Installer to do that comfortably. The program is constantly updated with new Linux releases. A download is provided at the developer website. that has been linked above in the article.

However, for the uninitiated, here is the lowdown: USB stands for Universal Serial Bus and cutting through all the technical stuff, all you need to know is that it is a type of technology that enables data transfer from one device to another which is equipped with a USB port. The USB port is the place where a USB device is inserted. It is by inserting a USB device that data is transferred. The most popular form of USB device is the USB flash drive, more commonly called simply a flash drive, or a pen drive. Flash drives are generally sold with different storage capacities, such as 1 GB, 2 GB, 4GB, 8 GB etc. For a short trip, data that can be fitted on a 4 GB flash drive should suffice, as it amounts to around 1000 songs, 3 to 4 movies, or a couple of games. For extra storage, one always has the option of external hard disks, but these come in much larger capacities such as 120 GB, 250 GB, etc. and are a bit expensive as well, so a normal flash drive serves the purpose and is more feasible.

Internet Cafe Considerations

While traveling, one cannot be assured of always having a personal computer. Though a few high end hotels provide personal laptops to guests, not everyone can afford to stay at such hotels. If you don’t have access to a personal computer, you have no choice but to go to a cyber cafe, or a public internet center where you use a computer for internet for a pre-paid price usually fixed per hour. Browsing at an internet cafe brings a mixture of many things that need to be considered. First, the computers at such centers are shared, and thus you never know which computer has some kind of malicious software installed on it. Malicious software may vary from key logging programs that track your keystrokes and send the information to the planter of the program, to computer viruses that will affect your flash drive causing the loss of data. This is one area where proper caution needs to be exercised or else you can kiss your flash drive, and most important of all, the data that is inside, goodbye.

Precautions

Most of the time, just taking simple precautions will help preserve your valuable data and protect it from getting lost or being misused. The two most common ways by which data is lost are by the tracking of your activity by malicious programs, and peeping toms behind your back, who are always on the prowl with hopes of getting someone’s password, or getting a hint of what you are doing. Most internet centers have computers in a row, and privacy is not ensured to a great extent. Though the incidents of people actually peeping at your screen are a rare happening, it does happen, and it’s always better to be safe than sorry.

Also, as the computer is used by some random person after you, it is always better to keep the following in mind while using a computer at a public internet center. First, always log out of anything that the machine is logged in. This does not mean just clicking on the “log out” button and leaving. You must double check that you have logged out successfully. This simple yet very important step will help a lot to protect you. Also, many browsers offer an option to save the username and password data, be sure to uncheck all such options before logging in, as you do not want any other person to be able to access your information. Second, never leave your computer unsupervised for even a single minute.

If you have to leave, be sure to log out of everything and close all browser windows. Your leaving the computer unsupervised may result in strangers accessing your private documents and files, which you don’t want to happen. The third thing to remember is to clear all history and temporary files and downloaded files when you are through and before you leave. These can be removed by just checking out options of most browsers. The fourth thing to do is to make sure that online financial transactions are avoided at public computers. Because you will have to enter highly confidential data such as credit card number, it is not recommended to use a public computer for these activities. By following these simple precautions you will help ensure you have a safe browsing experience.

Protecting The Flash Drive

Now moving on to how to protect your flash drive, it mostly involves a basic step: password-protect your USB flash drive. Most people while traveling tend to insert their flash drives into every computer they use, thus increasing the chance of their flash drive getting infected by a high degree. The infection can be due to a virus or malicious software installed by a person wishing to access your private files. Also, if your flash drive gets stolen or lost, protecting it with a password will prevent others from getting access to your files easily. Protecting your flash drive with a password is a simple task. There are many free software programs over the internet that give you detailed instructions on how to protect your USB flash drive. These can be found by doing a simple search on any search engine. This easy step is a must in today’s highly dangerous online world and one cannot risk losing even a bit of one’s personal and sensitive data. Do it now. Password-protect your USB drives, use the above precautions, and have a happy and safe travel knowing that you are keeping your data secure.

True Crypt is an Open-Source software that can be used to create encrypted containers on devices. One of the major advantages of True Crypt is that it can be used as a portable application which means that you can copy the True Crypt files on the USB device so that the software does not have to be installed on the computer system where the data is needed.

There is however the requirement that the user who wants to mount the True Crypt volume to get access to the data needs to have administrative rights to run the software. That is however the only requirement.

Download the True Crypt software and run the setup. The setup displays options to install or extract the contents. Choose the extract option and pick the USB device as the target. All the files needed to encrypt and decrypt data will be extracted to the USB device.

Run truecrypt.exe afterwards. We need to create an encrypted container on the USB device that can store the data that we want to protect. It is limited to the free space on the USB device.

Click on Create Volume in the main interface and select the option to create an encrypted file container. Use the standard volume type in the next screen. Now browse to the USB device and pick a random filename that should be used as the container. You can use any name or extension, it does not really matter, for example test.avi, test.txt or bigrar.rar.

Pick an encryption algorithm (AES is fine and fast) and a Hash Algorithm (SJA-512) and define the space on the device that you want to assign. Select a password (20+ chars are recommended, the more the securer). The volume (in this case the space that you have selected) will be formatted. Move the mouse around to create random information and click the format button in the end.

This completes the creation of the encrypted container on the device. You need to mount it whenever you are going to use it. This is done by executing True Crypt from the USB device, picking a drive letter and selecting the file that contains the encrypted container.

The last step would be to click on mount to enter the password that is needed for the data decryption.

The data will be secure whenever the container is not mounted on the computer system. That’s one of the safest ways of transporting data from location A to B. Got any questions? Let me know.

The owner of the USB stick can set it to display an email address or phone number that will be revealed when the finder double-clicks the drive or autostart kicks in. The protection is basic and does not keep anyone from fiddling around with the files if they are proficient enough to do that. It is still possible to copy files from the USB device in the same operating system.

It is therefor more of a friendly reminder than a protection that would keep users “who really want the data” away. The software program basically increases the chance that the USB stick will be returned to its rightful owner.

USB Lost and Found comes in a Pro version as well which adds one interesting additional feature. The Lock Down feature will lock the computer completely if the USB drive is accessed displaying a similar message with the owner’s contact information and a password form.

The password is selected during the setup of the protection. The best case scenario would be this. User A loses his USB device, maybe near a Brewers Fayre chain pub in Cannock, Staffordshire. User B walks along and finds the USB device, decides to connect it to his computer to see if he can find any information on the rightful owner. Or confidential government data that might be worth a ton.

After clicking on the USB device in Windows he will either be greeted with the Please return message or he will witness a computer lockdown displaying the password box and the phone number or email address that he has to call / write to to unlock the computer again.

User B will call, User A will either tell him the password directly or agree to meet User B to receive the USB stick in person giving him the password then. Worst case scenario is that a Linux or Mac OS user finds the USB device.

The last incident came to light this Sunday. The Times Online is reporting that an USB Stick was found outside a Brewers Fayre chain pub in Cannock, Staffordshire which contained confidential passwords, security software and the source code of the Government Gateway. The data on the stick could be used to access the personal details of more than 12 million individuals who registered on the system including names, addresses, national insurance numbers, credit card information or passwords.

The system had been shut down shortly after the USB stick was found (again) to protect the data of the citizens. According to government officials the system has not been breached by then. Even more pressing than the discovery of the data on the stick is the source code which could be used to exploit the system to a much larger extent.

Investigations are in full swing and should reveal additional information soon. Gordon Brown commented on the incident with the words: “It is important to recognize we cannot promise that every single item of information will always be safe because mistakes are made by human beings.”

The USB Drive Letter Manager runs as a Windows service that solves the problem of drive letter assignments between usb devices, subst folders and network shares by automatically checking if the drive letter has been assigned to the latter before assigning a drive letter to a new USB device.

The software program can reserve letters so that they are not used by local drives, assign letters only from a list of default drive letters and specifically assign drive letters to USB devices by placing an ini file in the device’s root directory.

Another interesting feature of USB Drive Letter Manager is the ability to remove drive letters of card reader slots as long as no card is inserted. If you ever connected a multi-slot card reader to Windows you might have noticed that each slots receives its own drive letter by default which can be a lot depending on the number of different card slots on the reader.

By default USB Drive Letter Manager is only making sure that no network shares or subst folder letters get assigned to a newly connected USB device. Everything else is handled by the USBDLM.INI file. Additional parameters are described on the homepage of the software.

What I did was to create a main folder on my E: drive which I named USB. I then assigned all my USB devices to subfolders of that folder which led to less confusion on my part. (Create the subfolders before continuing). Here is what I did after creating the folder structure.

Press Windows R, enter diskmgmt.msc and hit enter. This opens the Disk Management configuration that should display all drives and devices currently connected to your computer. Pick an USB device from the list and right-click that entry. Select Change Drive Letter and Paths from the menu.

This should open a new window that is displaying the current drive letter of the device and three buttons at the bottom which are named Add, Change and Remove.

Click on the Add button, select Mount into the following empty NTFS folder and click on browse. Now navigate to the subfolder that you want to assign the usb drive to and confirm the assignment. The USB drive will from now on be accessible from that folder as well if it is connected to the computer.

You can remove the drive letter if you want that by marking it in the main window and clicking on Remove.

By default USB devices are optimized for quick removal in Windows XP. If you want to format your USB device as NTFS you need to change that to optimize them for performance. This has however direct impact on how you remove the device from your system. You need to remove it safely if you really changed that option otherwise severe data loss might occur.

I don’t want to go deeper into the topic but I guess it does not make sense to format your USB device as NTFS considering the prospect of data loss if you miss to plug it off safely. Still it`s good to know I think.

It is possible to label USB devices, set them to autorun and copy files to and from. Backing up files is a standard operation that should be done by everyone who owns important files. To backup or restore the USB device you simply click on the Backup / Restore tab and select the USB device from the list.

After that you can choose to backup files or restore them. If you choose to restore them you can select that the USB device should be cleared of all data before the backup gets restored.

There is however a trick that enables many USB devices for Readyboost even though they did not pass the initial test. To do that do the following. Right-click the device that you want to use for Readyboost and select properties. Switch to the Readyboost tab and uncheck “Stop retesting this device when I plug it in”. The old test values are stored in the registry which means that we have to edit some settings there to make Vista believe that the USB device meets all of the requirements. Unplug the device from the computer before you proceed.

Go to the key HKLM (Local Machine) -> SOFTWARE -> Microsoft -> Windows NT -> CurrentVersion -> EMDgmt which displays a list of all known USB devices on your computer. Choose the one that you want to use for Readyboost and edit the following keys in the right pane:

• Device Status – Change that value to 2
• ReadSpeedKbs – Change the value to 1000
• WriteSpeedKbs – Change the value to 1000 as well

After that is done you can use the USB device for Readyboost.