How do programs like Rufus or Etcher make bootable drives?

[Gat Pelsinger]

How do bootable drive programs like Rufus or Balena Etcher actually make bootable operating systems? I need this information because I am distro hopping on Linux and making live bootable USB drives is very slow. If I can boot from my main drive itself, it is much faster. A few Linux distros and even Windows just work if I copy the ISO contents on a (firmware read-able, like Fat 32) partition of my main drive. But some Linux distros had trouble running from them. For example, I am trying to run Manjaro, and it straight away doesn't boot. I can locate the bootx64.efi in my firmware, but it just says unknown file system and puts me in GRUB rescue mode. I have tried a few combinations like FAT 32 formatting, unformatted, and "cleared" formatting, whatever than means (gparted). I used dd to flash them, and then I also tried to just simply copy paste the files, but that didn't work. Still getting unknown filesystem.

 

I did some research and it seems like GRUB is not configured fully in the Manjaro ISO? Idk. But I also had tried booting Fedora, it at least booted up to a point and then had some error which didn't go away. Pop OS was completely working except, it couldn't (or at least, the setup couldn't) detect my main drive or couldn't load some GUI program needed. 

 

I could just use Etcher or Rufus, but they won't take my main drive to flash. They need a completely empty drive. 

[Avocado Diaboli]

I'd suggest trying Ventoy if you just want quick access to multiple ISO files on a USB drive.

[Tan3l6]

For Windows it's Hasleo WinToUSB

Edit: Did not read fully.

Ventoy is great for multiple ISOs.

[SavageNeo]

While tools like Rufus or Balena Etcher may not allow you to use your main drive as a target for creating bootable drives, you can try creating a separate partition on your main drive specifically for storing ISO images and bootable operating system files. Then, use these tools to create bootable USB drives from the ISO images stored on that partition.

[Guest]

Just use Ventoy, mine has 5 different Linux distros, Windows 10, Windows 11, OpenBSD and they all work well. The bigger the Flash drive the more you can put on it.

I even have some notes that I need on it, here though to make is cross OS compatible save the notes in a .txt format as they're readable anywhere.

 

When you install the program originally, it formats as a bootable drive.

[Gat Pelsinger]

@SavageNeo

 

As I mentioned, they do not take a partition. They only seek for a physical drive.

[Gat Pelsinger]

@Avocado Diaboli @Tan3l6 @Thomas4

 

Some people are getting confused. I don't have problems managing operating systems. I just want to avoid using a USB drive to boot, and instead, unpack the ISO on my main drive itself on a partition and boot from it. That is having the problem. Rufus and Etcher don't take just a partition and seek for a whole physical drive, and so they can't use my main drive (because it is the system and the source drive). So I have to do it manually, but just copy pasting files is having problems to boot some operating systems. There is some other work that has to be done which Rufus and Etcher do.

 

edit- Yes, I will still try Ventoy, but I doubt that it will solve it. It will just redirect the firmware to which OS I want to boot and that's it.

[Guest]

Ventoy only boots into a menu from where you can choose the OS that you want to use at that time. After going into the OS of your choice, you then are given the opportunity to either install it onto your drive or simply test it without installation.

[Somerandomtechyboi]

Just now, Thomas4 said:

Ventoy only boots into a menu from where you can choose the OS that you want to use at that time. After going into the OS of your choice, you then are given the opportunity to either install it onto your drive or simply test it without installation.

so you can use it as a live usb os?

 

never heard of ventoy but itd be nice to just stick a couple windows isos (w7 ultimate + w10 ltsc) onto a usb drive and have them ready whenever i need to install windows when i inevitably bork the install with my constant hardware swaps and ram frequency runs

[Gat Pelsinger]

@Thomas4

 

Yes but after I choose the OS to boot, the control is entirely shifted to that OS and the problem that I am facing should still occur.

[xAcid9]

Install Ventoy in a new drive. Put all the images there. 

 

40 minutes ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

so you can use it as a live usb os?

Yes.