Rufus Alternatives – 8 Best USB Bootable Software For Linux

1

Rufus

Rufus is a popular app to create a USB Bootable flash drive for Windows but unfortunately, it doesn’t exist for Linux. So, I had to go through tons of GitHub repositories and Reddit pages to find the ideal Rufus Alternative. And turn out, you can make a bootable USB drive with the command line, or even use a third-party tool which offers extra features such boot multiple Operating System on the same USB. So, here is my pick for the best Rufus alternatives for Linux.

#Utilities #Boot Disk Utilities #Bootable USB 6 social mentions

2

dd

For a one-time use case, you might be good using the “dd” command-line tool. It is a native Linux command and is available for multiple Linux distros. Following is the command to flash an ISO file to the USB storage using the dd command.

#Utilities #Bootable USB #Boot Disk Utilities

The major problem with the dd command is you could end up formatting your entire HDD. But, there’s a modified command-line utility called bootiso that takes care of this scare. You just have to download and install the bootiso utility and provide your ISO file location. It’ll automatically scan the ISO and decide the best format options. It also displays the list of removable USB drives and proceeds upon selection. In case there is no USB drive connected, it exits the command.

4

Balena Etcher

WoeUSB comes in wherein Etcher falls short. It is compatible with Windows ISO and even recommended by Etcher. Similar to Etcher, even WoeUSB doesn’t show you internal drives. It automatically detects the removable USB drives and you just have to select the appropriate one and click on Install. It handles all the complexities by itself. WoeUSB supports Windows from Vista to the latest Windows 10. It also supports the legacy BIOS and the latest UEFI firmware mode.

#Utilities #Bootable USB #Boot Disk Utilities 15 social mentions

5

WoeUSB

WoeUSB comes in wherein Etcher falls short. It is compatible with Windows ISO and even recommended by Etcher. Similar to Etcher, even WoeUSB doesn’t show you internal drives. It automatically detects the removable USB drives and you just have to select the appropriate one and click on Install. It handles all the complexities by itself. WoeUSB supports Windows from Vista to the latest Windows 10. It also supports the legacy BIOS and the latest UEFI firmware mode.

#Utilities #Boot Disk Utilities #Bootable USB

6

MultiBootUSB.org

As the name suggests, Multiboot USB lets you flash multiple operating systems on a single USB drive. Additionally, you can also flash custom firmware, antivirus tools, and other utilities using the app. I mostly use Multiboot USB for flashing an ISO to the USB drive and then quickly booting from it. This makes sure that the ISO is correctly flashed on the USB stick. Moreover, you can also verify the ISO file within the software itself.

#Utilities #Bootable USB #Boot Disk Utilities

7

UNetbootin

Just like the Windows USB/DVD tool, UNetBootin is designed to create bootable drives but only for Linux. UNetbootin is the only software in this list that even lets you download the ISO from within the app. A neat little feature called persistent storage. This enables you to save a particular amount of storage on the USB. Basically, you can also flash the USB storage and even keep within. This feature is especially useful when you want to install software on live bootable drives.

#Utilities #Bootable USB #Boot Disk Utilities 59 social mentions

8

GNOME MultiWriter

Gnome Multi-Writer is a free open-source USB bootable software written entirely in Python. Unlike the other apps in this list, you can use Multi-Writer to simultaneously flash multiple USB drives. The only caveat is that the USB drives need to be between 1 to 32 GB. The app automatically detects the supported USB drives and it can flash all of them in one click.

#Bootable USB #Utilities #CD Image Creator

9

Ventoy

Ventoy is a newly launched open-source bootable USB tool with a unique installation method. All you have to do is install the Ventoy script on a USB drive. Next, whenever you place an ISO file on the USB drive, it becomes bootable. No extraction and no tedious steps. Do it once and forget it!

#Utilities #Boot Disk Utilities #Bootable USB 170 social mentions

The major problem with the dd command is you could end up formatting your entire HDD. But, there’s a modified command-line utility called bootiso that takes care of this scare. You just have to download and install the bootiso utility and provide your ISO file location. It’ll automatically scan the ISO and decide the best format options. It also displays the list of removable USB drives and proceeds upon selection. In case there is no USB drive connected, it exits the command.

The major problem with the dd command is you could end up formatting your entire HDD. But, there’s a modified command-line utility called bootiso that takes care of this scare. You just have to download and install the bootiso utility and provide your ISO file location. It’ll automatically scan the ISO and decide the best format options. It also displays the list of removable USB drives and proceeds upon selection. In case there is no USB drive connected, it exits the command.