Using a LiveCD (or LiveUSB) Operating System

Posted on by The Tactical Hermit

 

By: HCS Technical Staff

(Author’s Note to the Reader: If there is any jargon that you do not know, please type the word into Wikipedia.)


What if you could try a new operating system on your computer without having to wait an hour or two for the operating system to install and not erase everything on your hard drive?

Thanks to advances made over the past ten years by open source software enthusiasts you can do such a thing.

For those who may feel a little lost here, think of open source software enthusiasts as the computer world’s equivalent of American gun tinkerers and geniuses like John Moses Browning.

There are reasons that you would want to use a LiveCD or LiveUSB operating system can basically boil down to:

  1. Using an unknown computer for work purposes (hotel business center, etc.) safely.
  2. Needing a place to quarantine a work file download (Word Document, Adobe PDF, etc.) to ensure that it is not carrying any malware (virus, trojan, worm, etc.)
  3. Examining files on a hard drive or backing up files from a disabled instance of Windows or other hard drive installed operating system.

In terms of selecting a Live Operating system to use on your computer there are hundreds of “distros” or variations out there made by enthusiasts and organizations with different goals and skill levels. 

Live Operating systems run completely in RAM and do not operate from the hard drive like Windows or MacOS X does.

Getting Started

CD-R Method

  1. The first thing you need to do is download an ISO Image file. ISO Image files (.iso) are needed to burn a DVD or data CD-ROM from a computer.
  2. To burn an ISO file to CD-ROM, go here http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Burn-a-CD-or-DVD-from-an-ISO-file
  3. After you have burned the ISO image file to a blank CD-R, shut down your computer and power it back on.
  4. As your computer turns on, access the boot menu in the BIOS (the screen with the black background and white text) by pressing the appropriate button (usually ESC, F2, F8, or F9).
  5. You will need to look up the make and model of your computer to find out how to access the boot menu.
  6. When you are in the boot menu, select the CD-ROM and press ENTER. The LiveCD operating system will start.

USB Stick Method

  1. Download UNetbootin
  2. Download your ISO image file
  3. Insert your blank and formatted USB stick
    • Be sure to note the drive letter
  4. Open UNetbootin
    • Select your ISO image file
    • Select your USB Drive’s Letter
  5. Click OK
  6. After you have burned the ISO image file to a USB stick, shut down your computer and power it back on.
  7. As your computer turns on, access the boot menu in the BIOS (the screen with the black background and white text) by pressing the appropriate button (usually ESC, F2, F8, or F9).
  8. You will need to look up the make and model of your computer to find out how to access the boot menu.
  9. When you are in the boot menu, select the USB stick and press ENTER. The LiveUSB operating system will start.

Things to Remember

  1. Use a USB stick or portable hard drive to save any documents you make on your LiveCD OS.
    • If the power goes out and you didn’t save your files to a USB stick or portable hard drive, then you are SOL.
  2. Not all LiveCD Operating systems will work with all hardware. Some laptop wireless cards will not work with your LiveCD OS and hardware older than 10 years or so may not run the LiveCD OS very well.

Major LiveCD Operating Systems

  • Ubuntu Linux at http://www.ubuntu.com
    • Pros
      • Compatible with most wireless cards and laptop hardware
      • Full software suite available (Office programs, Mozilla Firefox Web Browser, etc)
    • Cons
      • Large in size (Fills up about 670 MB out of 700MB available on a CD-R)
      • Needs at least 1 GB of RAM to run smoothly.
  • DOD Lightweight Portable Security at http://www.spi.dod.mil/lipose.htm
    • Pros
      • Small in size (about 130 MB)
      • Runs Very Fast
      • Full software suite (Office programs, Mozilla Firefox Web Browser, etc) available on 330MB .iso file version.
      • Compatible with Smart Card Readers for those who have to use them.
    • Cons
      • May not be compatible with all wireless hardware on all laptops
      • DoD built it so the paranoid may not want to use it
      • No apps to install
      • No TOR!
  • Puppy Linux at http://www.puppylinux.org
    • Pros
      • Small in size (about 130 MB)
        • This makes it great for restoring old computers
      • Runs very fast.
      • Large Support Community with lots of applications to install
      • Full Web Browser included (Just like Internet Explorer…)
    • Cons
      • Lots of variants with odd names may be confusing to the novice. (Puppy, Racy, Murga, etc…)
  • Temporary Amnesiac Incognito Live System at https://tails.boum.org
    • Pros
      • All communications are routed through TOR
        • Please read the literature out there about TOR
      • Fast to boot up
      • Includes Encryption tools
    • Cons
      • Security and Convenience are inversely related…

If anyone has any questions feel free to leave them in the comments and I can answer them to the best of my knowledge.

References

1 thought on “Using a LiveCD (or LiveUSB) Operating System”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *