Creating A Live USB Of Manjaro Linux in Windows & Linux
Last updated August 17, 2020 By Atharva Lele 11 Comments
Brief: Learn how to create a bootable live USB of Manjaro Linux in Windows and Linux.
Manjaro Linux has come a long way since its inception. It is one of the most popular Linux distributions around, and one of the more highly regarded ones. It’s even considered one of the best Linux distro for beginners.
As the first step to try Manjaro Linux, I had to create a live USB. A live USB basically allows you to use Linux straight from the USB without the need of installing the OS on the system. This is a convenient way of testing out a Linux distribution before installing it. If you liked the Linux distribution, you can use the same live USB to install the Linux distribution.
And in this tutorial I’ll show you how to create a live USB of Manjaro Linux in Windows as well as in Linux.
Create live USB of Manjaro Linux in Windows
Creating a live USB or disk is really easy. Follow the steps below:
Step 1: Download Manjaro Linux ISO
Download the ISO image of Manjaro from the download page. There are three main versions available based on the desktop environments. Choose whichever you prefer. I chose GNOME.
Step 2: Download ISO burning tool
Now we need a tool to write this ISO image to a USB/disk. There are plenty of such applications available for free. Manjaro recommends Rufus.
Win32DiskImager is also an option — but it is no longer actively maintained. So, I’d recommend using Rufus. It’s easy to use and also offers advanced options. Hence, we’ll go with that.
Step 3: Prepare the USB
Once you have downloaded and installed Rufus, insert the USB or disk and launch Rufus.
It should automatically detect the USB drive you’ve plugged in. But, make sure it’s the correct drive before destroying the data on the selected device.
Once you’re confident about the device selected as shown in the image below, you can click on “SELECT” and then grab the ISO file from your computer.
It will automatically choose the default partition scheme and target system (BIOS and UEFI). You can tweak it if you want to change them. It shouldn’t be an issue if you don’t change the settings — but I’ll recommend you to explore more about the disk partition scheme and your target system in case you have no idea about it.
Once you’re sure about the settings, just hit “START” to get started.
Step 4: Write the ISO image to the USB
Next, you might see a pop up asking you to choose the correct mode. Here, select the ISO Image mode as shown in the screenshot below:
You’ll see a progress bar to keep track of what’s happening.
After it’s done, you’ll get a popup saying that the USB drive is ready.
That’s it, your drive is ready to be booted from. Now restart the computer, press F10/F12 and boot from the USB drive/removable disk.
Creating live USB of Manjaro in Linux
If you are already using a Linux distribution like Ubuntu or Linux Mint and you want to try Manjaro, you can create bootable USB of Manjaro in Linux as well.
Download Manjaro Linux ISO first and then follow these steps:
Step 1:
I recommend you use Etcher to create live USBs. To install Etcher, go to Etcher’s website and download the Linux Package.
After downloading the package, extract it to get an .AppImage file. Before you use the AppImage file, change the permissions to make it executable.
Double click the file to launch Etcher.
Step 2:
Click on ‘Flash from file. You will get a prompt to select the downloaded ISO file. You can also opt to flash from URL — which will basically download the file for you and select it.
Step 3:
Now, click on ‘Select target’ in the second column to select your USB drive. After selecting your drive, click continue.
Step 4:
Now click ‘Flash‘ to begin writing the ISO contents to the USB drive. You will get a password prompt so that Etcher can access the drive. Enter your password to continue.
You can see the progress and remaining time of the process as its going on.
Once the process is complete, it will verify/validate the USB drive and you will be greeted with a screen telling you that it is done.
Now, your USB drive is ready to be booted into Manjaro Linux. You can reboot your computer and press F10/F12 (the specific key combo for your device) to boot using the USB drive.
Did it work for you?
I hope you found the tutorial to create live USB of Manjaro Linux in Windows and Linux helpful. Any questions or suggestions are always welcome!
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Manjaro linux usb live
After you downloaded Manjaro. This guide covers the basic’s, If you want more information look into the Manjaro User Guide or the Manjaro Wiki.
You downloaded Manjaro as an ISO file. An ISO file contains all files Manjaro needs to start an installation compressed into a handy file, which you can then use to make a DVD or USB-Stick that can be run by your computer. This file can be directly used by a virtual machine if you don’t want to try out Manjaro on your actual computer, yet.
Different ways to try Manjaro
To try out Manjaro, you can either directly load it from a DVD or USB-Drive or use a virtual machine if you are unsure or want to be able to use your current operating-system without dual-booting. Here you can find a list of all options you have and their pros and cons.
Using a virtual machine.
- Leaves your current system untouched.
- Experiment without modifying your current setup.
- Work parallel with Manjaro and your current system.
- Manjaro runs slower due to emulation.
- Emulation needs many system resources.
Using a live-system
- Leaves your current system untouched.
- Experiment without modifying your current setup.
- No settings get stored on the medium.
- Manjaro runs slower due to slower speed of DVD or USB.
Install Manjaro
Always backup your data.
Install along side your current system or replace it.
Using a virtual machine
A virtual machine is a computer that runs “in” your current computer. If you just want to try or use Manjaro without rebooting your computer, you can set up a virtual machine. We will give you a quick step-by-step guide, but if you want to know more, visit our Wiki. Keep in mind that if you use a virtual machine, you only wipe the machine, not your actual computer.
1. Download an application that allows creating virtual machines and install it.
2. Create a virtual machine
- Select Linux.
- At least 20-30GB virtual hard drive space.
- At least 2GB RAM/Memory.
- At least 2 CPU cores.
- increase the graphics memory.
- Enable 3D acceleration if possible.
3. Loading Manjaro
- Start the virtual machine and select the Manjaro ISO to be loaded into the virtual DVD drive.
- Manjaro will now boot. Select Manjaro (Free drivers) or leave it until it’s automatically selected.
- Manjaro now boots into the live environment.
- Install Manjaro into the virtual machine.
- Grab a coffee and wait for the instalation process to finish.
- Go to the virtual machine settings and unload the Manjaro ISO.
- All done. Reboot and enjoy.
Now you can just start your virtual computer with Manjaro, play around with it and use software that is not well supported on other operating systems! Note that this is (while being virtual) an actual computer, so you have to shut down Manjaro just like all operating systems. If you want to know what you can do after installing Manjaro, give a look at our user guide and our wiki.
Making a Live-System
To be able to install or try Manjaro on your computer, you need to put it on a DVD or USB-Drive. Then the computer will start (or “boot”) from this medium into Manjaro’s live-systemВ№.
Create a bootable USB-Stick
1. Download an application that is able to create a bootable USB-Drive. - ImageWriter or Rufus, see our wiki for more information.
- Use dd as copy option to make a working bootable USB-Stick.
- Any data already in the USB stick will be lost.
- Select the ISO and put Manjaro in.
- Boot from USB
Burn a DVD
- 1. Download an application that is able to burn a disk
- DeepBurner, or if available the software that comes with your operating system
- Burn the Manjaro ISO to the DVD
- Boot from DVD
Booting into the Live-System
- 1. Boot from USB or DVD
- Sometimes you need to configure your system to allow booting
- BIOS and UEFI — Manjaro Wiki
- Manjaro User Guide
- After booting you can choose your drivers.
- Choose “proprietary” if you use a Nvidia graphics card or need wireless.
- Choose “free” if you are using a virtual machine or know that everything will work without proprietary drivers.
- For more information, have a look at our user guide.
1. Boot from USB or DVD Now you have booted into Manjaro’s live-environment and can begin to play around with it or proceed to install Manjaro on your computer (or the virtual machine). In the next section, you can find a quick step-by-step guide how to install Manjaro.
Install Manjaro
There are many different ways to install Manjaro and the process depends heavily from your current hardware. If you want more detailed steps, you will find them in our user guide. Here we will give you a rough outline how to install Manjaro. The installer offers plenty of options such as installing Manjaro alongside your current operating system. Experienced users also can partition manually.
We recommend to make backups of your important data before installing Manjaro on your hard drive. You can do this directly in the live-environment if you forgot it.
- 1. Start the installer.
- After you boot, there’s a welcome-window that has an option to Install Manjaro.
- If you closed the welcome-window, you can find it in the application menu as “Manjaro Welcome”.
- Chose timezone, keyboard layout and language.
- Determine where Manjaro should be installed.
- Insert your account data.
- Grab a coffee and wait until the installation is finished.
- You can use the live-environment while you wait.
- When instalation finish restart your machine.
1. Start the installer. Congratulations! You have now installed Manjaro. If there are any problems, you can maybe find a solution here, our user guide or our wiki. Our user guide also contains information how to use Manjaro. Also we recommend to visit our forums where people discuss about problems, new programs and make customizations like wallpapers.
Glossary
Live-Environment / Live-System Manjaro and many other Linux distributions allow running the system directly from a USB-Drive or DVD.
Those “Live-Enviroments” are completely functional systems and can be used as portable operating-system or to rescue data if something went wrong.