Please inform me of unlisted "FREE" Live Linux distributions or version revisions, and I will attempt to update YUMI to support them. Bootable Software developers who wish to have their "PAID" software added, can send me a copy to try.

YUMI can be used to format your select USB drive, but be aware that all partitions on the selected drive will also be deleted. Ensure that you have made a backup of any information you want to keep before using YUMI on any drive.

IMPORTANT NOTES : Your USB drive must be Fat16/Fat32/NTFS formatted, otherwise Syslinux will fail and your drive will NOT Boot. NTFS may not work with every distribution but is required for storing files over 4GB. YUMI UEFI must use Fat32 format.

12/04/13 Version 1.9.9.7B: Correct ISO Name for Desinfect. Correct OpenSUSE ISO copy failed when using Windows XP. Add support for Rescatux ISO (can't use sg2d version).

04/17/14 Version 2.0.0.3: Update to support Tails 0.23 and Rescatux 0.30.2 (must manually extract and use Rescatux.iso from the ISO). Correct OpenSuse links.

12/02/16 Version 2.0.3.0: Update to support ChaletOS and Bunsenlabs. Support newer Fedora Workstation Live and Zorin Core ISOs. Fix CentOS Link. Create a trk3 directory at the root of USB before copying files (necessary for Windows XP copyfiles).

12/10/16 Version 2.0.3.1: Update Get Drives function to ignore system and network drives. Add filesystem and drive type to drive list. Add lock, dismount, and unlock features.

12/12/16 Version 2.0.3.2: Update to support Solus. Reinclude show all drives option. Disable FSCTL lock, dismount, and unlock volume features until a better solution is found.

01/14/17 Version 2.0.3.6: Update to support multiple Windows Vista/7/8/10 Installers. -wimboot option stores the extracted Multi Windows Installers in their own directory. -bootmgr option moves only bootmgr and bcd to root of drive. (note: -bootmgr option does require a Windows Vista or later host to run bcdedit).

02/02/17 Version 2.0.3.9: Update to support OSFClone, newer WifiSlax, and NetRunner. Correct AntiX entry to use bdir=. Update to replace empty spaces in iso file with dashes. Correction to GRUB Partition 4 option.

03/13/17 Version 2.0.4.4: Add filesystem type to drivelist. Include message box to notify of NTFS filesystem requirement for Windows to Go option.

03/22/17 Version 2.0.4.5: Add ability to create larger than 4GB casper-rw persistent file if using NTFS format for Ubuntu and Linux Mint – (creates 4th partition table). Added casper-rw creation progress banner.

03/07/18 Version 2.0.5.4: Added initial support for KaOS, VyOS, Bluestar Linux, Raspberry Pi Desktop, and XenialPup. Medicat now extracts to the root folder until I find a fix for lost paths.

11/28/18 Version 2.0.6.0: Set Fat32 and NTFS Format options to format only the selected Volume Drive Letter. Include a new option to Wipe Entire Disk (including all attached Volumes/Partitions). The Wipe Entire Disk option can be used to Restore USB drives made bootable with DD, or to convert them back to use a single partition with a bootable MBR.

11/30/18 Version 2.0.6.1: Include ability to see which Disk the drive letter is on. Improve DiskWipe option – rescan before creating a new partition.

12/02/18 Version 2.0.6.1a: Update to support newer Ubuntu and derivatives using initrd instead of initrd.lz,.gz, etc.

01/10/19 Version 2.0.6.2: Update Fedora boot method. Remove changing of generic.lst to $ISOFileName.lst as sometimes the filename becomes too long to detect. Consolidate generic.lst entries into basic.lst. Create syslinux.bin file to be used for chainloading.

07/11/19 Version 2.0.6.7: Update to support OpenMandriva, Clear Linux, and Alpine Linux. Add support for newer Parrot OS, Fix Clonezilla entry to enable To RAM booting so that the USB stick can be moved to different machines once booted.

01/19/17 Version 0.0.0.4: Fix to replace empty spaces in Distro filename with dashes. Update Get Drives function to ignore system and network drives. Correct some wording.

10/06/17 Version 0.0.0.5: Update to support newer Tails and Manjaro. Fix broken Debian, Lubuntu, and Xubuntu links. Replace empty spaces in copied ISO files with dashes to prevent paths from breaking.

11/04/18 Version 0.0.0.9: Update to support newer Ubuntu and derivatives using initrd instead of initrd.lz,.gz, etc.

12/27/18 Version 0.0.1.0: Fix case in configfile path (change from EFI/boot to EFI/BOOT) in boot/grub/grub.cfg. Update to use GRUB 2.03.

01/06/19 Version 0.0.1.2: Fix to remove duplicate Linux Distributions Menu entry. Edit Grub 2 config to set root by –label MULTIBOOT. Revert to set gfxmode=640×480 as auto still exhibits rendering issues on BIOS boot.

07/26/20 Version 0.0.2.5: Update to support LinuxFX (AKA: WindowsFX – an Ubuntu Based variant that looks and feels much like Windows 10).

Not all Unlisted ISO's can be booted (thus adding Unlisted ISOs is an UNSUPPORTED option).

Other Notes : If MultibootISOs was previously used, you must reformat the drive and start over. YUMI uses Syslinux directly, and chainloads to grub only if necessary, so it is not compatible with the older Multiboot ISO tool. Although I do plan to add back most of the capabilities of MultibootISOs as time permits.

If you run YUMI from the same location you store ISO files, they should be auto-detected (*See Known Issues Below), eliminating the need to browse for each ISO.

How YUMI Works : YUMI (Your Universal Multiboot Installer) enables each user to create their own custom Multiboot UFD containing only the distributions they want, in the order by which they are installed. A new distribution can be added to the UFD each time the tool is run.

NOTE: YUMI persistence option is currently broken when using YUMI-2.0.7.4.exe within WINE. Don't choose persistence and set the slider or the process will freeze while trying to build the persistent file and you will be forced to close YUMI.

That's all there is to it. You should now be booting your favorite distributions from your custom Multi-Boot USB device!

YUMI Troubleshooting, Known Issues, Bugs:

NOW FIXED in the latest YUMI revision. – casper-rw Persistence is not currently working for Ubuntu 20.04 and variants due to an upstream filename requirement change. To fix the persistent feature for Ubuntu 20.04, simply rename the "casper-rw" file to "writable" without the quotes. This file can be found on your YUMI USB drive in folder I.E. /Multiboot/Ubuntu-20.04-desktop-amd64.

The Persistence feature is currently broken with Newer Debian based distributions due to significant changes upstream. Debian now requires the persistent block file and label to be named persistence instead of live-rw, and it must hold a persistence.conf file containing / Union. I am hoping to make the necessary changes and provide a fix soon.

If you encounter a message stating

An error (1) occurred while executing syslinux. Your USB drive won't be bootable.

Make sure your USB drive is using a Fat32 or NTFS partition with an MBR (Master Boot Record). An exFAT formatted Partition will not work. GPT (GUID Partition Table) Fat32 or NTFS Partitions are also not supported.

If you encounter a message stating

Insane primary (MBR) partition. Can’t find myself on the drive I booted from

First, replace your chain.c32 file located at multiboot/chain.c32 with (you'll need to unzip the file) -> This zipped chain.c32 File

If replacing the chain.c32 file does not fix the problem, your USB drive may be improperly formatted, contains more than one partition or MBR, or your BIOS is not properly detecting the USB drive as USB-HDD, and/or its firmware needs to be updated. You can try these methods to Format and Restore your USB Drive

Windows to Go/Installers – Options Explained



The Windows to Go option creates a VHD file that is 20GB in size. As such, it requires the drive to be formatted NTFS. Fat32 cannot support a file more than 4GB in size. Many flash drives you might find at local department stores won't be fast enough. You'll need a Very Fast Flash Drive. When Windows boots from the USB for the first time, it'll go through the setup process and then reboot. You'll need to boot using your Windows to Go menu option a second time to finalize the setup process and finally boot into your full Portable Windows.

The Single Windows Installer/PE options are most likely to work for both stock and modified ISO files. When using it, you are limited to storing one Windows Installer per USB drive (I.E. one Win XP and one Win Vista 7 or 10). The Multiple Windows Installer/PE options allow for storing more than one stock Windows Installer per drive. Generally, only unmodified Windows ISO files will work with this option.

-wimboot option stores the extracted Multi Windows Installers in their own directory. -bootmgr option moves the bootmgr and bcd files to root of drive. (note: -bootmgr option does require a Windows Vista or later host to run bcdedit).

Traditional YUMI is not natively UEFI capable. However, it is possible to boot and run your Windows Installers from UEFI. To switch between added Windows versions, navigate to the multiboot/win-directory (replacing win-directory with the Windows version you want to boot) on your USB. Once there, move the bootmgr, bootmgr.efi, and entire boot folder to the root of your USB drive. Then reboot, booting your computer from the UEFI compatible USB. If all went well, it should boot straight into your chosen Windows Installer.

Try an Unlisted ISO – Options Explained

Try Unlisted ISO (Grub Partition 4) – This boot option attempts to boot the ISO file using Grub. Additionally it adds a 4th partition table to the USB device and uses this as a placeholder for the ISO. This option has been shown to successfully boot almost all Linux based distributions. Try Unlisted ISO (Grub) – Same as boot option 1, but attempts to boot the ISO without using a 4th partition as a placeholder for the ISO. Try Unlisted ISO (Grub From RAM) – Same as boot option 2, but attempts to store the ISO in system memory and boot it from there. Useful for cases where the ISO is small, and you'd like to boot the OS and then move the USB to different machines and subsequently boot the OS from them as well. Try Unlisted ISO (via Syslinux) – The original default YUMI supported boot option. Syslinux works to boot many distributions, but not all.

Multiboot folder and volume name.

YUMI tries to store most added distributions within the multiboot folder. This is also the root directory set for syslinux. In some cases, YUMI also expects the Volume Label of your USB drive to be MULTIBOOT in order for OpenSUSE, CentOS and several other distributions to boot. YUMI attempts to automatically create this Volume Label, however it can sometimes fail. Please ensure that the Volume Label of your USB remains MULTIBOOT if you expect your distributions to boot.

When booting linux distributions such as Ubuntu from some laptops such as the Lenovo Yoga with a touchscreen, the acpi=off boot parameter might be necessary in order to successfully boot.

My PC wont Boot from my Flash Drive, but BIOS supports USB boot!

Some Flash Drives ship formatted (without a partition), and YUMI requires the drive to contain a partition with a MBR (Master Boot Record). To ensure compatibility, you can use YUMI to format your device as NTFS or Fat32.

How to force a rebuild of the Syslinux MBR:

This is useful if your YUMI prepared USB drive is somehow no longer bootable.

For Newest version of YUMI:

From the multiboot folder on your flash drive, delete the hidden file ldlinux.sys and then rename the libcom32.c32 file to _libcom32.c32. Then use YUMI to install any menu item. YUMI will notice that the file is missing and will attempt to reinstall syslinux and repair the master boot record. Once finished, rename _libcom32.c32 back to libcom32.c32.

For Older versions of YUMI:

Delete the hidden ldlinux.sys file from the multiboot folder, and use YUMI to install any menu item. YUMI will notice that this file is missing and will attempt to repair it.

Other Known Issues:

TAILS – If your USB is detected as a "fixed" hard drive and not a "removable" disk, (a few Sandisk drives have the removable bit flipped this way), you'll need to remove occurrences of the boot parameter "live-media=removable" from the Live64.cfg file found at "\multiboot\tails-amd64-3.3\EFI\BOOT\" or TAILS will fail to find the live filesystem.

Flacon 4, Hiren's Boot CD, Trinity Rescue Kit, Backtrack, Avira Antivir, and Dr.Web Live CD files are stored outside of the multiboot folder. Most other distribution files remain contained within the multiboot folder. I am open to a simple working solution!

YUMI supports Windows XP Install from USB via ISO. In order for the Windows XP installation to succeed, you must perform the following steps;

1.) To begin an install, select (Stage 1)

2.) Upon first reboot, you must select (Stage 2)

3.) Finally, after (Stage 2) is complete – upon the second reboot, select (Stage 3) to boot the drive where you installed Windows XP. If this option fails, simply remove the USB and reboot!

* YUMI does support NTFS, however not all distributions will boot from an NTFS formatted device. NTFS is required for Windows to Go and distributions containing files over 4GB.

Troubleshooting Boot Errors:

While trying to run an ISO from USB, If you get a Boot error saying:

Error 60: File for drive emulation must be in one contiguous disk area

You'll need to defragment your ISO using one of the following tools:

contig – Command line tool to defragment ISO files.

wincontig – GUI tool to defragment ISO files.

Additional Notes:

Edit non-booting menu entries for the ISO's you have added via the "Try and Unlisted ISO (GRUB)" options, by editing the corresponding entry in \multiboot\menu\menu.lst

If you don't have a floppy drive and get fd0 errors while booting, simply add floppy.allowed_drive_mask=0 to the append line for the troubled entry. Although the best fix is to simply disable floppy in BIOS.

Persistently Saving Changes: YUMI currently enables the casper-rw persistence feature for some (but not all) Ubuntu based distributions. Yes, you can have multiple persistent Ubuntu based distributions, as each distro utilizes its own casper-rw file. * Persistence will NOT work on NTFS formatted USB drives. Some Distributions also will not even boot via NTFS!

Ophcrack Tables: To load Ophcrack tables when booted in this fashion, the tables folder needs to exist at the root directory of the USB device; (example F:\tables\vista_free). Get Ophcrack Tables from the Official Ophcrack site and unzip to your USB. You can have both XP and Vista/7 tables working together.