LiLi for Windows: the easiest way to try Linux

By , Published February 3, 2011

With the release of Ubuntu 11.04 Alpha 2 many of you will be grabbing the nearest USB stick available and taking the Narwhal for a whirl.

If you’re a dual booter using Windows then try out LiLi – a free, open-source windows-based Linux Live USB creator.

Why LiLi?

LiLi is a simple, straightforward and intuitive application to use; perfect for Windows users looking to try out Linux but not wanting to waste physical media or install directly to hard disk.

Feature list time: -

  • Built-in virtualization feature lets you run your Linux USB in Windows – no reboot necessary
  • Easy slider and checkbox let you set persistence levels to store data
  • Option to hide ‘Linux’ files to keep your key clean
  • Automatic ISO integrity check
  • Works with .IMG files

But doesn’t Ubuntu/UNetbootin do this?

Regardless of your preferred tool it’s always nice to be aware of choices and Linux Live USB is a great one at that.

From personal experience I can attest to LiLi saving my butt so many times.

Where other ‘USB disc creators’ have produced hit and miss results – sometimes the resulting USB has worked fine, other times it’s taken multiple goes to get a USB capable of booting past the familiar name of ‘H. Peter Anvin’ – LiLi has always worked.

Download

LiLi can be nabbed from the official site @ linuxliveusb.com/en/download.

A new Beta release is also available adding: -

  • Auto-detecting the latest SysLinux bootloader
  • Persistence for Debian 6.X
  • Download folder for Linux distros can be set
  • Install-Only flag for Linux distros without Live mode
  • Free space calculation is more accurate

This can be download @ linuxliveusb.com/en/more-downloads

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  • Anonymous

    You use windows *gasp* :P

    I dual boot win7 for games … its not bad for the few seconds it takes to start the game :P

    • http://omgubuntu.co.uk/ d0od

      I don’t *use* Windows per se, more of I keep it around for curiosity’s sake/emergencies.

      • dRewsus

        Same for me, but also to help trouble shoot issues for friends/family. Also why I have a tri-boot with OS X as well.

        • Anonymous

          Amazing! me too! (support woes never end)

      • Anonymous

        Yea, I understand … I was just teasing :P

      • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_CMJYPSXLFHHWHISIEV5IF2XQ44 tora

        Got rid of Windoze a long time ago….. can’t remember the last time I used it. What is the point if not using it for games? What emergencies do you have?

        • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/7GXJ4CL5A6A5YPPUO47UQXGP5Y Johan

          Spelling ‘Windows’ ‘Windoze’ sure is cute, if you’re six years old.

        • Anonymous

          Lots of people have lots of legitimate uses for windows, particularly for apps that run only on windows.

          • Anonymous

            all those most probable have native alternatives on linux.

          • http://www.martinsmucker.com Michael Martin-Smucker

            Silverlight capable of playing Netflix videos?

            Obviously this isn’t Linux’s fault, but it’s a perfectly good reason for keeping Windows around.

          • Anonymous

            @ M M-S
            Physical renting?

      • Anonymous

        so our author thinks gnu/linux cannot deliver in emergencies and thinks windows is stable and does not crash in emergencies and does all the work quickly.
        well considering you are a macdobe fanboy shoudn’t your ” i m cool” statement actually linux is good for playing around but all the real work can only be done on a mac (windows crashes to often and linux is just unreliable ).

        • Akshat Jain

          ಠ_ಠ

          Sometimes people have to use a piece of software that only works on Windows, especially people that have a job.

          • https://launchpad.net/~tim.timwahrendorff rakete

            not “have to” more “are forced to”…

            I have a job and my company assures that everyone can work with the OS of their choice.
            Developers prefer mostly Linux while the “normal” office guys use Windows.

  • Anonymous

    How does this rate to UNetbootin?

    • http://omgubuntu.co.uk/ d0od

      LiLi is geared twoards users who don’t really know what they’re doing: it can automatically download a distro for you and do the rest etc.

      Unetbootin is a awesome tool, but for those needing guidance LiLi is the better of the two.

      • Anonymous

        So generally speaking, if they’re reading about it here, they probably don’t have any real use for it?

        • dRewsus

          Except that search engines might lead them here now. How else do they find out about UNetbootin?

          • Anonymous

            Dreams and visions.

            No, I’m serious …

        • Anonymous

          Actually the large majority of our readers are relative noobs. The commenters are quite a bit more handy with linux, generally, but a huge many are new to linux.

      • John47

        On the LiLi vs. Unetbootin issue: One thing LiLi does quite nicely is make USB Linux installations *persistent* and not a Live CD. Unetbootin does not have this option and you’d need to hack around in the terminal a bit to get this going on your USB install. For that reason alone, I prefer LiLi. Otherwise, yeah, both of them do basically the same thing.

    • http://twitter.com/chippanfat Ethan Flynn-Harding

      I much prefer UNetbootin ! nice and simple :)

  • http://twitter.com/sataan1337 sataan1337

    May be worth a try ;) (i never had any problems using unetbootin, except from damaged image files or broken usb sticks ^^)

    • Anonymous

      go wubi … but they should have a “make it real” option

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_DWSOTHNJWUCFFCL5XJPX6CNABQ Renan

    We don’t have beautiful apps like that on Linux =’(

    • Anonymous

      I see two ways this can go.

      If you’re serious:
      Really? That’s *beautiful* to you? That’s the most hideous abomination to ever assault my eyes!

      If you’re being sarcastic:
      Well played, good sir.

    • Anonymous

      i didnt notice that was an app till i looked at the picture 3 times.

      i think this inconsistency is just confusing, in windows everyone wants their own interface that doesnt matches anyone elses.

      the app is probably pretty good, but if they port to linux, please no weird interfaces. But if you can change the skin , then ok.

  • http://super-ness.myopenid.com/ Arch_Android

    I’ve tried it before.

    And it crashed.

    3 times.

    • Anonymous

      It runs on Windows, what did you expect :)

      • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/7GXJ4CL5A6A5YPPUO47UQXGP5Y Johan

        Applications seem to crash more frequently for me on Linux. Win7 has been rock solid.

        • http://www.expatsinksa.com/ Bilal Akhtar

          Yes, these are a few features introduced in Windows 7 which made it rock solid:

          1) An improved BSoD which is Black rather than Blue
          2) Improved troubleshooter which now starts up automatically whenever ‘Windows Explorer’ goes unresponsive.
          3) Better Windows genuine advantage notifications and improved activation technology which is meant to kick in in case you are using pirated Windows.

          And many many more., Happy windows journey!

  • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/L7L7TGYKNBABWM3N7ELVBTLV3E Virgil

    Sure it looks cool, but the UI of it is kind of awkward. As long as it works though, I am sure it will be quite useful.

    • http://anezch.wordpress.com Agustianes Umbara Suwardi

      The fact is, some people want all the fancy look just for every apps they use.

      • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_N4FJFCGXSMXOQDBJ33HB4IBS5U Karl Sindre

        Yeah, cosmetic drugs are very dangerous. Makes you sneeze everytime you see anything that either doesn’t have a stupid apple on it, or super girl-ish “hey look at me, I can do nothing, but my looks make people ignorant about it” design.

        Trust me, I know by experence!

  • http://glaasje.myopenid.com/ Glaasje

    aarg! Windows 7!
    it burns my eyes out! :P

    • dRewsus

      Will I have been using Linux (Ubuntu) ‘exclusively’ for the last 6 years, Windows 7 is a pretty good OS

    • http://twitter.com/dissertational Shelby

      Actually, Windows 7 is quite good. There are some features on it that I actually miss in Ubuntu, though I’m much happier with my current OS.

      • Anonymous

        Like what? I am actually really interested to know…

        Personally, I used windows 7 for about 3 months back in 2010, and the one thing that impressed me was aero-snap, now implemented in the next iteration of Ubuntu.

        That was the only feature that I thought was great after using XP for many many years :) but I may have missed out on some feature?

        • Anonymous

          you missed the newer bsod.

          • Anonymous

            lol, to be fair, I never saw that, when it didn’t work it was more a freeze that I had, and then I was one of the people whose computer rebooted every 2 hours, when the trial time was over

        • Anonymous

          you missed the newer bsod.

      • Anonymous

        Like what? I am actually really interested to know…

        Personally, I used windows 7 for about 3 months back in 2010, and the one thing that impressed me was aero-snap, now implemented in the next iteration of Ubuntu.

        That was the only feature that I thought was great after using XP for many many years :) but I may have missed out on some feature?

  • http://twitter.com/edfu Eduardo Carrillo

    lol. anyone else notice that font is the same one used by The Price is Right and the cover of the Grand Theft Auto games?

  • http://twitter.com/edfu Eduardo Carrillo

    lol. anyone else notice that font is the same one used by The Price is Right and the cover of the Grand Theft Auto games?

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_CMJYPSXLFHHWHISIEV5IF2XQ44 tora

    “Where other ‘USB disc creators’ have produced hit and miss results – sometimes the resulting USB has worked fine, other times it’s taken multiple goes to get a USB capable of booting past the familiar name of ‘H. Peter Anvin”

    LOL! I can attest to this!

    If this really does work reliably it would be nice to have a Linux version as well though. Never had much luck with USB creators in Ubuntu… :-( Have tried ‘em all and sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t.

  • http://twitter.com/Rick_Mizell Triage Teknologics
  • http://twitter.com/Rick_Mizell Triage Teknologics

    Boot to as many Linux OS as you wish with MultiBoot-v3. Love this tool. Easy to use, just drag and drop.
    Even Windows can be added with a few more downloads and a tinker here and there.
    http://liveusb.info/dotclear/

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_FA7LYSNLUP7Q4R2JGFLSFAK76Y Daniel

    XD just made a natty alpha 2 live usb with lili and I got stuck at H. Peter Anvin

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_35C4VFILBRPONLTLCP57Y536TE Danilo

      My too!!! With live usb no matter how i create it it stuck at Peter Anvin … I try wubi install and after i reboot and chose ubuntu my computer restart automatically… btw 1. alpha worked fine for me at least live usb did … something is wrong…

  • Anonymous

    Isn’t the 1-2-3 creator on pendrivelinux enough?

    • http://linuxblog.darkduck.com/ DarkDuck

      I think this is just one of many alternatives…

    • http://twitter.com/dojan5 Joel Lundborg

      Yeah I was thinking the same thing.
      Much prefer Pendrive Linux’s utility to this.
      It’s simpler, not as horrendously ugly, and does its job the way it should.

      Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if I’d be able to teach my mother how to use it.

  • http://twitter.com/rpdtweet Richard Dickinson

    Interesting-how does this compare to Wubi?
    I used Wubi to get to know Ubuntu but had problems with my install crashing with grub updates. I tried to install 10.10 to dualboot with Vista from USB but had an installer crash (see http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1678124&page=3). Now I’m back with USB install 10.04.
    Anyway I shall watch out for LiLi now-cheers!

  • http://twitter.com/tomslominski Tom Slominski

    Windows users might get confused. Every window in it looks the same. The developers must have been drunk!

  • http://sahan.posterous.com Sahan Serasinghe

    The interface looks quite crappy (bloatware-like) but it does the job, anyway.

  • Maria

    Better than wubi would be virtualbox and u can use it for other flavors like fedora and manage them together
    http://www.skipser.com/p/2/p/running-multiple-operating-systems-in-a-computer.html

 
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