kali linux live usb stick

Hi, You can create a bootable USB stick for Kali Linux Live with few steps using the BalenaEtcher tool on Windows.

Step 1: Download the Kali linux live image from https://www.kali.org/downloads/ I select Kali Linux 64-Bit (Live) 2020.3. After downloading you can verify the image by comparing the SHA 256 value shown in the website.

certutil -hashfile <pasth to iso image> SHA256

Step 2: Next, Download BalenaEtcher from https://github.com/balena-io/etcher/releases.

Once installed, you can simply select the ISO image of the kali linux live at “Flash from URL” –> Then select the USB drive for flashing at “Select target”–> Select “flash”.

Once the flashing is done, you may see as “1 failed device” due to checksum fail (during verification) on Windows. However, the writing to the USB was successful. This error has identified as a false positive case seen on Windows.

What else can you do with the Live USB stick of Kali Linux?

Add kali linux to startup on dualboot with Windows: You can find a guide to add kali linux startup on a dual boot with Windows at https://networkwolves.wordpress.com/2015/04/13/repair-kali-linux-grub-after-installing-window-in-dual-boot/amp/

Boot the live USB stick –> select “Live system” -> Open a terminal.-> login as root user

(If you have a fresh version install root user by following command)

sudo apt-get install kali-root-login
super su

Next, you can use the following commands. Then reboot the system to see the boot menu with kali linux option.

mount /dev/sda3 /mnt mount –bind /dev /mnt/dev mount –bind /dev/pts /mnt/dev/pts mount –bind /proc /mnt/proc mount –bind /sys /mnt/sys chroot /mnt grub-install /dev/sda update-grub exit umount /mnt/dev/pts umount /mnt/dev umount /mnt/proc umount /mnt/sys umount /mnt

Resolving kali linux startup problem on dual boot desktop due to Window’s fast-restart: To resolve this also, you can use the Kali Linux Live USB stick.

When you try the first command (mount /dev/sda3 /mnt) you can see the error is shown as follows. You can disable the fast-restart which is a new feature on Windows 10, by selecting control panel->system and security -> power options–> “choose what the power buttons do” -> “Change the settings that are currently unavailable” -> untick “Turn on fast-startup”.