CrunchBang Linux (aka #!) is an openbox distro with a simple and efficient setup. Generally the procedure for installing Linux from a flash drive is to open up Unetbootin and let it do its work on the .iso file. However, this process does not work on Crunchbang. Fortunately there is another way to install it from a flash drive.

First, download ImageWrite.exe, it is an Opensuse branded program that basically acts like the UNIX utility dd. Then download the Crunchbang ISO file. Once that is downloaded open up ImageWriter, but you will soon realize that it only accepts .raw files.

But there is an easy workaround. Find the .iso file and rename it so that its file type is “.raw”. Reopen ImageWriter, insert a flashdrive, find the .raw file and press “copy”.

Now that the drive is copied, you can reboot and boot into a live environment (you’ll have to enter into your BIOS and select “boot from flashdrive” or something like that). You can stop there, but you probably want to install it. So go back into Windows and download a program called “EASEUS Partition Master 9.0.0 Home Edition”. It’s free and legal and is a better replacement for PartitionMagic. Once you have that running you need to resize your windows partition and create one for Linux. You probably only need 8 or so gigabytes of space, one for Linux and the rest for files. You have to be very careful during this step as not to kill your windows install. Just make sure you are resizing the correct partition (it should be the largest one where your files reside in my case it is labeled as “C”.

Now that your Linux partition is set up, you can install CrunchBang. Boot your flash drive and select graphical install. Then enter all your region specific details. Finally you will reach the partition screen. Select the manual partition entry. You DO NOT want guided partition. This will erase your whole drive and use it for Linux. Select the eight gig partition and tell the program to use it as the main install disk. Make sure it is not altering your main partition with windows on it and tell it to proceed. Just follow the rest of the installer and it will finally allow you to login to your user account. Now reboot and it should show GRUB2 when you first startup. It should show your Windows bootloader and Crunchbang Linux. If it only shows CrunchBang do not freak out. It can be fixed.

If the Windows entry is missing boot into Crunchbang, right click and open a terminal. Run the command “update-grub” this should fix your grub and make a window entry. Reboot and make sure Windows runs okay.

Note: I do not take any responsibility for any damage incurred from this tutorial. Use this guide responsibly and don’t do anything stupid.

Popularity: 4% [?]