Your PC will default to booting from your regularhard drive unless you change its
settings in the BIOS or UEFIThe Chromium OS installation file s have
been compressed in 7-Zip format
42 12 - 25 June 2019
Install ChromiumOS ona USB
drive
We’re big fans ofChromeOS, Google’s
internet-focusedoperating system,
which only officially ships onits own
andthird-partyChromebooks.It’s
lightweight, bootsquickly andrunsapps
onthe web through the built-inChrome
browser. Betteryet, becauseyourfiles
are storedonline,ChromiumOS, on
which ChromeOSbased, isthe perfect
mobile operating systemfor running
froma USB drive.
ChromiumOSisreleasedbyits
developersasopen-source code, which
needs tobecompiledbeforeit will run.
Fortunately,that’s already beendone
for you,if you instead downloadit from
bit.ly/chromium4 77. Click the fileatthe
top of the list for the mostrecent
version.Asyou’ll see fromits extension,
thishas beencompressedin7-Zip
format, soyou’ll needtodownload7-Zip
frombit.ly/7zip4 77 (if you don’t already
haveit) toopenit. Savethe expanded
filetothe desktop soit’s easy tofind.
Inthe meantime,download andinstall
Etcher (bit.ly/etcher 477 ), which
performsa similar functiontoRufus in
thatit formats andmakes your stick
bootable, theninstallsthe operating
systemonit.
LaunchEtcher, clickSelectImage
and point it atthe fileyou unzipped
fromthe Chromiumdownload. Click
SelectDrive andchooseyourUSB stick,
thenclickFlash.Etcherwill wipeyour
stick andcreateseveral partitionsonit,
which Windowswill see as unformatted
virtualdrives. Whenthe process
completes,Windowswill offer toformat
eachpartition inturn– you should
cancelthe offer every time.
Quit Etcherand any otherrunning
programs –but leavethe USB stick
connectedandrestart yourPCsoit
bootsintoChromium. See the section
belowfor adviceonsetting yourPC
toboot fromUSB ratherthanits internal
drive.Bootingfromanexternal drive
You’ll needtoconfigure yourPCtostop
it launching fromyourregular hard drive
bytweaking the settingsinyourPC’s
BIOS(BasicInputOutputSystem) or
UEFI(UnifiedExtensibleFirmware
Interface). You can accessthese by
pressing ashortcutkeywhile yourPC
reboots– often,it’s F10,but thedesignated keywill normally be
displayed briefly duringbooting. If this
doesn’t happen,check yourmanual.
Navigate the menus untilyou find an
optionfor setting the boot order, and
rearrange the options sothatUSB has
priority, thensavethe settingsandexit.
YourPCwill reboot, thistimelaunching
fromthe USB drive.If you reboot
without the drive pluggedin, it will
resorttothe second, third andlower
priorityoptions,eventuallyfinding your
internal drive again andlaunching
Windowsas usual.Passwords and PINs are effective security tools, provided nobody’s looking
over your shoulder. A safer way to foil nearby snoopersis to lock and unlock
your PC using Predator (bit.ly/predator477), which lets you co nfigure a USB
stick to act as a key. As soon as you remove the stick, the PC is locked until
the key is once again plugged in.
What if so meone co pies your stick? Not a problem. Predator uses a secr et
security code to unlock your PC, which iswrit ten to the stick and changed
frequently. So, whil e a copied stick may unlock your machine once,it’s not a
long-term backdoor.
Other built-in tools le t you set specific times when the PC can be unlocked;
use a single USB stick to manage multipl e machines; and take pictures of
anyone who tries to use the PC in your absence, using its built-in camera.UNLOCKYOUR PC USING A USBSTICKEtcher formats your USB stick, makes it
bootable and installs the Chromium OS