Computer Act!ve - UK (2022-04-27)

52

Select ‘Windows To

Go’ in Rufus to install

Windows on to your

USB stick

Click ‘Download – free’ under Zorin OS 16.1 to

choose the Core version of Zorin

the version of Windows you want to

install, then click OK.

When Rufus has finished saving the

disk image to your stick (which took

around an hour for Windows 11 on our

test machine), use it to start your PC. We’ve

outlined how to do this in the box below.

When your computer has launched

Windows To Go, work your way through

Your computer will usually be set

to check its hard drive or SSD for an

operating system before looking

anywhere else, and so will ignore your

USB stick. To get around this, reboot

it, then press whichever key interrupts

the boot process to launch the BIOS

or UEFI configuration screens. These

control how your PC boots, and how

its various components communicate

with one another.

The key you need to press to

access this will probably be shown

during the boot process. If it isn’t,

check your machine’s manual or look

in online forums.

Work your way through the screens,

looking for a boot order or boot

device option (or similar). When you

find it, change the boot order so your

computer always looks for a USB

stick to boot from before checking the

hard drive or SSD. What you need to

press should be shown on the screen.

When done, save and exit, and your

computer will reboot – this time from

your USB stick.

Boot your PC from

your USB stick

1

3

2

Run Linux

What you need: 4GB stick

It’s rare for us to recommend any system

other than Windows but, if you have an

older machine that you don’t want to

throw out, it might be the solution you’re

looking for. If, for example, you run

Linux from a stick, you can leave your

existing Windows installation untouched.

That way, if your Windows system is

RUN OTHER OPERATING SYSTEMS FROM YOUR STICK

running slowly, you can switch to Linux

for a while, but then easily boot back into

Windows to perform a specific task you

can’t do otherwise (like running a piece

of software for which there is no Linux

equivalent).

There are more than 600 versions of

Linux (called ‘distributions’ or ‘distros’)

to choose from. We’d recommend the

Zorin distro because it’s easy to get to

grips with and looks great (see screenshot

below left). There’s a paid-for Pro version

for £46.80 that gives you

extra desktop layouts, but

you don’t need this (as even

a Zorin forum moderator

admits: http://www.snipca.

com/41558).

To get hold of the free

edition, visit http://www.snipca.

com/41509, scroll down to

‘Zorin OS 16.1 Core’ (see

screenshot above right),

and click ‘Download free’,

followed by ‘Skip to

download’. Only choose

the ‘Lite’ version on the right if you have a

basic, low-powered computer that’s more

than 10 years old.

Zorin is easy to use – and just as easy on the eye Save the downloaded file to your

the instructions, selecting a language,

keyboard layout and network, allowing it

to download updates, and reboot several

times. You’ll also have to select personal

preferences, such as whether you want to

see adverts based on your interests. After

several reboots, you’ll see a familiar

Windows interface, running from your

USB stick.

27 April – 10 May 2022 • Issue 630