Installing BackTrack to DVD or USB Thumb Drive

You can download the free BackTrack ISO at www.backtrack-linux.org/downloads/. This article covers the bt4-final.iso ISO image, released on January 11, 2010. Microsoft’s newer versions of Windows (Vista and 7) include built-in functionality to burn an ISO image to DVD, but Windows XP by default cannot. If you’d like to make a BackTrack DVD using Windows XP, you’ll need to use DVD-burning software such as Nero or Roxio. One of the better free alternatives to those commercial products is ISO Recorder from Alex Feinman. You’ll find that freeware program at http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm. Microsoft recommends ISO Recorder as part of its MSDN program. After you download and install ISO Recorder, you can right-click ISO file and select the Copy Image to CD/DVD option, shown in Figure , and then click Next in the ISO Recorder Record CD/DVD dialog box.

You might instead choose to make a bootable USB thumb drive containing the BackTrack bits. Booting from a thumb drive will be noticeably faster and likely quieter than running from a DVD. The easiest way to build a BackTrack USB thumb drive is to download and run the UNetbootin utility from http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net. Within the UNetbootin interface select the BackTrack 4f distribution, choose a USB drive to be written, and start the download by clicking OK. After downloading the ISO, UNetbootin will extract the ISO content to your USB drive, generate a syslinux config file, and make your USB drive bootable.

Figure -Open with ISO Recorder

Figure – ISO Recorder main dialog box

References
BackTrack home page www.backtrack-linux.org
ISO Recorder http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm
UNetbootin http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net

Figure – UNetbootin interface