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download Virtual Clonedrive from here...<br />
<a href="http://www.slysoft.com/en/download.html" rel="ugc">http://www.slysoft.com/en/download.html</a><br />
Awesome software...
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I assume you are trying to install an operating system, otherwise you could easily share the iso across the network from another machine..<br />
<br />
Linux can still do this with shares from another machine, however from my understanding of Windows it requires that you have the CD / DVD to do the installation.<br />
<br />
If you are attempting to do a Linux install, share the install media from another computer with a working drive, make your thumb drive bootable using something like this page : <a href="http://www.bootdisk.com/pendrive.htm" rel="ugc">http://www.bootdisk.com/pendrive.htm</a>. &nbsp;Then do the install using the network, this is provided that your network card is detected by the the installer.
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I'm actually trying to run a cd of boot tools on a computer without an operating system, or a working cd rom drive. these tools will only run directly from the cd when you boot to it, and so I was hoping, that I could just use linux to boot from the iso, and then using the boot tools there.<br />
<br />
I was also hoping to be able to use this in the future as a possible means of installing windows on computers without a cd rom drive, and windows vista on a computer without a dvd drive.
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Check this page...<br />
<br />
<a href="https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/FromUSBStick" rel="ugc">https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/FromUSBStick</a><br />
<br />
See that part about isotostick.sh ; I used this to put a Ubuntu installer ISO onto a USB stick so I could boot it on a PC without a CD-ROM drive for the purposes of installing Ubuntu. &nbsp;I'm sure it'll work with pretty much any bootable ISO.
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I know this is like mixing drinks to the point of a suicide (mixing all the drinks on tap)<br />
but is there a way to install vista using linux?<br />
<br />
<br />
I found an alternative to booting the boot tools, now I just need to install vista from a thumbdrive.<br />
I have a big enough thumbdrive for the iso, but I can't get it to load with any of the other programs above.
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I'll give you a direct answer... Booting straight off an ISO file inside a thumb drive for the purpose of installing an OS is not possible (yet... although not that I'm aware of anyone who's attempting to incorporate this feature into the BIOS)
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You could install Vista over PXE/TFTP (using just the network connection if that's available on the PC with the defective CD-ROM drive).<br />
I once did that when I tried to install a new operating system on my Fujitsu Siemens Lifebook which doesn't have a floppy or CD-ROM drive installed.<br />
<br />
In general terms, you set up a PXE/BOOTP server on linux, connect both PCs and boot off the network card on the system you're about to install.<br />
<br />
Here's a blog post that tells you how to do this:<br />
<a href="http://tel.jklm.no/2007/3/4/install-vista-by-network-boot" rel="ugc">http://tel.jklm.no/2007/3/4/install-vista-by-network-boot</a>
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well not exactly what I was looking for, but combined, they almost do what I wanted...
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<div class="content wysiwyg-content">
I have a computer whose cd-rom drive is broken, and I don't have the money to buy an external cd-rom drive. I was hoping there is a way to load iso images as a virtual cd-rom drive.<br />
<br />
For example, if I could boot to Linux, mount the iso, and then boot to the cd from Linux.<br />
<br />
This could be very useful for things like installing windows, booting live cds of linux, and booting tools like acronis disk imager from one thumbdrive. if anyone knows of a way to do this, that's what I'm looking for.
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I have a computer whose cd-rom drive is broken, and I don't have the money to buy an external cd-rom drive. I was hoping there is a way to load iso images as a virtual cd-rom drive.

For example, if I could boot to Linux, mount the iso, and then boot to the cd from Linux.

This could be very useful for things like installing windows, booting live cds of linux, and booting tools like acronis disk imager from one thumbdrive. if anyone knows of a way to do this, that's what I'm looking for.

How can I boot an Iso from a thumbdrive?

Linux is a UNIX-like open source operating system with hundreds of distinct distributions, including: Fedora, openSUSE, Ubuntu, Debian, Slackware, Gentoo, CentOS, and Arch Linux. Linux is generally associated with web and database servers, but has become popular in many niche industries and applications.

Linux

System Utilities are a type of system software used to support the computer infrastructure, distinguishing it from application software which is aimed at directly performing tasks that benefit ordinary users. Commonly used utilities include password managers, disk managers, system monitors, data synchronization tools, security and antivirus software and editors.

System Utilities

Operating systems perform basic tasks, such as recognizing input from the keyboard, sending output to the display screen, keeping track of files and directories on the disk, and controlling peripheral devices such as disk drives and printers. For large systems, the operating system makes sure that different programs and users running at the same time do not interfere with each other. The operating system is also responsible for security, ensuring that unauthorized users do not access the system. Operating systems provide a software platform on top of which other programs, called application programs, can run.