In ‘olden days’ [LOL] there was a procedure where you UNHIDE and UNPROTECT (-h -s) the system ‘boot files’ and so forth, on a Windows Vista or Windows 7 installation, and then copy those to the USB stick, so it would be bootable.

There are HUGE problems with FAT-32 vs. NTFS and booting of USB sticks; AND even HUGER (ha, ‘more HUGE’) problems with 4GB and over vs. 4GB and under (in USB stick size).
AND even huge problems with certain ‘models’ of usb stick. Those that have the ‘built-in’ ReadyBoost enabled may have problems acting as normal boot devices.
I have a $10 4GB Ativa USB stick that works PERFECTLY, when formatted as FAT-32, BUT it is NOT big enough to hold the Windows Server 2008 Dell Install DVD – which is under 4GB but, for some reason, will NOT fit on a 4GB USB. So, currently I am trying 8GB USB sticks, but I noticed that they have the ‘ReadyBoost’ feature enabled, by default, and when formatted as FAT-32, I am not yet able to boot from the device, ‘no boot device found,’ BUT I’m not perfectly certain that I did the “diskpart” steps correctly (active, format, assign); SO, I tried then to use NTFS as the format for my 8GB USB, but ‘BOOTMGR is missing’ is the error I get.

So, there you have it.
Here’s what I did:
1. diskpart
2. select disk 1
3. clean
4. create partition primary
5. select partition 1
6. active
7. format fs=NTFS quick
8. assign
9. exit

But, I did a “drag-n-drop” copy and NOT an “xcopy” – so, now I’m wondering if that also had/has anything to do with it? YES, I have ‘show all hidden, system, etc.’ turned on.

Also, remember in ‘days of old,’ you would do a “Format /s” – so that you make a “system bootable” disk. So… Any ideas ??????? Thanks in advance!

The fix is for correcting the error on the hard disk, but the problem we’re having when we try to create a bootable ubontu usb stick is caused by the formatting of the usb stick.

At least that’s my experience. First I tried to use an usb stick with NTFS formatting. Then I got the BOOTMGR is missing error. I tried to change different options and rebooted again and again – nothing changed.

Finally I tried to reformatted to FAT32 and started all over and this time i worked perfect.

So solution is to make sure your usb stick is NOT NTFS format.

that page about fixing – it need vista DVD – I dont have it right now… command line commands are not workin with that guide…

please help!

I get BOOTMGR is missing. But ONLY when the Ubuntu live USB is inserted, as soon as i remove it it's fine? Do I still need to follow your BOOTMGR fix?

J

I get BOOTMGR is missing. But ONLY when the Ubuntu live USB is inserted, as soon as i remove it it's fine? Do I still need to follow your BOOTMGR fix?

J

I get BOOTMGR is missing. But ONLY when the Ubuntu live USB is inserted, as soon as i remove it it's fine? Do I still need to follow your BOOTMGR fix?

J

Doing this gives you a USB Ubuntu installation that is:

Portable (You can use it on any PC that can boot from USB – i.e. pretty much any modern PC)

Persistent (It keeps any changes you’ve made to your applications & documents)

Secure (Use a decent passphrase & the average thief won’t be able to see your documents, bank account details, etc)

&

Uses the entire USB – I object to paying for something and then not being able to use it.

Johnny P

I went through quite a bit of pain and trying various tools such as unetbootin and pendrivelinux etc to come up witha a 16Gb Bootable USB that I could use to reboot my work laptop. The inbuilt tool in Ubuntu limited me to 1GB, the other limited me to 4Gb which wasn’t enough for what I wanted. Eventually I realised I was just being silly and there was an easy way. If you’re confident enough in your PC’s BIOS (and if you don’t know what I’m saying here, I suggest you get some help or leave well alone) but inactivate your hard drive, put in your USB, and just do a normal install from a live CD. The USB will be the only hard drive that the install sees. It’s an easy method that gives you all the usual support & options. There’s lots of guides on the net to show you how to do a normal install. Once you’re done, just go back to the BIOS & reactivate your hard drive.

Anyone have an idea why this is happening every time? I’m using an Attache 16GB Flash drive.

Thanks – this seems like a great idea… just wish it would work for me!

SAY SOMETHING INTELLEGENT OR GTFO!