Ventoy: Multi-boot USB Drive Tool

How to use Ventoy to create a multi-boot USB drive containing many different ISO or other operating system image files.

In this Ventoy video, we briefly boot up live images of Ubuntu and Linux Mint, which I have most recently reviewed in these videos:

More videos on computing and related topics can be found at:

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:50 Install & Demo
06:56 Local Image Files
08:33 Linux Install
10:58 Wrap

#Ventoy #Multiboot #ExplainingComputers

[Darkk]

Ventoy is an absolute time saver. No more fumbling through USB flash drives. Updating the ISOs is a matter of going through them via the file manager or CLI. You can also create folders to keep things organized.

[VerboseChicken]

Hey Chris a few years ago I watched your video about building a budget gaming pc and built the exact same one you did to get me started. This weekend my middle son and I rebuilt all three of my kids pcs together. I just wanted to say how helpful that start you gave me into pc building was those years ago. Now my entire household plays and works on pc and my son and I have another fun hobby to do together.

[fggyc]

Something I think is underrated about Ventoy is that even if you're not installing multiple operating systems all the time, you can still store normal data on the Ventoy partition along with the ISOs. So now if youve got a 128gb USB drive then you can use 8GB for windows without wasting the other 120 GB! (and if you want to install a different operating system then you don't have to format the USB drive so your data stays intact.)

[Praxibetel-Ix]

Ventoy looks like a very useful little tool. I think that a Ventoy drive full of ISO files must be more compact and easier to keep up with than a binder full of burnt installation discs. Great video as always!

[legojenn]

Thanks. I'm not a distro hopper or someone that services other computers, but it's still nifty to have multiple ISO files on the same thumb drive. It is a waste of resources to fill a 128 Gb with a 2 Gb image. The big advantage is that updating the ISOs is a simple matter of drag and drop.

I love your demonstrations of the possible even if an immediate need is not apparent. It is always appreciated.

[RoboNuggie]

Seems like a handy tool - thank you Chris!
Enjoy your Sunday 🙂

[markconger]

Ventoy tip: if you have a lot of ISOs on the drive it is more useful to organize them into subfolders and then use Ventoy’s treeview mode. This effectively makes Ventoy menu driven.

I have Linux desktop distros (e.g. Mint, Debian, Ubuntu), Linux utility distros (e.g. Clonezilla, Medicat), Windows installers, firmware updaters (e.g. Samsung and Western Digital SSD, Lenovo laptop) and more.

Also, it may not have been obvious in the video, but you can copy files other than bootable images. So mp4 files, PDFs, Word and Excel, etc.

[bluephreakr]

I use Ventoy. There are some peculiarities you seem to have missed out on in the beginning. If you want to use this on a modern boot system, you kinda need to use GPT as partition style. _Otherwise_ people will be confused as to why it isn't working on most modern machines. MBR (really, MS-DOS) partition style will only work on older, "Legacy boot" machines.

If you are able to use the USB device with GPT-formatted disk table in modern boot mode _and_ you have legacy boot / "CSM" enabled as an option, then depending on firmware of the mainboard in use you must be careful of what you select as your boot device. If you see the same device referenced by device name _and_ attached port, *without* seeing if the selections are modern or legacy then the device name will be modern boot, device _port_ will be legacy boot.

*The above is very important to understand.* If you are going to dual-boot systems, _and_ you initiate a live session via legacy mode to install the system in a GPT-formatted disk then you _won't_ be using modern boot where the Linux or BSD system would otherwise use an existing ESP (or one of your selection) during installation. Overwriting the MBR in a disk with Windows usually isn't catastrophic, but for safety sake, if you are using a modern boot system then *please* set partition style in Ventoy2Disk to GPT.

A note about Secure Boot: if you use it, then you are limited to Windows and Linux systems which support it initially (effectively, Ubuntu and Fedora). Otherwise you have to add the Secure Boot support yourself. _Not only that_ you also need to enroll the disk Ventoy is on if you are going to use it with Secure Boot in the first place. So there's some extra tomfoolery you can immediately skip by disabling Secure Boot but then you ignore an important provision against rootkit attacks on the mainboard UEFI during use in Windows. (Not that it matters, there is malware which can bypass Secure Boot provisions, like BlackLotus that should be of greater concern.)

Windows installation caveats; not all machines like Ventoy as boot method, declaring a driver problem that isn't able to be bypassed easily by an end-user, and which can be avoided by using an alternative means, such as Microsoft's intended method of using the Media Creation Tool for Win10 / Win11, writing the installer files from ISO to a USB device then adding the system's corresponding MBR for an MS-DOS system or using WoEUSB in Linux systems to make the Windows installation media from an existing ISO.

Overall, Ventoy is a utility that gives the end-user great power. But its default configuration may lead to users making many mistakes and encountering undue difficulties. It is certainly a wonderful tool, if you treat it with the reverence and fear demanded of something that can unintentionally be cause for a system to malfunction, or _at the very least_ not function as an end-user may expect.

[kote]

Ventoy is one of the tools that I love. I used to carry a dozen flash drives with me, now I only carry two or three. But please note that not all images are supported. Some of them simply won't boot, some don't work correctly. As an example, there was a problem with LMDE - in live mode everything worked fine, but after installation you got a broken system (most likely older versions were affected by this problem, now it seems to have been fixed, but I haven’t tried it)

[ypat]

A very useful tool that deserved to be showcased so well by you. Only bad thing, any video where Mr. Scissors and Stanley the Knife are missing in action make me yearn for more.

[idowebwork]

Imagine carrying a single USB drive with Windows 7, 8.1, 10, 11, & Ubuntu. Thanks Ventoy for making that possible.

[dant]

Good to see Ventoy getting the spotlight. It's quite handy when you have a bunch of tiny, rarely-used images, things like Memtestx86 and DBAN. Saves having to dedicate a USB stick to them, or having to rewrite a stick with Rufus when you need them.

[lawrenceallwright]

Been using Ventoy for some time, but thank you for bringing it to people who might not be familiar, and showing how simple it is to install and use.
"Most Excellent!"

[JendaLinda]

Another neat thing. If Ventoy is already installed on the flash drive, it can be updated to newer version without erasing the entire flash drive. So you don't need to copy all the image files again.

[cashmoney]

I absolutely LOVE Ventoy! It's definitely one of my favorite pieces of Software and I'm glad to see you cover it and give it some screen time. Ventoy has been a huge time saver for me and makes it to where I don't have to have a dozen jump drives on hand at all time, I can use just the one!

Once again... Great Video!!

[rbruce]

Okay this tool I love. I loaded Ventoy on a 128 GB flash drive, copied all my install images to it and now I can install from any ISO I have and I do not have to juggle flash drives or even find them when I need them. I just created 2 one for use and one for backup in case the first get damaged. It also will load tools like Partition Wizard. The is a FANTASTIC tool

[alexeisavrasov]

Thank you for this video walk-through. I've installed Ventoy and improved my Linux knowledge of files and terminal operations a bit more (self-confessed lazy Linux user). I wanted to follow you exactly after things weren't working, and find out what I was doing wrong, very basic things like extracting the file and running it.
Excellent video!
I moved from Windows (about 10 years) to Linux (mint) - now almost 4 years. And I've never had to re-install the OS once, or had any serious issues, even though I've blundered about...the difference is night and day.
But I had to comment when you said you had to hack Windows to get copy/paste on your right-click mouse menu. What the?! Incredible...hard to believe...but there it is. The things you miss when you've fallen off the WIndows wagon! Though I did hear that the Windows developers want to go so far as to get rid of the Start menu. It seems like they're trying to go with minimal user control, "let the A.I. do it for you" philosophy.
No thanks! Soon we'll be asking permission to go on loo breaks from the all-mighty A.I. Big Brother.

[Dac_DT_MKD]

I use a different program called Yumi for about a year now, and it's a great tool that has helped me at work. Not only it's great to have multiple installations, but it's also great for bootable tools like Windows PE, Memory Test, partition tools and many others. It has saved me and my coworkers from the trouble of having one USB stick for each and every OS or bootable tool.
Edit: I thought that Yumi was a fork of Ventoy, but a commenter pointed out that it isn't.

[Wythaneye]

Thanks for the video! Ventoy has been on my to-do list for some time now and your video was enough to convince me to get it working. I have a handful of USB sticks for repairing/imaging/modifying PCs and having all my tools on one stick will be a game changer. I should point out one thing you overlooked, though, in that you made no differentiation between MBR and GPT. The GUI tool allows for both, and depending on which system I'm working on, I have to use one or the other. Easy enough for me to just have 2 Ventoy sticks, one for each system type, but it's definitely worth noting, especially if your Ventoy stick doesn't boot.

[tbone]

Thank you for showing me the browse feature in Ventoy. Been using Ventoy for a few years and had no idea that you can browse for ISO files on the local machine.

In Mint Mate, the right click menu has an option for Open in Terminal. Other Linux flavors might also have the same option. If you browse to the folder that you want, right click and select Open in Terminal, it will open Terminal already pointed to that folder. This short cut saved me a lot of typing.