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Updated By Pendrive Linux - April 3, 2025

YUMI: Multiboot Windows and Linux from USB

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YUMI (Your USB Multiboot Installer) is a powerful multiboot USB tool that allows you to
create bootable flash drives for multiple operating systems. It serves as a USB Windows
media creation tool, enabling you to quickly build a custom USB drive with multiple ISO Search
files and system utilities.
Table of Contents

What is YUMI?

YUMI Multiboot USB Flash Drive Creation

YUMI exFAT (BIOS and UEFI USB Boot)

How To Create Multiboot USB with YUMI?

YUMI exFAT Download

YUMI exFAT Changelog X

USB Bootable ISO files

Using YUMI on Linux

FAQ, Known Issues, Bugs

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YUMI Video
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Web Companion
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Free Download

Download

What is YUMI?

YUMI Multiboot USB creator has been considered by many to be the best tool to make a
USB bootable. It replaces our old Multiboot ISOS tool and is also the successor to our
Universal USB Installer (UUI) USB software. These tools, along with Unetbootin, were
among the first ever made for the purpose of creating a bootable flash drive.

All bootable ISO files are stored within the YUMI folder. This makes for a nicely organized Pendrive Help & Tips
portable Multiboot USB drive that can still be used for traditional storage purposes.
How to Reset USB Drives

Though the utility was originally intended to be used to boot from USB "LIVE Linux" Recover Lost USB Drive Space
operating systems and tools, using it to install Linux from a flash drive to a hard drive
Fastest USB Flash Drives
should also work with most distributions. If you find a distro where the installer does not
Setup BIOS for USB Booting
work, please let me know. You can also use this software as a Windows Media Creation
Tool to build Bootable Windows Installers, enabling you to easily install Windows 10 or 11 Additional Help and Tools

from USB.

YUMI Multiboot USB Flash Drive Creation

This tool functions similarly to classic utilities like Universal USB Installer or Rufus. However,
unlike traditional single ISO to USB tools such as the Windows Media Creation Tool, YUMI
lets you boot multiple ISO files from a single flash drive — offering greater flexibility when
creating a multi purpose bootable USB. Distributions can also easily be uninstalled or
removed with the same tool!

Question: You might be asking, how can I boot from USB with exFAT?
Answer: The YUMI exFAT media creation tool can be used to automatically create an
exFAT bootable USB. The following explains key differences between it and all of the older
archived, no longer updated variants:

YUMI exFAT supports exFAT format & 4GB+ files. BIOS and UEFI USB boot.
YUMI Legacy (archived) supports NTFS or Fat32 format. BIOS USB boot only.
YUMI UEFI (archived) Fat32 only. BIOS and UEFI USB booting (distro dependent).

YUMI exFAT (BIOS and UEFI USB Boot)

This is the the latest and suggested variant to use going forward. It allows you to keep
using an exFAT format on your USB drive and store files larger than 4GB. Both modern UEFI
and Legacy BIOS boot modes are supported. You can also drag and drop bootable ISO files
into folders onto your flash drive to be automatically detected and added to the boot
menu at startup.

YUMI exFAT utilizes a bootloader based on Ventoy2Disk along with a custom YUMI theme
and configuration enabling you to use advanced Ventoy boot methods with YUMI's helpful
front end. Making it easy to find new distributions to download and try.

Create and manage, for example, Arch, Debian, Fedora, and Ubuntu based distributions
with persistent images, or make multiple bootable Windows Media Installers — functioning
much like a custom Windows Media Creation Tool but with added multiboot support. You
can even use the software for installing Windows onto USB in which case each distribution
is stored and booted from separate VHDx images.

It is also important to note that this variant is backwards compatible with Ventoy. In fact, if
you'd like, instead of using YUMI2USB you can copy YUMI-exFAT-1.0.3.0.exe to the same
location as your Ventoy2Disk.exe and the multiboot USB boot tool will autodetect and use
it instead for performing installation/updates.

How the YUMI App works

YUMI enables each user to create their own custom multiboot UFD containing only the
distributions they want. Additional distributions can be added to the USB drive each time
the tool is run.

After your select drive has been setup by using "Prepare this Device" option, you can
proceed use the front end Installer to learn more about and download distributions and
tools to put on the selected drive. The front end will automatically create an organized
folder structure and then copy each ISO file to the drive for you. This media creation tool
will also keep track of your installations, which can come in handy for removal later on.

Your Universal multiboot Installer software can also create persistent storage files for you
along with any related .json entries. Note that each Arch, Fedora, Debian or Ubuntu based
distribution can have its own persistent storage.

Bootable exFAT Flash Drive Setup and USB Boot Menu

YUMI exFAT - preparing a flash drive to multi-boot from USB

YUMI exFAT - Multiboot bootable USB Boot Menu

YUMI USB Boot Maker Features:

Official Website links are provided to help you learn more about each USB bootable
distribution or tool.
Download links make it easy to find new ISO files to try to boot from USB.
Up to 40GB persistence file creation for Arch, Fedora, Ubuntu and Debian based
distributions such as KALI Linux.
Easily add or remove installed ISO distributions and persistent block files.
Automatic drive preparation using a Fat32 boot partition and exFAT partition for
storage.
Optional ability to "Drag and Drop ISO files" onto USB.
100% Free and Open Source (version specific source code is provided upon release).

Drag and Drop ISO Support:

You can also create your own storage folders within the YUMI folder on the flash drive and
then just drag and drop your ISO, IMG, WIM, VHD(x), VDI.vtoy, and EFI files into those
folders on the USB flash drive. During startup, the system will add entries for discovered
items. Stored files can be larger than 4GB.

Is USB Secure Boot Supported?

Yes, this variant makes use of the upstream Ventoy Secure Boot. Simply select VTOYEFI and
then set ENROLL_THIS_KEY_IN_MOKMANAGER.cer as the Select Key to be enrolled into
the MOK database.

Essentials to make a Multi System Bootable USB Drive

Recommended flash drives: You will have the best experience when using a fast solid state
flash thumb drive. I've put together a list of the best USB flash drives that I've personally
used and highly recommend. All of them are all SSD and super fast.

4GB+ flash drive (128GB - 1TB sized SSD works well).

Computer that can boot from USB.
Windows 11, 10, 8 operating environment (or Linux with WINE)
YUMI (to create a Multiboot USB).
Your favorite Windows and Linux ISO Files.

How To Create Multiboot USB with YUMI?

Making the Multiboot USB flash drive (Windows)

1. Launch YUMI following the onscreen instructions.

2. Then, run the tool again to add more ISOs/Distributions to your thumb drive.
3. Restart your PC and during system post, before a loading logo appears, use hotkey to
access BIOS. For example; a Lenovo boot menu key is typically F12. Other commonly
used keys are F1, F2, F9, F10, and ESC.
4. Set your UEFI or BIOS Boot Menu to boot from the USB drive, and then save changes
(F10).
5. Proceed to start your computer from the USB drive.
6. Select a distribution or tool to launch. Then, boot and enjoy!

That's really all there is to it. If all went well, then you should be booting your favorite
distributions from your custom multiboot USB drive!

YUMI exFAT Download

Updated: 3 April, 2025 YUMI-exFAT-1.0.3.0.exe

YUMI exFAT SHA-256: f259d5b2cbaaef9348c27a8f1fc2cd1f52646501b406048fba6ffbe002ff57c1

YUMI Source
YUMI-exFAT-1.0.3.0.exe

···

WARNING Backup Data: You must backup any data you wish to keep before using the
"Prepare this Device" option. While preparing the drive, ALL volumes/partitions on the
selected (Disk #) even if hidden, will be wiped clean.

YUMI exFAT Changelog

The following log outlines recent changes made to the exFAT version of the software. Note
that only the most recent revisions are shown here.

4/3/2025 YUMI-exFAT-1.0.3.0: Update to use the Ventoy 1.1.05 bootloader to address

resolution issue when booting Windows, WinPE ISO in UEFI mode.

12/23/2024 YUMI-exFAT-1.0.2.9: Created Penetration Testing and Tiny Linux Distros

Directories. Added Void Linux, updated broken links.

10/4/2024 YUMI-exFAT-1.0.2.8: Allow for Unlisted .ISO or .IMG file detection under
option "Try Unlisted ISO/IMG". Improve method for detecting remaining space on drive.
Return to menu instead of abort if not enough space remains on drive for the selected
distro.

7/21/2024 YUMI-exFAT-1.0.2.7: Update to use the Ventoy 1.0.99 bootloader. Included

the ability to exclude drives from being selected by adding a blank text file named
"excludedrive.txt" to the root of the drive to be excluded.

5/22/2024 YUMI-exFAT-1.0.2.6: Update to use the Ventoy 1.0.98 bootloader which

provides upstream support for newer KAOS and Arch Linux releases.

USB Bootable ISO files

Here are some bootable Live Linux distros, portable Operating Systems, Windows Installers,
and system diagnostic tools that you can install and boot from USB using this software.
Keep in mind that this list is by no means all inclusive.

Distribution Name Supported Live ISO

Debian is a versatile and stable distribution. Suitable for

desktops, servers, and development environments.

Debian Live
Debian Live with persistence
The Debian Installer

Fedora focuses on innovation and includes the latest

technologies. Ideal for developers and Linux enthusiasts.
Fedora Linux
Fedora with persistence

A user-friendly Ubuntu-based distribution known for its

simplicity and productivity.

Linux Mint
Linux Mint with persistence
Debian Edition

OpenSUSE is a powerful, community-driven Linux

distribution that offers flexibility and security, suitable for
developers and sysadmins.
OpenSUSE

OpenSUSE 32/64 bit

Lightweight, fast, and ideal for older hardware or small

resource devices. Puppy Linux comes with several
variations.

DPup Exprimo
Puppy Linux Fatdog64
Lucid Puppy Linux
Precise Puppy Linux
Racy Puppy Linux
Wary Puppy Linux

Originally derived from Debian Linux, Ubuntu is one of the

most popular Linux distributions, known for its ease of use,
extensive support, and wide range of flavors. Most support
a persistent option as well for saving and restoring changes
on subsequent boots.

Ubuntu with persistence

Ubuntu Gnome
Ubuntu Linux Ubuntu Server Installer
Ubuntu Secure Remix
Ubuntu Studio
Edubuntu
Kubuntu with persistence
Lubuntu with persistence
Xubuntu with persistence
Backbox

Tiny Lightweight Linux distributions designed to run on

minimal resources. Ideal for older hardware or embedded
systems.

Puppy Linux
Tiny Linux Distros Damn Small Linux (DSL)
Slax (Tiny Slackware Based Distro)
Slacko Puppy
Slitaz (Another Tiny Distro)
TinyCore (A Tiny Linux Distribution)

Other unique Linux distributions and remixes, each offering

different features and capabilities.

Android-x86
Antergos
AntiX
Archlinux with persistence
Bodhi
Bunsenlabs/Crunchbang
CAELinux (Computer Aided Engineering)
CentOS Live
ChaletOS
Clear Linux
Fuduntu
gpxe (Net Bootable Distros)
KNOPPIX
KXStudio
Mandriva
Netrunner
OSGeo Live
Other Distros
PCLinuxOS
Alphabetical
Peppermint
Peach OSI Linux
Pear Linux
Pinguy OS
Porteus
PureOS
SalineOS
Scientific Linux CERN
Semplice Linux
Sparky Linux
SolydX
Sugar on a Stick
System Rescue CD
Tails (Anonymous Browsing)
Liberte (Anonymous Browsing)
Terralinux
Ultimate Edition 3
XBMCbuntu
Zorin OS Core

Specialized distributions optimized for netbook usage,

offering lightweight interfaces and features.

NetBook EasyPeasy (NetBook Distro)

Distributions Jolicloud (NetBook Distro)
Ubuntu Netbook Remix
xPUD (Netbook Distro)

Specialized Linux distributions optimized for Chromebook

and Chromebox usage.
Linux for
Chromebooks
GalliumOS - Best Linux for Chromebooks

Distributions designed to run within virtual machine

environments for testing, isolation, or development.
Virtual Machines
ProxMox (Virtual Machine Environment) VME

Rescue CDs and USb boot tools for scanning and removing
malware from infected systems.

Acronis Antimalware CD
AOSS (Malware Scanner) system\stage1
AVG Rescue CD (Antivirus Scanner)
AVIRA AntiVir Rescue CD (Virus Scanner)
Bitdefender Rescue Disk (Antivirus Scanner)
Antivirus Tools
Comodo Rescue Disk (Antivirus Scanner)
Dr.Web Live CD
F-Secure Rescue CD
GDATA Rescue CD
Kaspersky Rescue Disk (Antivirus Scanner)
Panda SafeCD
Windows Defender Offline

USB bootable Linux Distributions designed for penetration

testing and ethical hacking, often including security tools
and features.

BackBox
BackTrack5
Penetration Testing KALI with persistence
Matriux
Caine
Demon Linux
WifiSlax (Wifi Wireless Pen Testing)
Xiaopan

Utility distributions for system recovery, disk management,

partitioning, cloning, and testing hardware.

Acronis True Image

Boot Repair Disk
Clonezilla with persistence
DBAN (Hard Drive Nuker)
Deft (Forensics)
DRBL (Diskless Remote Boot in Linux)
EASEUS Disk Copy (Disk Cloning Tool)
GParted (Partition Tools)
GRML (system rescue)
HDT (Hardware Detection Tool)
System Tools Memtest86+ (Memory Testing Tool)
Offline NT Password & Registry Editor
Ophcrack (Password Finder)
Parted Magic (Partition Tools)
PING (Partimg Is Not Ghost)
Partition Wizard (Partition Tools)
Rescatux
Redo Backup And Recovery (Recovery Tools)
Rip Linux (Recovery Distro)
Trinity Rescue Kit
Ultimate Boot CD (Diagnostics Tools)
Web Converger (Web Kiosk)
WifiSlax

Tools and ISOs for creating bootable USBs for Windows

installation or recovery.

Linux Live Tools for OCZ

Linux CNC
Hirens Boot CD (HBCD)
Hirens Boot PE
USB Boot Windows
Falcon 4 Boot CD
11, 10, 8, 7, XP
Sergei strelec WinPE
Windows Media
Other WinPE
Creation Tool
Kon-Boot Floppy Image
Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, Installer
Windows booting USB (via Windows X-Lite ISOs)
Windows PE on USB
Windows XP Installer
Windows To Go (no longer)

Run Windows 11 from a Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) on a USB

drive for portable use.
Boot and Run
Windows 11 from
Phoenix LiteOS - Windows X-Lite "Windows 10
VHD on USB
bootable USB" "Windows 11 bootable USB"

Test unlisted or custom ISO files to see if they work with

your system or hardware configuration.
Unlisted ISOs
Try an Unlisted ISO/IMG

Please feel free to inform me of any unlisted "FREE" Live Linux distributions or version revisions, and I will update

the USB Multiboot Tool to support them. Additionally, open source developers who wish to have their Live Linux

distribution added, can direct me to a copy to try.

Using YUMI on Linux

Can I use YUMI on Linux? Yes, you can use the YUMI4Linux "YUMI.sh" script to make a
Multibooting USB from within Linux. After preparation, you'll be able to drag and drop ISO
files into the YUMI folder on the prepared drive. ISO files stored there will be detected and
then added to the menu for USB booting.

Here's how to get started using YUMI in Linux:

The following steps assume that gzip and WINE packages are already installed on your
system. If they, aren't you'll want to install them both before proceeding.

1. First, open a terminal. Ctrl+Alt+T

2. Next, from the open terminal window, cd to your desktop:

cd Desktop

3. Now download YUMI4Linux gzipped tarball using the wget command:

wget https://yumiusb.com/downloads/YUMI/YUMI4Linux.tar.gz

4. Then, use the following tar command to extract the archive:

(Note: you may be able to just double click the file to extract.)

tar xzvf YUMI4Linux.tar.gz

5. Use the cd command to switch to the YUMI4Linux folder:

cd YUMI4Linux

6. To set permissions and run the YUMI Linux script as root user, enter the following:
(Note you must have sudo installed)

chmod +x ./YUMI.sh && sudo ./YUMI.sh

Once finished, the included YUMI-exFAT-1.0.3.0.exe can be run from WINE to learn more
about a distro, download related ISO files, and install additional distributions + create
persistence files on any prepared drive.

Distros can be conveniently added or removed with the .exe at any time on prepared
drives.

To do this, you can simply issue the wine command from the directory containing YUMI-
exFAT-1.0.3.0.exe as follows:

wine YUMI-exFAT*

Note: If you want to see how it works, the files contained within the YUMI4Linux.tar.gz are
also the source code.

FAQ, Known Issues, Bugs

The Persistence feature is currently broken with Newer Debian based distributions due to
changes upstream. Debian now requires the persistent block file and label to be named
persistence instead of live-rw, and it must hold a persistence.conf file containing / Union.
This has been partially Fixed with the most recent releases and does work for some
distributions such as KALI Linux with persistence.

Excluding a Drive from being detected: To exclude a drive from being detected by YUMI,
you can create a blank text file named "excludedrive.txt" and place it at the root of the
drive to be excluded.

ISO file not detected? Force an ISO

You can try to force the selection of an ISO file for ISO filenames that do not appear when
you browse for a select distribution. This is useful in situations where you know that a
distribution is based on another existing distro, but an installable entry or option for it does
not yet exist.

For example; To force a Cinnamon ISO file while using Ubuntu as the select distribution,
you might use the following:

1. Select Ubuntu for the distribution, during step 2.

2. During step 3, when browsing to the ISO file, begin to type ubuntucin into the file
name: box.
3. Click to select the filename from the drop down as its name is being detected.
4. Then click Open to override and force the new file name selection.

Cant boot from USB but BIOS/UEFI supports USB booting

Some flash drives ship formatted (without a partition), but this USB boot tool requires the
drive to contain a partition with a MBR (Master Boot Record). To ensure compatibility, the
installer will format your device during preparation.

Troubleshooting USB Boot Errors:

When booting Linux distributions from some laptops such as the Lenovo Yoga with a
touchscreen, the acpi=off boot parameter might be necessary in order to successfully
boot.

If you don't have a floppy drive and get fd0 errors while booting, simply add
floppy.allowed_drive_mask=0 to the append line for the troubled entry. Although the
best fix is to simply disable floppy in BIOS.

Persistently Saving Changes

The casper-rw persistence feature is used for some (but not all) Debian and Ubuntu based
distributions. Yes, you can also have multiple persistent distributions, as each distro utilizes
its own block file.

Ophcrack Tables
In order to load Ophcrack tables, the tables folder needs to exist at the root directory of
the USB device; (example F:\tables\vista_free). You can get Ophcrack Tables from the
Official Ophcrack site. Once downloaded, simply unzip them to the root of the USB.
Because you're using this method, you can have your Windows 11/10/8/XP tables all
working together on the same device.

TAILS: If your USB drive is detected as a "fixed" hard drive and not a "removable" disk, (a
few of the larger AXE and SanDisk drives have the removable bit flipped this way), you'll
need to remove occurrences of the boot parameter "live-media=removable" or
consequently TAILS will fail to find the live filesystem.

YUMI exFAT and the Ventoy Bootloader

YUMI was among the first tools to pioneer the creation of multi-system bootable USB
drives, designed for the purpose of booting multiple operating systems and tools from a
single USB device. It originated as a Windows-based USB multi-boot software developed
back in 2010 and was publicly released on March 13, 2011. The latest version can be run on
either Windows or within Linux using WINE.

The exFAT variant is an iteration that utilizes the newer Ventoy boot process in place of its
older USB multi-booting methods while retaining YUMI's familiar frontend and popular
features. These features include user-defined automated persistence file creation, the
ability to create VHD containers for running Windows from USB, and a means of providing
users with categorized information, website links, and download links for each bootable
distribution or tool.

Key features, such as A1ive's (AGFM) Grub File Manager-based Boot Menu, were already
integrated into the exFAT variant before the existence of Ventoy. At its inception, Ventoy
also adopted AGFM along with Rufus partitioning methods to use separate partitions for
boot and storage. This setup allows for NTFS or exFAT large file storage, along with a small
FAT partition for BIOS boot support. This feature, originally pioneered by Pete Batard (the
developer of Rufus), eventually became a standard across these utilities, providing a
method for all of them to natively support both BIOS and UEFI USB booting.

Ventoy works by modifying the boot sector of the USB drive (based on characteristics of
the ISO file being booted) to implement its unique boot method. Doing so allows it to be
compatible with a wide range of bootable ISO files, operating systems, and utilities,
eliminating the need to extract or physically manipulate the contents of an ISO file. This
ability to modify the boot sector is the main feature that LongPanda's project brought to
the table.

All of these open-source projects have their place in the ongoing cycle of bootable USB
software development and provide a feedback loop that each developer can draw from,
allowing for the expansion into the creation of ever-evolving software.

YU MI can be pronounced Yŭh * Mēē or "YUMMY". It is often misspelled YUMMI, YUUMI,

or YUMY. Some might also call it Yū * Mēē or "YOU ME".

Linux® is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Windows® is a trademark of Microsoft.

Copyright © 2006 - 2025 Pendrive Linux - Helping you effortlessly make Live bootable Linux USB sticks, since 2006.

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