Create a Bootable Chrome OS USB Drive

Do not attempt this unless you have a fair understanding of your computer, how to set it up, and how to undo any changes you make to it's operating parameters.

THE AUTHOR REFUSES TO BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY PROBLEMS YOU ENCOUNTER SHOULD YOU TRY THESE INSTRUCTIONS; IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG, THIS IS FAIR WARNING. DO NOT CONTACT ME IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM.

First, the reason I suggest a USB (sometimes called thumb) drive is this. You don't want to reformat your fixed disk for a test version of an operating system. Really. You don't.

Second, you can't write a CD or DVD with this OS as Chrome OS must be able to write back to the disk to operate properly. A burned CD or DVD won't allow write-backs.

Third because this is a test build you probably don't want to make this a permanent fixture on your computer. The obvious solution is a USB drive set up to run and launch Chrome OS.

Here's the "Ingredient" list for your Chrome OS boot drive:

• 1 USB drive preferably in 4GB range (the image file is 2,988,442,112 bytes)
• uTorrent download application found here
• Instructions for uTorrent found here (optional if you know uTorrent)
  
• ChromeOS.img file. You can find a copy here; you need uTorrent or another bitTorrent application to download it. Be sure to follow the instructions at the link immediately above.
  
• WinZip or a similar unzipping tool (Windows XP and up will open Zip files)
• ImageWriter for Windows

All of the following instructions assume you are using some version of the Windows operating system and have a USB port and 4GB USB "thumb" drive.

Caution: The author bears no responsibility for this effort. If it doesn't work don't blame me. I followed these directions exactly and got perfect results.

You do not need to format the USB drive. Copying the image file to it with an Image-writer will reformat the drive anyway.

Download the chromos.img from the link above with a bitTorrent (like uTorrent) program. This will take a long time as it's almost 3GB in size.

Once the file is downloaded open it with Winzip. Note: Windows XP and up can also open zip files as a folder.

Extract the contents of the chromeos.zip file to a folder. You should end up with eight (8) files including:

1. mingwm10.dll
2. QtGui4.dll
3. QtCore4.dll
4. GPL-2
5. LGPL-2.1
6. Win32DiskImager.exe
7. README.txt
8. chromeos.img

Extract the above eight files to a directory you've set up for that purpose.

Insert your USB drive. You now have everything you need to create a bootable USB drive.

Start Win32DiskImager.exe. (see photo at right) by double clicking on it in the folder. You want to start the copy from the directory you setup up above.

Click on the blue folder icon to the very right of the Image File input box. This will open a window file folder. Search for chromos.img in the same directory or folder you launched Win32DiskImager from and select chromos.img. This will place that file in the box.

To the right of the blue button you just pressed you'll see a drive letter. It's a "pull-down" selector. Using this tool select the appropriate drive letter for your USB drive.

Click the write button and wait. This may take up to half an hour as it's a very large file and writing to the USB takes some time.

Once the "gas gauge" gets to 100% click the Exit button.

Congratulations, you've just created a bootable chromeos thumb drive.

You want your computer to boot from the USB drive. To do this you have to make changes in the basic input output system (BIOS) load sequence. This isn't hard and it's not particularly dangerous, unless you make a mistake.

All you are going to do here is tell your computer to look to the USB drive first, then the CD/DVD ROM, and then your bootable hard drive. It already knows to try to load from the hard drive and/or the CD/DVD ROM.

Most computers use [F2] to access this setup when you start your computer. You should see even see the [F2] key displayed at the top of the screen when you start your computer before it goes into Windows or Linux (depending on what you run).

Here are the steps and they should look something like the images at right. The images at right are in the order they need to be in to accomplished for this task.

Just remember to have the ChromeOS thumb drive mounted when you start this. Here are the steps:

1. As the computer starts up hit the function key for Set Up; in my case [F2]
   
2. In the menu that comes up look for the Boot Sequence and hit [Enter]
3. Your cursor should now be in the list of devices to boot from; you should see one USB Device down near the bottom of the list
4. Using the "U" key or "D" key move the device either to the top of the list or one position below the CD/DVD; the point is you want the USB device to boot before the Bootable Hard Drive
5. Now that you have the USB drive at or near the top of the list press [Esc] twice; once to get out of the device menu and a second time to save your changes and restart
6. Looking at the fourth (4th) image at right you should see a question asking if you want to save the new settings and exit, you do; in the screenshot at right it is the Exit menu and you are being asked Save & Exit; you want to.
   

Once you do this your computer will restart. Make sure you don't have anything in your CD/DVD ROM drive, but that the USB thumb drive is mounted. As the computer restarts it will start in Chromium OS.

You'll need the following to run Chrome (Chromium) OS.

• a Google email account (if you don't have one go here)
• an Internet connection
• a mouse
• a keyboard

The four (4) screen shots at right are what you should see running Chrome (Chromium) OS.

The first image is the login screen. The second is my log in with the passwords shown as dots. Yes, that is my email address if you want to use it.

Once you log in you'll likely see either your calendar or your email account. Look for the Chrome icon all the way at the upper left to go into the applications section. (third image at right). Everything works, but I had a problem with the chess game; it froze after five moves.

Kudos:

• Chrome OS loads fast!
• Chrome OS detects and connects to the Internet via whatever device you have set up for that purpose
• It recognizes and uses your mouse
• It recognizes and uses your keyboard

In short, there should be nothing you have to set up to gain instant access to the Internet.

Boos:

• Once running it's slow!
• Even typing into text fields is slow
• Screen resolution is limited to 800 X 600 (though it looks like 640 X 480)
• You can't print to a printer, but you can print to a file
• There's no shutdown; you have to turn your computer off

Bear in mind that this is a cobbled together build of Linux boot kernels and the Chrome browser. This particular version of chrome is a rough replication of what Google is shipping with their Cr-48 computer. It is not the version released directly from Google.

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!

If you want to restart in Linux or Windows after playing around with this:

• Shut down your computer (by hand)
• Remove the USB drive
• Restart (or turn on) your computer

This "hacked" install will not get you into the ChromeOS testing group and you may even see some security warning screens.

This is pretty interesting for a first step toward a whole new operating system and environment. For that reason it's going to be klunky and awkward.

But play around with it, if you dare, and see if Google's idea of the future has merit is just a failed effort.

A Word About What's on the USB Drive
Should you reboot into Windows (XP and up) and access this tumb drive you'll be prompted to reformat it as Windows won't be able to "see" what's on it. Don't do that if you want to continue to run Chrome.

Should you be a Linux user and examine the contents of this thumb drive you'll be surprised to see a Linux operating system on it.

Chrome is not a true OS. It is a browser parked on top of Linux.

The author was not compensated in any way, either monetarily, with discounts, or freebees for the writing of this article.

The author will make a small profit for the article itself and a small percentage of advertising revenues. The author has no control over the advertising attached to this article nor any control over the contents of those ads.