RC7: can not boot from USB

[wildcard]

I am having a VERY hard time to get RC7 to boot a PC from a USB drive.  I saw in another thread that PCs that use UEFI are not supported.  Fair enough.  I have an over 12 year old Dell Optima desktop that does not use UEFI for booting.  However, no matter what I try, I can not boot RC7 from a USB drive.  

I do not have any PCs left that can burn the ISO onto a CD-R (the PC with an internal burner is dead and the external CD burner no longer works).  Is there any way to boot RC7 without burning it onto a CD-R?

[grindstone]

Which image are you using? No offense, but the "basics" are ok? (md5 good, boots elsewhere/VM etc)

If you are using CD image, see John's post

[8bitBoid]

Yep, you can use a USB to install. Here's how:

1. Plug in a USB - naturally
2. Go to Rufus.ie and install Rufus
3. Open Rufus and click SELECT and choose the .iso file for Damn Small Linux
4. Click START and it will create a bootable USB stick
5. Stick that sucker in your computer and hit whatever key you need on startup to get into the boot menu

[naiseocea]

Followed all the steps, but my PC isn’t recognizing the USB as bootable. Any ideas?

[mmackows]

Have you ever booted any other distro from this USB stick?
Got bunch of USB sticks and some of the never-ever work as boot device, on very different PCs/laptops so it is possible that you should simply try different one.

[grindstone]

Please confirm you are using the lz4 image and not the first one listed (that will not be found on USB bec it hasn't had isohybrid run on it). The 2nd (lz4) image is for USB usage as the compression method is different for better performance--but it also has had isohybrid performed first.

[wepidi]

You might still be able to boot RC7 from a USB drive even without a CD-R. Since your Dell Optiplex is over 12 years old and uses legacy BIOS rather than UEFI, the key is making sure the USB is created in a BIOS-compatible format.

Try recreating the USB using a tool like Rufus or Balena Etcher. In Rufus, choose MBR as the partition scheme and set the target system to BIOS (or UEFI-CSM). When prompted, try writing the ISO in DD Image mode, which sometimes works better with older systems. Also make sure Legacy USB boot is enabled in the BIOS settings.

On many Dell desktops, pressing F12 during startup opens the boot menu so you can manually select the USB drive. If it still doesn’t work, try a different flash drive, since some older BIOS versions are picky about USB devices.

Another option is using a multi-boot tool like Ventoy, which can sometimes boot ISOs that fail with standard methods.