

The USB stick isn't persistent (though you can still use Unetbootin to do this). This method deletes all the data present on the USB drive Hybrid ISOs are still compatible with Unetbootin and Startup Disk Creator The resulting USB stick will act exactly like a liveCD/DVD. With hybrid images, you can simply write the content of the ISO and make a bootable USB stick which can install Linux Mint by using the 'dd' command.

Traditionally, tools such as 'Startup Disk Creator' or 'UNetbootin' were needed to install Linux Mint via USB. Previous releases such as Linux Mint 9, 10, 11, or even the main edition of Linux Mint 12 are not covered by this tutorial. Starting with the release of Linux Mint 12 KDE RC, Linux Mint switched to Hybrid ISO images. This tutorial only covers Hybrid ISO images.
