After all the awesome feedback on my last guide—where we walked through the five practical steps for switching from Windows to Linux—I wanted to continue the series with a Part 2. Today we’re going hands-on and testing Linux in Live Mode using Ventoy, a really useful tool that allows us to boot multiple ISO files from a single USB drive.
The idea here is simple: instead of committing to an install right away, we can confirm that Linux actually works with our hardware—things like Wi-Fi, sound, external drives, printers, and even network storage—without touching our existing Windows setup.
What Live Mode Is Good For
Live Mode is great for testing hardware compatibility and getting a feel for a Linux distribution before installing it. It lets you see whether your Wi-Fi adapter works, whether sound output is detected, whether your external drives mount correctly, and whether you can access network shares like a NAS.
One thing I didn’t mention last time is that Live Mode isn’t designed for full workflow testing, gaming, or heavier applications. We’ll save that for Part 3, where we’ll safely set up a dual-boot environment so Linux and Windows can coexist without Windows trying to take a massive dump on our GRUB bootloader.
Choosing the Linux Distros
For this demo, I’m working on an older Dell system and testing Fedora Workstation, Zorin OS, and Linux Mint MATE. Any of these should be perfectly usable on older hardware, which makes them great candidates for this kind of testing.
Downloading and Installing Ventoy
Getting started with Ventoy is refreshingly simple. Head over to Ventoy’s website, download the Windows version, extract the ‘ZIP’ file, and run the ‘ventoy2disk.exe‘ utility.
From there, select your USB drive and click install. What’s important to understand is that Ventoy installs itself onto the USB drive, not your Windows machine. Once that’s done, adding Linux distributions is as easy as dragging and dropping ISO files directly onto the USB.
There’s no flashing process like you’d see with Balena Etcher, which makes Ventoy much faster and more flexible if you want to test multiple distributions.
Secure Boot and BIOS Notes
One thing to be aware of is that Ventoy uses its own bootloader, and that doesn’t always play nicely with ‘Secure Boot’. If you run into warnings or failed boots, you may need to temporarily disable Secure Boot in your BIOS before proceeding.
Once you’re done testing, you can always turn it back on.
Booting From the USB Drive
With the USB ready, insert it into your system and reboot. On my Dell, I press F12 to bring up the boot menu, but depending on your system it could be F10, Delete, or another key.
Once you select the USB drive, you’ll land in Ventoy’s boot menu where all your ISO files are listed. If you happen to see a strange low-resolution or “CGA-like” screen, that’s usually a sign that the system is booting in ‘Legacy mode’ rather than UEFI. Ventoy prefers UEFI, so it’s worth switching that in the BIOS if needed.
First Boot Into Fedora Workstation
From here, I’ll boot into Fedora Workstation. It takes a minute or two to load, but once you’re in, you’re running a fully functional Linux environment directly from the USB.
This is where the real testing begins.
Testing Wi-Fi, Sound, and Basic Hardware
The first thing I check is Wi-Fi, and in this case my ASUS USB adapter works immediately without needing any additional drivers.
From there, I test audio by playing a video and confirming that sound output is working correctly. I also verify that the system recognizes my printer, which is another common concern when switching operating systems.
Testing External Drives and NAS Access
Next, I plug in an external storage drive to make sure it’s detected. It shows up instantly in the file manager, and I can also see it from the terminal, which confirms everything is mounted properly.
I then connect to my NAS using the file manager and access a shared network drive, just like I would on Windows. This is a big one for anyone with a home lab, media server, or shared storage setup, and it’s good to confirm that everything behaves as expected before installing Linux permanently.
Testing the Software Store and Flathub
After that, I take a look at the software store. Fedora includes access to Flatpak applications, but by default it may use a filtered version of the Flathub repository. That means you may see some apps, but not the full catalog.
To enable full access, open a terminal and run:
sudo flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
Once that’s done, you’ll have access to the full range of applications available on Flathub, which significantly expands what you can install.
Testing Chrome, Bookmarks, and LibreOffice
To get a better feel for real-world usage, I also download Chrome and import my bookmarks, just to see how seamless that experience is.
Then I open LibreOffice and load a few Word documents to confirm compatibility. This kind of testing gives you a much clearer idea of how your daily workflow might translate to Linux.
Understanding Live Mode Limitations
One important thing to keep in mind is that Live Mode doesn’t save changes by default. Anything you install or configure will usually be lost when you reboot.
If you want those changes to persist between sessions, you’ll need to enable persistence. Ventoy allows this by creating a persistence file when adding an ISO, and tools like Rufus offer a similar feature through a persistent storage slider when creating the USB.
Quick Look at Linux Mint MATE
Before wrapping up, I also take a quick look at Linux Mint MATE. It’s a bit more lightweight and has a more traditional desktop layout, which can feel more familiar if you’re coming from Windows.
Hardware compatibility here is just as solid, which reinforces the idea that most modern Linux distributions do a great job out of the box.
What’s Coming in Part 3
In the next part of this series, we’ll build on this by setting up a proper dual-boot environment. That way, you can run Linux alongside Windows and start transitioning your workflow more permanently.
Final Thoughts
Overall, Live Mode is one of the safest and most effective ways to test Linux. You get a real sense of how it performs on your actual hardware without committing to an installation or risking your existing system.
If you’ve been on the fence about trying Linux, this is easily the best place to start!
