Systems Edge, How to make a live Linux bootable BT3 backtrack3 on a memory stick.

Systems Edge
How to make a live Linux bootable BT3 backtrack3 on a memory stick.
By Tony Edge http://www.systems-edge.co.uk
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          (1)   Requirements backtrack 3 bootable dvd.
          (2)   Windows based pc.
          (3)   2gig or larger memory stick.
                     (The usb memory sticks we are using here are the 2GB PNY Attache usb memory sold by Aldi in packs
                       of two for £9.00.)

                   To create the partitions on the USB memory stick boot the BT3 Backtrack DVD.
                   If the boot fails try selecting a different screen option. VGA VESA mode works with most video controllers.

Plug in the usb memory stick. Backtrack should find the new device.
Click on the blue Kde start button (bottom l/h side of the task bar)
Select SYSTEM, QTPARTED.
TAKE GREAT CARE DO NOT CHANGE HARD DISK PARTITIONS.
Use only the USB stick. (if you are not sure unplug the usb stick and check the device is removed
once you have identified the device plug the memory stick back into the usb port).
Backtrack will auto-mount the device.
Click on the red cross not to mount the device.
Create a 1.5GB fat16 partition with a label boot.
Make this partition ACTIVE. FILE
If you get a message Device is mounted unplug the memory stick wait 10 seconds plug the memory back.
Create a second partition as EXT2 and label this changes.
FILE

Qtparted should look similar to this
Close qtparted.

Logoff. and shutdown. Boot Windows XP
Insert the dvd into the drive
Insert the 2gig memory stick
Copy the boot and the BT3 folders from the dvd to the memory stick

To make the memory stick bootable included in the boot folder is a bootinst batch file.
Make a note of the memory stick name ( on my computer it is L:)
Go to command prompt and type the drive name ( on my computer it is L:)

Take care you do not run bootinst on your hard disc.
Run the dos batch file
/boot/bootinst.bat
sometimes due to a compatibility problem an error message displays, retry continue
until the operation is complete.
Setting up boot record for ( on my computer it is L:) wait please…..
Disk L: should be bootable now. Installation finished.
Press any key to exit.If you do not wish to use windows. An alternative is to use
the linux bourne again shell program
Bootinst.sh

------------------------------

Boot the computer and set the cmos options

Newer BIOS Boot Menu:

information can be found on
http://www.pendrivelinux.com/2006/08/29/usb-bios-boot-options/

Many newer computers detect the USB device as a hard drive (USB-HDD0). In which case, you can press a specific key (F2, F10, F11 or ESC) during system post to access the "Boot Menu".
Select your USB DISK from the Boot Menu and resume startup.
Older BIOS Setup method:
If your system is a bit older or uses simplified BIOS, you may not have a Boot Menu option. In this case you will need to make the system detect and boot your USB device by changing the settings in the BIOS.
Older BIOS Boot Options:

Summary:
Generally speaking, if your system BIOS supports the USB-HDD boot option, it should boot Linux from a large capacity USB flash drive. (a BIOS that supports USB-HDD automatically detects the geometry of the USB Flash drive)
The USB-ZIP option is typically used on older systems that do not support USB-HDD boot. Using this boot option might require modifying the drive geometry to match how the BIOS has been hard-coded to see the device.
Exception: The USB-ZIP boot option may allow you to boot some larger capacity flash drives without drive geometry modification, if you’re BIOS also lists the flash drive as a selectable hard drive under boot priority. (Typical of the Award-Phoenix BIOS)
Tips:
If your BIOS lists the USB memory stick as
You should always remove other USB boot options from the boot priority list when attempting to boot from USB-ZIP or USB-HDD to avoid conflicting start-up Cues.
The file-system used may also affect the BIOS's ability to detect and boot the drive. If a Fat file-system doesn't work, try Fat32. The partition must also be active or the device will not boot. Be sure to keep an eye out for BIOS updates from your board manufacturer. Through experience, we have found that most "recent" Award/Phoenix and AMI BIOS's can generally support USB boot.
Each computer and bios often needs different setting all new computers work but may require different cmos settings
the Gigabyte MCP 03/04/2008-NF-MCP68-6A61MG02C-00 motherboard with a AMD Athelon 64 x2 4200 + processor Geforce 7025 required the following setting
Hit del key on booting select advanced BIOS Features
Select hard disk priority toggle settings

When running linux backtrack3 persistent changes are not set
On my version these have been omitted due to inconsistent device names with different computers.
Change these settings to suit your preferences.
if when booting, the boot fails trying to mount the cdrom drive. Just place any cd/dv in the drive.

For the engineer Linux backtrack3 on a memory stick is an invaluable aid to diagnostic problems.
For the expert the tools enable security checks on your own home network.
You can boot a working operating system with a faulty hard disc drive. Even without CD drive, floppy disk drive or hard disc.
Backtrack can bypass a locked down system.
Within minutes you can be up running with a complete system with over 300 tools available.

If you are connected to modem or router via a rj45 cable. Backtrack will automatically connect to the internet using dhcp.
You can surf the web via several different browsers.
Firefox is the default.

To use the bash prompt from the shell window.
Click on the tiny black window SHELL CONSOLE
Right click on the mouse
SHOW MENU BAR
SETTINGS
FONT
SELECT
SIZE 12
Go back to the settings. SAVE AS DEFAULT if a login is required use root and password toor
KONQUERER is more than a file manager it is also an internet browser
It is a vast improvement over Microsoft windows explorer.Backtack3 is based on the SLAX linux engine.
To download various versions visit.

BackTrack is the most top rated linux live distribution focused on penetration testing. With no installation whatsoever, the analysis platform is started directly from the CD-Rom or memory stick and is fully accessible within minutes.

It's evolved from the merge of the two wide spread distributions - Whax and Auditor Security Collection. By joining forces and replacing these distributions, BackTrack has gained massive popularity and was voted in 2006 as the #1 Security Live Distribution by insecure.org. Security professionals as well as new-comers are using BackTrack as their favorite toolset all over the globe.

BackTrack has a long history and was based on many different linux distributions until it is now based on a Slackware linux distribution and the corresponding live-CD scripts by Tomas M. (www.slax.org) . Every package, kernel configuration and script is optimized to be used by security penetration testers. Patches and automation have been added, applied or developed to provide a neat and ready-to-go environment.

After coming into a stable development procedure during the last releases and consolidating feedbacks and addition, the team was focused to support more and newer hardware as well as provide more flexibility and modularity by restructuring the build and maintenance processes. With the current version, most applications are built as individual modules which help to speed up the maintenance releases and fixes.

Because Metasploit is one of the key tools for most analysts it is tightly integrated into BackTrack and both projects collaborate together to always provide an on-the-edge implementation of Metasploit within the BackTrack CD-Rom images or the upcoming remote-exploit.org distributed and maintained virtualization images (like VMWare images appliances).

Being superior while staying easy to use is key to a good security live cd. We took things a step further and aligned BackTrack to penetration testing methodologies and assessment frameworks (ISSAF and OSSTMM). This will help our professional users during their daily reporting nightmares.

Currently BackTrack consists of more than 300 different up-to-date tools which are logically structured according to the work flow of security professionals. This structure allows even newcomers to find the related tools to a certain task to be accomplished. New technologies and testing techniques are merged into BackTrack as soon as possible to keep it up-to-date.

No other commercial or freely available analysis platform offers an equivalent level of usability with automatic configuration and focus on penetration testing.
http://www.remote-exploit.org/about.html For more information on memory sticks visit

usefull links
http://www.remote-exploit.org/about.html                      For more information on backtrack3.
http://wiki.remote-exploit.org/index.php/Main_Page       For help using backtrack3 visit the wiki site.
http://wiki.remote-exploit.org/index.php/HCL:Wireless   Tested wireless cards for backtrack3.
http://wiki.remote-exploit.org/index.php/HCL:Laptops    Laptop compatibility list.
http://www.remote-exploit.org/about.html                       For more information on memory sticks visit this site.
http://www.pendrivelinux.com                                         provides many answers to pendrives and memory sticks.
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