Ventoy is a popular open source tool for creating bootable media on a USB Stick. The new version can save the existing data on the stick.
Ventoy is a utility that can write multiple images of operating systems to a USB Stick and even be bootable. There are other programs doing the same job, that is, recording multiple images, but Ventoy recently released a new version with the ability to retain data on your device. It is called non-destructive install and can be selected from the menu.
Download the Ventoy version 1.0.59 for Ventoy Linux or Windows. Unpack the file, run the executable file and you are ready. The program is portable and speaks Greek.
Support for non-destructive installation is experimental at this stage. It is recommended that you back up your data before using it.
The Ventoy developer describes the process on this page on the site.
- The USB device must have room for a new partition that Ventoy requires.
- For MBR partition style, if there are already 4 partitions on your disk, then can not to do non-destructive installation.
- For GPT partition style, if there are already 128 partitions on your disk, then can not to do non-destructive installation.
- The first partition must start at 1 MB
- Both the MBR and the GPT must meet this requirement to match the Ventoy disc layout. In Windows, the first partition starts at 1 MB by default.
- The first partition must be NTFS, not another file system.
- This is because Windows APIs only support NTFS shrinkage. For FAT32 you can first make a non-destructive conversion to NTFS.
- The first apartment needs free space.
- Non-destructive registration needs some free space.
No problem if you already have enough unused space (32 MB +) after the 1st partition. (Then we no longer need to shrink the 1st compartment).
- Non-destructive registration needs some free space.
- The first partition must have a drive letter.
Select Options> non-destructive install to install Ventoy on the device without deleting existing data.
Briefly:
Although it is usually best to use a blank USB stick or device without significant data, such an option may sometimes not be available. If you only have one USB stick with the data you need, then you may find the new Ventoy option useful as it holds the data on the device.
However, it is recommended that you back up your data, if possible, to avoid problems with the experimental implementation. The feature worked well during testing.