Live USB "Check disk for defects" returns defects
I'm trying to use a live USB to dual-boot Ubuntu 13.10 and Windows 8.1. I made the disk with pendrivelinux (per instructions on the Ubuntu website).
It all completed successfully, I checked the md5sum of the .iso file and it was correct.
When I restarted my computer and booted off the flash drive, I ran "Check disk for defects" and it ran properly, but returned that my disk had 2 defects. However, it wouldn't tell me what the defects were. It seemed to be checking files on the USB device itself.
But from Googling the problem some people say it checks the USB and others say it's checking the computer's HDD. I re-created the USB drive and had the same error.
I'm wondering what this actually means, and if it's safe to install Ubuntu. I'm writing this on the Ubuntu desktop (without install) and it seems to be working fine.
How can I solve this ?
Solution 1:
It checks the install disks for defects i.e. the liveUSB.
If the md5sum checked out good(you might want to retry), then the ISO should be good. If you are finding defects in the install disk after 2 builds, the it is possible that the pendrivelinux did not download correctly, you might try downloading that again.
Lastly, no I would not install it from a faulty disk...it could be athat it is a minor problem and you might be missing some inconsequential program like a game but it could also be system critical, like the bootloader.
If all else fails you might try to download the ISO again, but I don't understand why it would have a good checksum if it was faulty.
I'm not an expert by any means so you may get an answer that it is ok to install from the LiveUSB but, I personally would not do it without expert advise to the contrary....(and if I'm incorrect someone will let us know in short order..)
Solution 2:
Pendrivelinux actually change two files to make the live USB drive boot correctly. The live USB drive has in fact been made successfully, and will work seamlessly both for trying ubuntu and for installation.