Installing Kali Linux from the mount installation media involves preparing the drive and following the setup steps.
Installing Kali Linux from the mount installation media involves preparing the drive and following the setup steps.
I'm facing issues booting dual boot Kali Linux alongside Windows 10 on my Acer Predator Helios 300. The installer keeps freezing at the "could not mount installation media" error, even though I'm using a 128GB SanDisk flash drive. I've created the bootable USB with Rufus multiple times and adjusted settings, but it still fails consistently. I've cleared space on both the SSD and hard drive to accommodate the new OS—40GB on the SSD and 100GB on the hard drive. I've looked through forums for fixes, but solutions that worked elsewhere didn't help me. Installing Kali on my desktop helped a bit, though it got stuck during partition setup, which made me give up. This is really frustrating, especially since I'm just starting out in college and want to build a career in cybersecurity. Any advice or guidance would be invaluable.
Let me halt you immediately—don’t proceed that way. Kali isn’t meant for installation as a primary desktop operating system. If you wish to run Linux and require some of Kali’s tools, consider installing Ubuntu or Debian and adding those applications separately; they’re widely available across most distributions. You could also run a virtual machine, though the official site suggests using Etcher—just avoid dual-booting.
Avoid executing Kali outside of a virtual machine unless you're certain. For cybersecurity studies, take your time. Familiarize yourself with Linux (and BSD), embedded systems, and networking basics. Set up Ubuntu, explore the terminal, then experiment with other distributions—perhaps configure servers on CentOS or Fedora.
Thanks for your input. I didn’t understand it was a poor choice at first. If you’d like, I can clarify why this approach is considered problematic. I’m also curious about why running Linux in a VM is preferred over USB pass-through, especially since you had trouble with that. Regarding dual booting, it’s generally recommended to use Debian or Ubuntu as the primary OS, not Linux distributions like Fedora or Arch.
Kali operates with root privileges by default, which significantly compromises security. This setup doesn’t require any additional tools and is ideal for focused testing scenarios. While it’s suitable for certain environments, it may be excessive and could install unnecessary software you’re not familiar with. For beginners, Pop or Ubuntu are better starting points. It’s essential to grasp fundamental concepts before attempting to exploit systems. In cybersecurity, Linux expertise matters, but it should be paired with knowledge of enterprise systems like Active Directory or databases such as Oracle and SQL. Security spans many areas, so take your time, learn the basics—networking, Linux, and server architecture—and gradually progress to advanced topics. My previous comment was firm; I also want to warn against sharing this configuration with others, as it might lead to unexpected problems.