Try unetbootin: http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/ I installed the new ubuntu on my 2GB USB flash drive in less than 15 minutes. Sure is handy when you don't want to burn a CD you know you are going to use less than 5 times :-). Plus it boots fast, unlike the sluggish livecd's. You can make your choice from about a two dozen distro's including LinuxMint (which I intend to try very soon), Fedora, Puppy, DamnSmallLinux and other great ones.