Creating a USB bootstick for Linux Mint with Rufus
If you want to try Linux before installing it, you should use a USB bootstick. This will allow you to see if your hardware is compatible. Plus, it doubles as a rescue system in case your Windows does not boot any longer. Here I show how to do it with Rufus and how you even make space for saving your configuration like WLAN password so it survives a reboot.
I use Linux Mint, but you could use any other distribution you like.
If your sound card (or whatever) does not work, you will need to update the system. In this case you will need to create a writeable bootdisk: • Create a Linux Mint WRITEABLE USB bootstick