Thanks! I didn’t know that.
Absolutely my privilege. :)
It is not so much the Linux flavor as it is the utility tool you use to make the bootable USB stick.
“Rufus” is the best tool. And it will accept whatever Linux “ISO” (Complete OS clone file) you provide. Below are the instructions. All Rufus default settings are correct for what you want. The only change would be choose “persistent partition” and move the slider all the way over to the right.
Just download a Linux ISO, I highly recommend Mint Cinnamon 20.0, then download and install the newest version of Rufus. follow the instructions below to make your test drive stick.
The Mirror from “James Madison University” has always been reliable and stable for me.
https://linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=281
Instructions to make a test drive stick using Rufus.
https://www.ubuntudocs.com/create-bootable-ubuntu-usb-with-rufus-uefi/
That was the easy part. After your stick is made you have to change the boot order settings in the BIOS of your particular machine so that it will see and boot from “USB” or “Portable media” first before it goes and looks for the next boot devices. like your windows hard drive. If there is no bootable USB in it will just go on to boot the hard drive.
Unfortunately there is no one standard for this, and every make and model has their own set up for this. Unless... You are lucky enough to have a machine which has a “boot menu”. then you can just choose to boot from the stick when it sees it is plugged in. But this info can be found with a search on “how to boot from USB” on your particular machine. Unfortunately there is no one standard for this, and different makes and models have their own set up for this. :)