By Ajit Kumar Pandit · April 2026

If you have an old PC lying around, don’t throw it away.

I recently installed Fedora Workstation on my system (16 GB RAM, older i5), and honestly — it felt like I upgraded my entire machine without spending a single rupee.

This guide is not theory.
This is exactly what I did — step by step — using Fedora Media Writer + Live Boot installation.

🚀 Why I Chose Fedora

I was tired of Windows.

Slow boot
High RAM usage
Forced updates
Too much background stuff

Fedora felt different from the first boot:

Clean
Fast
Minimal
Developer-friendly

And the best part?
👉 My PC booted in ~10–15 seconds.

💻 My System

RAM: 16 GB
Storage: 256 GB SSD
CPU: Intel i5 (older gen)
GPU: Integrated

📥 Step 1 — Download Fedora

Go to the official site:

👉 https://fedoraproject.org/workstation/download

Download Fedora Workstation ISO (≈2 GB)

🔥 Step 2 — Create Bootable USB (Fedora Media Writer)

This is the easiest and safest method.

Download Fedora Media Writer:

👉 https://fedoraproject.org/workstation/download

Steps:

Install and open Fedora Media Writer
Click Custom Image
Select the ISO you downloaded
Insert your USB (minimum 8 GB)
Click Write

⚠️ This will erase everything on your USB.

💾 Step 3 — Backup Your Data

Before installing:

Copy documents
Backup photos
Save important files

Because installation can wipe your disk.

⚙️ Step 4 — Boot Using USB (Live Boot)

Insert USB
Restart your PC
Open boot menu

Common keys:

F12 (Dell, Lenovo)
F9 (HP)
F8 / Esc (ASUS)

Select your USB drive

🧪 Step 5 — Try Fedora Live Mode

Fedora will open in Live Mode (without installing).

This is powerful — you can test everything before installing:

Wi-Fi
Sound
Display
Performance

👉 If everything works, proceed.

💽 Step 6 — Start Installation

Click:

👉 “Install to Hard Drive”

Now configure:

Language
Keyboard
Timezone

🧠 Step 7 — Disk Setup (Important)

You will see Installation Destination

Best Option (Recommended):

👉 Select Automatic

Fedora will handle everything:

EFI partition
Root
Boot

Advanced (Optional):

If you know partitioning:

/boot/efi → 600 MB
/boot     → 1 GB
/        → 40 GB+
/home    → remaining

⏳ Step 8 — Install Fedora

Click Begin Installation

Wait ~15–20 minutes.

Then:

Click Finish
Restart system
Remove USB

👤 Step 9 — First Boot Setup

After restart:

Create username
Set password
Connect Wi‑Fi

Done in 2 minutes.

🔄 Step 10 — Update System (IMPORTANT)

Open Terminal and run:

sudo dnf upgrade --refresh -y

Reboot if the kernel or core packages were updated:

sudo reboot

🧩 Post-Install Essentials

Here are the things I did right after the first boot to get a smooth daily driver experience.

1) Enable RPM Fusion (for codecs, some drivers, and popular apps)

RPM Fusion provides packages not shipped by Fedora out of the box.

sudo dnf install \
  https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm \
  https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm

2) Install common multimedia codecs

sudo dnf install ffmpeg gstreamer1-plugins-base gstreamer1-plugins-good \
  gstreamer1-plugins-bad-free gstreamer1-plugins-ugly -y

3) Enable Flatpak + Flathub

Flatpak is great for sandboxed apps and many desktop apps are on Flathub.

sudo dnf install flatpak -y
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

Example: install Slack or Spotify via Flatpak later with flatpak install flathub <app-id>.

4) Install developer tools (if you develop)

Fedora ships modern tooling. Install common dev packages:

sudo dnf groupinstall "Development Tools" -y
sudo dnf install git python3 nodejs rust cargo podman -y

Note: Fedora uses Podman for containers by default — I recommend Podman over Docker for most workflows.

5) GNOME tweaks & extensions

Install GNOME Tweaks and the extensions app:

sudo dnf install gnome-tweaks gnome-extensions-app -y

Use https://extensions.gnome.org with the browser extension (or the app) to customize.

6) Useful apps I installed

Firefox (default) or Chromium
VS Code (official RPM or Flatpak)
Visual Studio Code (Flatpak: com.visualstudio.code) or install via Microsoft repo
VLC (for extra media support)
Flameshot (screenshot tool)
Transmission / qBittorrent (if you use torrents)

Example install:

sudo dnf install vlc flameshot gnome-tweaks -y

7) Firewall and security

Fedora ships with SELinux enabled by default — that’s good. Enable and start the firewall:

sudo systemctl enable --now firewalld
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=ssh
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

8) Graphics & drivers

Integrated Intel GPUs usually work out of the box.
For NVIDIA, use RPM Fusion’s driver packages (or the NVIDIA repo) — follow the official RPM Fusion NVIDIA instructions if you have a dedicated NVIDIA GPU.

🪄 Tips & Small Tweaks

Boot speed: If you want to tweak services, check systemd-analyze blame to see slow starters.
Swap: For 16 GB RAM you typically don’t need a big swap; a small swapfile or zram is fine. Fedora enables zram via some spins; you can set it up manually if you prefer.
Suspend/Resume: Test suspend/hibernate on your laptop/PC before relying on it — some older hardware can need tweaks.
Backups: Use Deja Dup (GNOME Backups) or Timeshift for system snapshots.
Disk trimming: If you have an SSD, enable fstrim.timer:
```
sudo systemctl enable --now fstrim.timer
```

🔧 Troubleshooting (quick)

No Wi‑Fi in Live Mode: Try different kernel or check lspci/lsusb for chipset and search for Linux firmware packages.
Black screen on boot (NVIDIA): Boot with nomodeset and install NVIDIA driver from RPM Fusion.
Missing audio: Check pavucontrol, ensure correct output selected, and verify ALSA/pipewire services.

✅ Final Thoughts

Fedora Workstation gave my old PC a genuinely fresh feeling: snappy boot, minimal background noise, and an up-to-date GNOME experience with modern developer tooling. If you want a system that’s current, secure (SELinux + Wayland), and developer-friendly, Fedora is an excellent pick.

If you’re trying this on your rig and hit any specific snag, tell me your hardware and the exact issue — I’ll walk you through it.

🐧 I Installed Fedora Workstation Using Live Boot (Full Guide)

Listen to Article

By Ajit Kumar Pandit · April 2026

🚀 Why I Chose Fedora

💻 My System

📥 Step 1 — Download Fedora

🔥 Step 2 — Create Bootable USB (Fedora Media Writer)

Download Fedora Media Writer:

Steps:

💾 Step 3 — Backup Your Data

⚙️ Step 4 — Boot Using USB (Live Boot)

Common keys:

🧪 Step 5 — Try Fedora Live Mode

💽 Step 6 — Start Installation

🧠 Step 7 — Disk Setup (Important)

Best Option (Recommended):

Advanced (Optional):

⏳ Step 8 — Install Fedora

👤 Step 9 — First Boot Setup

🔄 Step 10 — Update System (IMPORTANT)

🧩 Post-Install Essentials

1) Enable RPM Fusion (for codecs, some drivers, and popular apps)

2) Install common multimedia codecs

3) Enable Flatpak + Flathub

4) Install developer tools (if you develop)

5) GNOME tweaks & extensions

6) Useful apps I installed

7) Firewall and security

8) Graphics & drivers

🪄 Tips & Small Tweaks

🔧 Troubleshooting (quick)

✅ Final Thoughts

🐧 I Installed Fedora Workstation Using Live Boot (Full Guide)

Listen to Article

By Ajit Kumar Pandit · April 2026

🚀 Why I Chose Fedora

💻 My System

📥 Step 1 — Download Fedora

🔥 Step 2 — Create Bootable USB (Fedora Media Writer)

Download Fedora Media Writer:

Steps:

💾 Step 3 — Backup Your Data

⚙️ Step 4 — Boot Using USB (Live Boot)

Common keys:

🧪 Step 5 — Try Fedora Live Mode

💽 Step 6 — Start Installation

🧠 Step 7 — Disk Setup (Important)

Best Option (Recommended):

Advanced (Optional):

⏳ Step 8 — Install Fedora

👤 Step 9 — First Boot Setup

🔄 Step 10 — Update System (IMPORTANT)

🧩 Post-Install Essentials

1) Enable RPM Fusion (for codecs, some drivers, and popular apps)

2) Install common multimedia codecs

3) Enable Flatpak + Flathub

4) Install developer tools (if you develop)

5) GNOME tweaks & extensions

6) Useful apps I installed

7) Firewall and security

8) Graphics & drivers

🪄 Tips & Small Tweaks

🔧 Troubleshooting (quick)

✅ Final Thoughts

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