If you own a raspberry pi, you definitely need an operating system(OS) to run it. Raspbian Stretch is one of the most used OS on a raspberry pi. Raspbian Stretch comes with plenty of pre-installed software for education, programming, and general use. It has software like Mathematica, Python, Scratch, LibreOffice Suite, Chromium Web Browser, and many more.
In this article, I am going to guide you to install Raspbian Stretch OS easily on a raspberry pi.
Contents
Download Raspbian Stretch image
At first, you need to download the image file. Go to this link to download the image file. There are two different images available. One is a Desktop version and the other one is the Lite version. In the Desktop version, you get the GUI whereas Lite version is command based. Depending on your project, you can download any one. I will be installing Desktop version but the process described below will work with Lite version also.
Once the download is finished, plug your SD card.
Formatting SD Card
Once you plug your SD card, you need to format it. SD Card Formatter is the best tool available to format your card. If you haven’t installed it, download and installed it and then launch it.
This software will automatically detect your SD card. Click on Format. Now you are ready to extract the download image file on your SD card.
Install Raspbian Stretch OS easily on Raspberry Pi
While there are many applications like Win32DiskImager, Rufus available for this purpose, I recently discovered a new tool which easily extracts the image file without any error. The software is called Etcher. Click here to download Etcher.
Compared to other applications its size it a bit larger (56. 9 MB) but it installs the image with just a click without any errors. It is available for Windows, Mac OS, and Linux too.
Once the download is finished, launch the application. The software will automatically detect your SD card.
Now click on Select Image button and locate the downloaded Raspbian Stretch image file. After that, click on the Flash button. Now Etcher will start extracting the image file on your SD card. Depending upon the speed of your SD card, it will take a couple of minutes to complete extraction.
Booting Raspbian Stretch OS
After flashing is completed by Etcher, unplug your SD card from your PC and insert it into your raspberry pi. Connect your monitor, keyboard, mouse and power cable. It will start booting the OS and finishes within a couple of minutes.
Wrapping Up
I found Etcher to be a more effective application to boot Raspbian Stretch OS. While I was using Win32DiskImager, it threw errors and extraction was not completed. This was not the case when using Etcher. Using Etcher is quite easy too. So this is how you can install Raspbian Stretch OS easily on a raspberry pi. Now go ahead and enjoy Raspbian Stretch OS.
What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comment section below.
