Frequently Asked Questions

NONOS is a secure operating system that you run from a USB stick. Unlike Windows or macOS which install on your hard drive and keep all your files and history, NONOS lives on a portable drive and works in a temporary mode (nothing is saved permanently unless you want it to be). Think of it as a clean, isolated computer environment that appears when you boot from the USB and disappears when you shut down. It’s designed to protect you from viruses, leave no trace of your activities, and give you a private, controlled space for sensitive tasks.

You can use it on your existing computer! NONOS is compatible with most standard PCs (desktop or laptop) that support USB booting. You don’t need to buy a new computer. There’s no installation required either, you’re not overwriting your current OS. You simply plug in the NONOS USB, reboot, and choose to boot from USB. Your normal operating system (Windows, Linux, etc.) remains on the hard drive untouched, and when you remove the NONOS USB and reboot, your computer will go back to normal. Essentially, any relatively modern 64-bit PC should work. (At the moment, NONOS doesn’t support running on ARM devices like most tablets/phones, it’s aimed at PCs.)

Under the hood, NONOS is quite unique, it’s not a fork of Windows or a typical Linux distribution. It’s built from scratch with a custom microkernel (written in Rust) and a lot of original design. That said, it does share some lineage with Unix/Linux in terms of basic principles (for example, it can use many open-source libraries for things like networking or the GUI). But when you use NONOS, you’re not just using “another Linux distro”; you’re using a new OS that was built with security as the first priority. For familiarity’s sake, it might feel a bit Linux-like (you’ll see a desktop, maybe a terminal, etc.), but it doesn’t use the Linux kernel. This clean-slate approach is how NONOS avoids legacy bloat and vulnerabilities.

NONOS handles applications differently than a typical OS. You can’t just run any random .exe or install software the way you might on Windows. Instead, software for NONOS comes in the form of capsule apps (digitally signed packages). Out of the box, NONOS includes a curated set of essential applications (for example, a secure web browser, text editor, file manager, etc.). We (and the community) are continuously working on expanding the library of available capsules. In the near future, we plan to have an “app catalog” where you can download additional trusted applications packaged for NONOS. If you’re technically inclined, you could even create your own capsule (for an open-source app you love) and run it, but it would need to be signed properly. The key idea is that all apps are vetted and constrained for security. So, while you have plenty of software options, you won’t be installing programs in the wild-west manner, it’s a more controlled ecosystem, similar to how mobile app stores work, but with stronger security guarantees.

By default, NONOS is “amnesic”, it doesn’t remember anything once you shut down. However, you have a few options for saving your work. The simplest method is to save files to an external source: for example, plug in a second USB drive or use a cloud storage service while in NONOS. You can download or work on files in NONOS, then manually move them to another drive or upload them to cloud (like Dropbox, Nextcloud, etc.) before you shut down. If you’re using the official NONOS USB hardware, there’s also an option to create an encrypted persistent storage partition on that USB. This is like a secure vault on the USB where you can store files or settings that you want NONOS to remember across reboots. It stays encrypted and locked until you enter your passphrase on your next NONOS session. Using this, you could, for instance, keep your browser bookmarks or a document you frequently edit on the NONOS USB securely. Of course, if you enable persistence, we recommend using the official drive (or a well-encrypted volume) so that the data is safe even if the USB is lost. In short: out-of-the-box, nothing is saved; but with a bit of setup, you can choose what you want to persist.

Great question. NONOS shares some goals with those projects but takes a different approach. Tails is a live Linux distro aimed at leaving no trace (amnesic like NONOS) and routing all traffic through Tor for anonymity. NONOS and Tails both run from USB and forget data on shutdown, but NONOS is not just Linux, it’s a new OS designed to be locked down from the start, and it focuses on general security and integrity (though you could certainly use Tor on NONOS too). Tails relies on Debian Linux and inherits its software (and potential vulnerabilities), whereas NONOS uses a minimal Rust microkernel and capsule apps for a tighter attack surface. Qubes OS, on the other hand, takes a “security through isolation via VMs” approach: it uses multiple virtual machines to compartmentalize different tasks (but requires a fairly powerful computer to run all those VMs). Qubes is excellent for isolation but can be complex to use and heavy on resources. NONOS achieves isolation in a lighter way (through the microkernel and app policies rather than full VMs), making it more accessible and performant for average users. Also, Qubes is based on Xen and Linux, whereas NONOS is its own beast. In summary, all three aim to protect the user, but NONOS’s distinguishing factors are its clean-slate design (no legacy code), user-friendly interface, and features like built-in zero-knowledge proofs and hardware integration which those others don’t have.

First, take a deep breath, in most cases, your data is still safe. If you were not using any persistence (i.e., you run NONOS in its default stateless mode), then losing the USB isn’t a security risk because it didn’t contain personal information, it just had the OS which anyone can download. You’d simply get a new USB and set up NONOS again. If you were using the encrypted persistence feature on the official NONOS USB, your sensitive data on that USB is encrypted with your passphrase. Whoever finds the USB would essentially see a scrambled partition and won’t be able to access your files without the decryption key. (It’s similar to losing an encrypted password vault, without the master password, it’s gibberish.) Of course, if you lose the USB, you should consider that NONOS device “compromised” in the sense you wouldn’t want to use it again if there’s any chance someone tampered with it. We’d advise revoking that device (if you use any device-tied keys) and setting up a fresh one. But the nice thing is, replacing NONOS is easy, you can keep a backup of any important files (you should already if they were on the persistent store) and just reflash a new drive. Also, no one can impersonate you just by having your USB unless they also somehow knew your encryption passphrases. As a general tip: if you do use persistence, make sure to note your recovery words or back up important files in a secure location, so that even if the physical device is gone, you can restore your data to a new one. In summary, losing the USB is mostly a financial inconvenience (and a lesson to be careful) but not a catastrophe for your data’s security.

For more information, our website has extensive documentation, including a User Guide and a Technical FAQ section that dives deeper into how NONOS works. If you have a question not covered there, we recommend joining our community forums or Telegram group, many NONOS team members and knowledgeable users hang out there and can help. You can also reach out via our official support email or ticket system (especially if you’re a Pro user, since you have priority support). We regularly publish blog posts and how-to articles on our site, so keep an eye on those for tips and updates. And if something’s not clear or you run into an issue, don’t hesitate to ask the community or contact us, we’re here to help everyone have a safer computing experience with NONOS.