Tried to make a Zorin OS iso usb several times using the recommended tool balena etcher. Would not work and ended up destroying 3 USB sticks. Ordered 5 pack more of Amazon the 16GB PNY sticks arrived and are all 32GB. So looked around and someone had suggested using Rufus, tried that and it seems to be making an ISO on USB. When rufus started the process it said that several of the provided files to make ISO were not in agreement and it had to download new version off the web and did agree. Said Okay. Went along with that as had used dban to erase disk on old laptop and had used rufus for that as well. Other tools had created unusable image and they would not work when booted on laptop.
If the provide file on the download of Zorin OS is incompatible with the ISO file why has that not been updated. Know nothing about Linux, did get a book to read but exigency of my situation has me winging an install without much background knowledge.
Balena Etcher has worked fine for me, but I've seen other people complaining about this exact issue where it destroys USB drives in the process. I don't know whether this is true or what may be the cause, but you did well in trying alternatives. Ventoy is another popular option that I've been using lately with very good results.
However...
Where and how did you install Rufus? This is not something that I've ever seen nor would I expect it to do. My first reaction to this would be to nuke it out of my system and run an anti-virus scan, re-format the USB drives it touched and then re-install a fresh OS.
But, in the spirit of trying to understand this weirdly out of place message, did you happen to take a note of what it said to download, where from, etc...?
Note that you can − and must! − check the integrity of the Zorin OS ISO file yourself. If the provided signatures in this page don't match the files downloaded, do not attempt to use them.
Please do take time to verify the SHA256 checksum of the downloaded .iso against the published value as zenzen has already stated.
Balena Etcher does have a poor reputation on the forum of damaging some users USB sticks. Rufus, Unetbootin, Ventoy seem better.
FYI. More pre-installation advice here: Before you install
Did check the integrity of the Zorin 17.1 Pro file. (I went buy before you try)
The check sum matched on; QuickHash. Went to load another USB with Zorin ISO and see if the same thing came up. It did not; went fine. But my install on my old laptop failed came up with (Errno 5). Going to search on here for that next.
Thanks for the advice.
Did You choose for the Installation MBR or GPT? Because when You choose GPT You shouldn't have that.
Maybe this can help:
I am starting to fase away from Etcher as it has been very unreliable on the windows version. I have used etcher for years, but lately it has been breaking the USB sticks i have used. Basically - it'll pop up with an error at the end telling you that you need to format it first. Solved by formatting the entire usb drive with easeUS.
Anyway. When i moved to Zorin a few weeks ago, i used Ventoy. It may seem outdated, but it gets the job done.
You just install ventoy on the usb stick and smack an iso in there and you're good to go!
Rufus is also a great alternative, but imo Rufus is something i just use for windows ISOs.