Add jokes to your E2B menu for Xmas

One way to add jokes to your E2B menu would be to convert a series of PowerPoint slides into an animated GIF and display it on the E2B Menu, however, this would always show the jokes in the same order each time you booted to E2B.

Here is a small grub4dos script that allows you to display one of 36 randomly-chosen jokes on your E2B menus.

You must update to E2B v1.97A or later for this to work properly due to some bugs in older versions of grub4dos.

Instructions...

E2B v1.97A released

The bugs in grub4dos have been fixed by the developer now and v1.97A is now released.

Please update your E2B drives.

Changes from v1.97 to v1.97A:

• bugfix in grub4dos \grldr for helptext colour and --string= issues.
• E2B_Editor.exe - small bugfix for colours 6, 7 and 8 not quite correct shade.
• WinLite10 XML sample files updated to add amd64 section.

Design a Decomputo-like theme for E2B

A few people have asked about the theme used by Decomputo in their E2B YouTube video:

An example of the Decomputo menu is shown below:

I do not know the exact details of how this was configured, however I can give you a few hints on how to add a similar menu system...

Small bug in E2B v.1.97

I have just noticed a bug in E2B v1.97.

The issue is that the helptext just under the menu does not appear in the correct colour.

This is due to a bug in the new grub4dos version 2017-12-05 which I hope will be fixed soon.

The issue can be fixed by changing your MyE2B.cfg file so that the helptext color command follows the normal colour command, e.g.

#this does not change the helptext colour!
color helptext=0x0001FF
color normal=0x808040

#this does change the helptext colour correctly.
color normal=0x808040
color helptext=0x0001FF

It seems the color normal command also changes the helptext colour.
If you wish, you can use a previous version of \grldr instead.

I have reported the bug here and will re-release v1.97 as v1.97A when it is fixed.

New 'Display colours' .mnu file included in E2B v1.97

I have added a sample .mnu file, \_ISO\docs\Sample mnu Files\E2B Menus\Display_RGB_Colours.mnu, to E2B v1.97.

You can copy the Display_RGB_Colours.mnu file to a menu folder (e.g. \_ISO\UTILITIES) and use it to help you choose a grub4dos 4-bit or 24-bit RGB colour values...

Easy2Boot v1.97 Full Release is now available

The latest E2B v1.97 full release is now available from the Alternate Download Areas.

Changes from v1.96 are:

• Download is now in self-extracting .exe RAR4 format instead of .zip format (less false-positive virus alerts!).
• Small change of all E2B menus and language files - menu help text now does not have leading space at start of each help line.
• New grub4dos 2017-12-05
• New hstart and hwidth parameters can be set in MyE2B.cfg to set the menu help text x start offset and the line width. You can now position the menu help text anywhere on the display.
• Make_E2B_USB_Drive.cmd now prompts user to delete or change the size of the 500MB CONTIG.ISO file.
• New Make_E2B.exe - the extract button now works even if no USB drive is detected and it was not run as admin. Also, it now warns that user will require WinHelper USB Flash drive for Windows Install ISOs if Fixed Disk type of USB drive is detected.
• Fix $Default E2B Menu.cfg by adding !BAT to prevent initial error message after using PimpMydrive.cmd (bugfix).
• 'No !BAT string in MyE2B.cfg' error message suppressed if no MyE2B.cfg file exists (bugfix).
• Snappy SDIO .cfg file changed to suppress GNU licence EULA on first run + updated version
• CENTREHD code revised for better centering of menu headings.
• Small bugfix to E2B_Editor.exe + it now lists both .bmp and .jpg files in open file dialog by default.
• New setmenu draw-box command added (see here).
• String command bugfix and documented on E2B site.
• New BoxDemo sample theme added to demonstrate new hstart, hwidth, drawbox, line and string features.
• Small \_ISO\Sample_MyBackground.jpg file added for use with E2B_Editor.
• Small changes to some .cfg sample themes.
• Desinfect 2017 sample .mnu file added.

Please report any issues ASAP! If you have used Pimp_My_Drive.cmd to add extra mnu items, please re-run Pimp_My_Drive.cmd again after you have updated to the new version.

Easy2Boot v1.97f available (Release Candidate - please try it!)

E2B v1.97f BETA is now available from the Alternate Download Areas.

I will release this as v1.97 Full Release in a few days, so please test it by updating your E2B drive and report any issues.

The self-extracting .exe download now uses .RAR instead of .ZIP internally because it seems to trigger far less false-positive virus warnings.

It does however mean that it cannot be used with RMPrepUSB directly by renaming it to .rar or .zip. You will have to extract the files to a new folder first if you want to use it with RMPrepUSB instead of just using the renamed file directly with RMPrepUSB - Choose Files.

Note: I have now updated RMPrepUSB with a more recent version of 7zG.exe which can extract the files from a self-extracting .rar file. So if you download RMPrepUSB v2.1.739B and rename the E2B download to have a .rar extension, then RMPrepUSB will extract the contents.

Silence grub4dos boot-up messages

As gub4dos boots, you may see the following messages as it boots.

If your E2B USB drive is an exFAT drive, you may see even more messages.

The \_ISO\Sample_MyE2B.cfg file contains some sample code lines which can suppress these and other boot messages by patching the code in the MBR and the \grldr file.

This should work on both grub4dos 0.4.6a and 0.4.5c versions.

E2B v1.97e now available

Changes from v1.97d are:

• Latest release version of grub4dos 0.4.6a
• Make_E2B_USB_Drive.cmd now prompts user to delete or change the size of CONTIG.ISO file at the end.

The download is available in .exe (may get a virus warning!) and .zip format (run Make_E2B.exe after extracting).

E2B v1.97d BETA available

New version available from the Alternate Downloads Areas (in both self-extracting .exe and .zip form in case of false-positive virus detection issues).

Changes from v1.96A

• Make_E2B.exe - Extract button now works even if no USB drive detected and not run as admin, now warns that user will require WinHelper USB Flash drive for WIndows Install ISOs if using Fixed Disk
• Desinfect 2017 sample .mnu file added
• Fix $Default E2B Menu.cfg by adding !BAT to prevent initial error message after using PimpMydrive.cmd (bugfix).
• Snappy SDIO .cfg file changed to suppress GNU licence EULA on first run + later version
• Change to all menus and language files - menu help text now does not have leading space at start of each help line. 
• New hstart and hwidth parameters can be set in MyE2B.cfg to set the x start offset and width of the menu help text. 
• 'No !BAT string in MyE2B.cfg' error message suppressed if no MyE2B.cfg file exists (bugfix).
• Small bugfix to E2B_Editor and it now lists both .bmp and .jpg files in open file dialog by default.
• New grub4dos version. String command bugfix in grub4dos and other small bugs fixed. New setmenu draw-box command added.
• CENTREHD code revised for better menu heading centering.
• Small \_ISO\SampleBackround.jpg file added for use with E2B_Editor.
• DrawBox.cfg theme added

Black Friday E2B Treats!

Why not upgrade your E2B drive to the fastest\best flash drive and take advantage of the Black Friday reductions?

SanDisk Extreme Pro USB 3.1 128GB - $60 or £66 (save $20/£27!!!)

or the 256GB version for only $100.

Tip: The 'Go' version is cheaper but slower (1\10th random 4K speed so not suitable for WinToGo)!

Now you can add WindowsToGo VHD files and boot to Windows 10 directly from your E2B drive - but you may forget that you are actually running from a USB drive!

E2B v1.96A released (bugfix for v1.96)

Due to a small bug in v1.96, I have decided to re-release v1.96 as v1.96A.

The bug was that if you had no \_ISO\MyE2B.cfg file, you would see a 'ERROR IN \_ISO\MyE2B.cfg file - Check first line starts with !BAT' message when you boot to E2B.

The new v1.96A does NOT include the latest changes in the v1.97c BETA version, so E2B v1.97c is currently the latest, most up-to-date version, although it is still at Beta status.

E2B v1.97c BETA available

Changes from v1.96 are:

1. New Make_E2B.exe - extract button now works even if no USB drive detected and not run as admin
2. Desinfect 2017 sample .mnu file added,
3. Fix $Default E2B Menu.cfg by adding !BAT to prevent initial error message after using PimpMydrive.cmd.
4. Snappy SDIO .cfg file changed to suppress GNU licence EULA on first run. 
5. Change to all menus and language files - menu help text now does not have leading space at start of each help line. 
6. New hstart and hwidth parameters can be set in MyE2B.cfg to set the x start offset and width of the menu help text.
7. No !BAT warning message if no MyE2B.cfg exists (bugfix)
8. SDI Origin .exe files updated.

Items 5 and 6 actually involved changing a great many .txt, .mnu, .g4b and language files to remove the space that was used in the menu help text.

The new version is available from the Alternate Downloads Areas.

E2B v1.97b available (with small bugfix)

E2B v1.97b is now available from the Alternate Download Areas.

There was a small bug in v1.96 reported by Nathan (thanks!).

If you run \_ISO\PimpMyDrive.cmd and then choose to add Themes, then when you next boot to E2B, you will see a warning message:

Press ENTER to continue and load the E2B menu.

This message occurs because E2B now checks that the \_ISO\MyE2B.cfg file starts with !BAT, but the new MyE2B.cfg that is initially used is just full of 00's.

Once you select a new Theme using the E2B menu, the error message will disappear because the contents of the MyE2B.cfg will be overwritten with new text.

Changes from v1.96 are:

• Make_E2B.exe - Extract button now works even if no USB drive detected and not run as admin
• Desinfect 2017 sample .mnu file added,
• Fix $Default E2B Menu.cfg by adding !BAT to prevent initial error message after using Pimp My drive.cmd.

If you have already run v1.96 PimpMyDrive.cmd and still see this error, selecting a Theme from the Main menu will fix it.

Add the E2B UtilMan password hack to any WinPE ISO's desktop

If your E2B USB drive contains bootable WinPE ISOs (e.g. Gandalf, Strelec, Bob Om, etc.), you can add shortcuts to the WinPE Desktops which will run the E2B UtilMan hack files. This will allow you to hack into any Windows system that is not encrypted.

YT video

1. First you need to add the PEStartup files and \TheOven_Startup.cmd to your E2B drive, as detailed in a previous blog here. For example, for a version with PortableApps already added, download and extract the PEStartup_Papps version to the E2B drive.

2. Next, boot to your WinPE ISO on the E2B USB drive (or if you prefer, you can double-click on the \AIO\Tools\PEStartup\PEStartup_x86.exe or PEStartup_x64.exe under your current Windows OS - but do not click on the 'Options - Perform' button or it will alter your Windows system!).

Some WinBuilder PEs such as Gandalf and Bob Om's PE v8 will automatically run PEStartup when WinPE boots. For other WinPEs, you will need to double-click on \TheOven_Startup.cmd to run PEStartup.

3. Now use PEStartup to add Shortcuts for \_ISO\docs\UtilMan\Utilman1PE_Patch.cmd and UtilMan4PE_Restore.cmd as shown in the screenshot below:

Add Desinfect 2017 + updates to E2B

I have updated the instructions in a previous blog on Desinfect.

You should be able boot from a Desinfect 2017 ISO with persistent virus signature updates if you follow the instructions carefully.

See the bottom of this page for details.

Add FreeBSD-based ISOs to E2B (+ new MPI Tool Pack released)

Bootable ISOs based on FreeBSD (e.g. FreeBSD-*11.1.iso) can now be booted by using .imgPTN image files.

I have just updated the MPI Tool Pack v.0.078.

Instructions are basically the same as for memstick images - see here (bottom of page).

For instance, you can MBR-boot to OPNsense ISOs (OPNsense-17.7.5-OpenSSL-dvd-amd64.iso) by creating a dummy .imgPTN file and removing the file extension from the ISO file so it is also loaded as a partition image.

To check if your ISO is compatible, load the ISO into 7Zip and look for a \boot\loader file inside the ISO.

Note: FreeNas .ISO files do not work using this method. You must use FreeNAS memstick images instead.

Geek notes

It is not possible to boot directly from the ISO using a simple menu such as:

Very useful additions to your E2B USB drive - Carifred Ultra Virus Killer and Tech Tool Store

If you have a sufficient knowledge of Windows to be able to repair a damaged or infected Windows system, you will know that it is not that easy.

For instance, although you may be able to boot to the infected Windows system, it may not allow you to run any .exe executable or use any browser.

So i just wanted to make you aware of Carifred's software for technicians. Not only do they offer free versions with very few limitations, but it also seems to provide the exact tools that an experienced Windows repair technician needs. The full licences are also very reasonably priced too.

This blog post is just a 'heads-up' to draw your attention to this software if you haven't come across it before.

SSL for Easy2boot and RMPrepUSB sites + how to increase your website earnings with Ezoic!

Because both sites go through Ezoic, it was super-easy to enable SSL for both sites.

I simply installed the SSL app (just one click on the Ezoic site) for each of my sites and waited a while.

https://www.rmprepusb.com

This should help the Google search ranking for these sites too and give people a 'warmer' feeling when accessing the sites.

This blogger site also has SSL too (you are probably viewing it now using the https URL).

https://rmprepusb.blogspot.com

About Ezoic

If you own a website, Ezoic can help you improve traffic, user experience and website earnings.

It is free to try and they will help you set it up (not difficult!), so you have nothing to lose.

Easy2Boot v1.96 full release now available

Changes from v1.95:

• Bugfix for .isofira01 as used for Strelec ISOs and fix some other .fira extensions (QRUN.g4b).
• Check for fixed type of .VHD\.VHDX file - dynamic VHDs won't boot (QRUN.g4b).
• If .txt file exists then don't suggest better extension, unless SCROLL LOCK is on (QRUN.g4b)
• Improve GIFtoIMA.cmd script to calculate size of .IMA file required.
  GIFtoIMA.cmd now will add code lines to your MyE2B.cfg file for you (optional).
• New 'rooftops' default wallpaper.
• New SWITCH_E2B.exe with improved file re-ordering for dual image payloads (see Method 4).  
• Check \_ISO\MyE2B.cfg begins with !BAT, and bugfix for falsely reporting a problem with MyE2B.cfg in some cases (menu.lst).
• Added some 'disk1' example XML unattended install files for Win7/8/10. 
• Larger cmd shell window for UPDATE_E2B_DRIVE.cmd so can see which files have been updated.
• Add linuxlite_persistence and linuxmint_persistence sample mnu files.
• Small text change to ENGlish Strings.txt (.imgPTN prompt, etc.).

Files are available from Alternate Download Areas.
The Main E2B site will be updated within a few days.

Please report any issues ASAP.

P.S. v1.96 could report a !BAT missing error under some conditions (e.g. no MyE2B.cfg), so I have released a bugfix version called 1.96A. If you already have v1.96, just download v1.96A and click the Update_E2B button to update your 1.96 E2B drive.