Restore disk images across the network using AOMEI Image Deploy (free PXE-boot deployment system)

If you take disk backups using the free AOMEI Backupper software (from a bootable ampe.iso file), then you can use AOMEI Image Deploy to write that image to multiple PCs across the network using PXE booting.

There are instructions on their site here.

This allows you to restore a disk image to any system that has a PXE boot ROM (pretty much all systems do!) without needing to boot it from a USB drive or CD or any 'media'.

Lakka - Take 2!

I have revised the instructions to make a bootable Lakka image in my previous post.

There is now no need to make a Lakka USB flash drive first, and you can make the storage partition any size you like too. Much easier!

Windows 10 bug found in Calc App!

On PC-Welt a Windows 10 bug has been reported in the Calc App.

Can you spot the problem?

Add Lakka to your E2B USB drive and play SuperMario (and 100's of other console games)

Lakka is an open source game console emulator. See the YouTube demo here (there are many YouTube videos too, including a Hak5 intro video here!).

You can boot to Lakka from a variety of different computers including a Raspberry Pi. On an x86 PC you can directly boot from a USB drive (or install it onto a dedicated PC, if you have one to spare!).

Lakka does not support\work on a Virtual Machine - you must boot from a REAL SYSTEM!

You also need to connect USB or WiFi controllers to the PC too (recommended because using the PC keyboard is very difficult/impossible when playing games using the PC keyboard!).

I downloaded the Windows 32-bit version for a PC from here and then wrote the .img file (Lakka-Generic.i386-devel-20161002110423-r21593-g03241bf.img) to a spare 8GB USB 3.0 drive using RMPrepUSB (see below for details). For Nintendo 64 games, use Lakka 64-bit.

I then booted from the Lakka USB drive on my IdeaPad 300 (does not work on Virtual Box).

E2B v1.85 now available

E2B v1.85 is now available from the Alternate Downloads Areas.

After a few days, I will add the 1.85 download files to the www.easy2boot.com site.

Changes from v1.84 are:

• Add udefrag linux utility for making NTFS files contiguous under linux. 
• ZGRUB_USB_046.mnu menu improved. 
• Improve error checking in MAKE_E2B_USB_DRIVE.cmd to fix problem if you are using a proxy - now it just does not show the latest version available if a proxy has been set instead of bombing out! (thanks to JH for reporting it)
• German language files updated (thanks Frettt!).

Experimenting with large fonts, line spacing and animation (GreatLakes_DNA)

If you want a 800x600 theme which use the 24-pixel high large fonts in E2B and increases the spacing between lines, you can try the GreatLakes_DNA.zip download in the Alternate Download Area - Themes folder. It includes the rotating DNA animation and the background is a shot of the Great Lakes taken from space.

As with all animations, you can use the F2 key to make it disappear and then press F2 again to make it reappear. The space between menu lines has also been increased.

The F1 Help menu is suppressed because the help text does not fit on the screen when using large fonts.

GreatLakes_DNA.zip

The .bmp file is actually compressed using LZMA.exe.

There are several different 24-pixel high large fonts to choose from - try using a different one by changing the MyE2B.cfg file.

When using Windows ISOs, etc., you may need to reduce the number of XML files, so that they will fit on the screen nicely.

Add Easy Recovery Essentials Windows 10 (EasyRE) to E2B

The Easy Recovery Essentials Win10 ISO (not free!) does not seem to boot from E2B as a .ISO file or if simply converted to a .imgPTN file. The ISO seems to be based on FreeBSD and does not seem to contain the necessary grub2 boot loader for USB booting in an easily-accessible form.

Note that the ISO file can be booted using the E2B grub2 menu system (you must also extract some files and use a FAT32 partition, there is an example .grub2 config file in the \_ISO\docs\Sample mnu Files folder on the 2nd partition).

Instructions

Here is how to get it working as an MBR-only bootable .imgPTN file under the standard E2B grub4dos menu system (not the E2B grub2 menu system):

Beware of this 'fast' USB 3.0 Flash drive!

I already own a 64GB SanDisk Extreme, but I was looking for a larger 128GB USB 3.0 Flash drive.

As you may know, I am a big fan of the SanDisk Extreme USB 3.0 drives. They are amongst the fastest USB 3.0 Flash memory drives that you can buy, but also represent extremely good value for money.

So, I consulted a few league tables such as UserBenchmark, thewirecutter  and everythingusb.

I was looking for a fast drive, so although the SanDisk Ultra Fit drive was good value for money, I did not consider it because it is slower than several others and also it is just too small - I do have one but I keep 'losing' it, and only find it a few weeks later 'hidden' in a USB port on one of my other devices.

So the main contenders were: (with advertised speed and links to Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com):

SanDisk Extreme     128GB £48 or $61   245MB/s Rd, 190MB/s Wr
SanDisk Extreme Pro 128GB £67 or $60   260MB/s Rd, 240MB/s Wr 
Lexar P20           128GB £52 or $49   400MB/s Rd, 270MB/s Wr

Disabling System Volume Information folder for Removable drives

If you read my previous blog and tried the Registry fragment I provided in a previous blog post, you may have found that it does not actually seem to stop Windows from making a System Volume Information folder on some systems.

It used to work (honest!), but recent versions of Windows 10 also require you to stop (disable) the Storage Service too (type 'Services' into the start menu to find the management applet). I think this service used to be called 'Removable Storage' in earlier Windows versions.

Double-click and disable the service.

So, for recent Win10 versions:

1. Disable the Storage Service

2. Install the Registry Fragment

3. Reboot

4. From an Admin command prompt, type rd /s "L:\System Volume Information" to delete the folder on the L: drive if it is already there (or whatever letter your USB drive is using).

I am not sure what affect disabling the Storage Service has on the system, Microsoft seem very sketchy with information about it. So far I have not noticed any issues (famous last words...)

RMPrepUSB v2.1.734 and new version of Disk Doctor available (with bug-fixes)

I found that the SpeedTest function in RMPrepUSB/RMPartUSB no longer seems to work on Windows 10 and gives a write error. This is now fixed in v2.1.734.

I also took the time to look into some niggly bugs in DiskDoctor (use CTRL+D inside RMPrepUSB to launch it after selecting a disk (does not work on disk 0) in RMPrepUSB).

DiskDoctor

DiskDoctor is a disk testing and editing tool which must be run with Admin privileges. The version included in RMPrepUSB has been stripped down quite a bit since I wrote it some years ago, and some functions and command line support have been removed. It was originally used as an automated test tool in a factory environment and used to test literally millions of computers.

If you want to try DD, use a disk that contains unwanted data first, until you become familiar with it!

For instance, if you start a Sequential Read of the whole disk, DiskDoctor (aka DD) will attempt to read all sectors, in blocks of a 'track' at a time, into a track buffer (63x255 sectors). This can take several hours for a 2TB HDD!