How to set the Computer Serial number as the ComputerName - Take 2!

This method has the advantage that you can check what the auto-generated ComputerName+SerialNumber is going to be before the install is actually started and can then  change it if required.

The Sample .mnu file 'WIN10_Prompt_for_PCNAME_and_UNAME.mnu' will allow the user to specify the UserName and ComputerName before the Windows Install ISO is run. It then copies your XML file to a BLANK.XML file and modifies it to use the new User and Computer Names that you have specified.

This is useful because you don't need to choose an XML file or an ISO file as they are already pre-defined in the .mnu file. You just boot, enter in the UserName and ComputerName that you want, and the rest of the build is fully automated. If you are using SDI_CHOCO, it even adds drivers and applications automatically too.

However, if you want the ComputerName to include the System Serial number (for instance), you would have to carefully type it in manually when prompted (assuming you knew what it was!).

I have now made a new version of this .mnu file so that it will automatically modify the XML file's ComputerName field with the System Serial number (e.g. PC-1234546) for you! It works in a very similar way to the WIN10_Prompt_for_PCNAME_and_UNAME.mnu, but two boots are required.

Tip: If you run \_ISO\docs\SysInfo\sysinfo2.hta from the E2B drive under Windows, it will list the DMI values held in the Mainboard of the system.

It works in 2 stages like this:

Changing the Windows ComputerName after installation (e.g. to contain the system Serial Number)

It is often the case that the System Admin wants the Windows ComputerName to reflect some aspect of the system itself, such as the system serial number or DELL Service Tag (7,10 or 11 characters) or perhaps the MAC address of the Ethernet adapter.

The main problem is that the Serial Number of the target system cannot be determined until after Setup (WinPE) has booted.

I wanted to try to alter the ComputerName during an automated SDI_CHOCO install using Easy2Boot and a Windows 10 ISO + XML file...

E2B v1.A1d Beta available

Download v1.A1d

Here are changes from v1.A0 (italic font = new changes added since v1.A1c Beta)

• Added 'WARNING: Some types of AV software can cause ChocBox.cmd to run extremely slowly' to chockbox.cmd. 
• Improve Adjust_E2B_Menu.mnu sample menu file - the user can change menu settings, etc. from within a single menu.
• Added \_ISO\docs\Multiple Backgrounds folder - read the ReadMe.txt file and use the ready-made files included. 
• Menu wallpaper files which are automatically used as wallpaper file can now have .jpg file extension as well as .bmp, e.g. \_ISO\WIN10.jpg, \_ISO\DOS.jpg.
• PimpMyDrive.cmd now adds Adjust_E2B_Menu.mnu - some of the other menus are now not added to make the Main menu tidier.
• Sub-menu files \_ISO\xxxx.g4b, .bmp and .jpg are now automatically used if they are present (e.g. \_ISO\ANTIVIRUS.jpg will be automatically used when the AntiVirus menu is loaded)
• SUB_MENU_Maker.cmd file also added to into the \_ISO folder for user convenience (same file as \_ISO\docs\E2B Utilities\E2B SUBMENU Maker.cmd).
• PatchMe script updated to suppress the 'A20 Debug' message on bootup.
• .bat, .xml and .bak files are now ignored if they are in a menu folder.
• .jpg and .bmp files can be placed in menu folders and they will be loaded as background wallpaper when selected by user from the menu.
• .f24 and .uni.gz font files can be placed in menu folders and they will be loaded as new font when selected by user from the menu.
• Few very minor bug fixes.

Make your own E2B 'Launcher' utility

Linasoft's AutoPlay Menu Builder can be used to create your own 'Launcher' executable. You can use an existing template and then make changes to it - perhaps change the language, etc. or add more items.

Although originally intended to create auturun.exe + autorun.inf files for use with CDs that would auto-run when inserted into a computer's CD-ROM drive, it is a useful application to create your own 'Launcher' utility for E2B too (it makes a Windows .exe executable).

Here is a screenshot my current E2B Helper:

E2B eBook progress report

The 'How to make a multiboot USB drive using Easy2Book' eBook has proved far more popular than I ever imagined!

I thought that it might have interested only 10-20 people at most, but since mid-June I have now sold over 100 copies which really surprised me, but it's very nice to know that all my efforts were worth it! The 130pp book took me over 3 weeks from start to finish (sometimes with a 12-hour day and some weeks were 7-day weeks!). After writing the first draft, I carefully followed all the exercises myself to look for any problems in the instructions and I also added screenshots and diagrams. Glen kindly proof-read many drafts and final revisions and since then I have updated and improved the PDF - the latest version is now v2.3.

However, I have had very little feedback on the eBook, so maybe nobody has actually read it yet or they fell asleep trying to read it!

Version 2.3

If you still have the original receipt email from Payhip, you can re-download a later revision of the PDF for free (contact me if you have problems).

If you would like a version in ePub (.epub) form for your eBook reader device, please contact me. I do have a .epub file of v2.3 but it is not quite as nice as the PDF due to the limitations of the epub format.

eBook #2?

I am now thinking about writing another E2B eBook and there are a number of possible topics, three of which are listed below.

E2B v1.A1b and c Beta now available

v1.A1c

• Adjust_E2B_Menu.mnu has been improved so it is now loaded as a separate menu.
• PimpMyDrive.cmd now adds Adjust_E2B_Menu.mnu to the PIMP folder.
• E2B now automatically looks for menu wallpaper files for each sub-menu (see below). Now you can just add .bmp or .jpg files and they will automatically be used for the background image for that menu - no .mnu files are required.

How to add new menu folders to Easy2Boot (e.g. BIOS Flash tools)

If you are a Tech, you may want to keep many BIOS Flash utilities on your E2B USB drive for each of the different models that you encounter.

So you may wish to have a menu structure like this:

Main Menu -> BIOS Flash Menu -> [Manufacturer] -> [Series]


For instance for Lenovo T-series systems, the menu structure would be:

Main Menu - BIOS Flash Menu - Lenovo - T Series - T560_v1.25.imgPTN

E2B v1.A1a Beta available

1.A1a Beta

• Add 'WARNING: Some types of AV software can cause ChocBox.cmd to run extremely slowly' to chockbox.cmd. 
• Improve Adjust_E2B_Menu.mnu sample menu file so the user can change menu colours from within the menu. 
• Add \_ISO\docs\Multiple Backgrounds folder - read the ReadMe.txt file and use the ready-made files included. 
• Menu wallpaper files can now have .jpg file extension as well as .bmp, e.g. \_ISO\WIN10.jpg.

I found that my Comodo AntiVirus software was causing Chocolatey (and thus ChocBox.cmd) to run extremely slowly. Just disabling it was not enough to fix the problem as the task was still running in the background - I had to either kill the Comodo AV task or uninstall it!

The Adjust_E2B_Menu.mnu sample .mnu file now lets you change the menu text colours as well as other menu settings.

I have added a new \_ISO\docs\Multiple Backgrounds folder with instructions to help you set up your E2B USB drive to load a different background wallpaper for each menu. The most difficult thing now is actually making the 18 different 800x600 wallpaper jpg files required! You can add your own menu heading to each wallpaper graphics file and remove the E2B text heading from the menu if you wish.

1. Use the "\_ISO\docs\Templates\CenteredMenu\MyE2B.cfg" for your \_ISO\MyE2B.cfg file.

2. Follow the instructions in the \_ISO\docs\Multiple Backgrounds\ReadMe.txt file.

3. Tweak the \_ISO\MyE2B.cfg file to remove the menu heading (and footer help text and menu entry help text) if you wish.

More info at http://www.easy2boot.com/configuring-e2b/multiple-backgrounds/

Amazon Prime day!

If you are an Amazon Prime member (hint: you can sign up for a 30-day trial for free!) then there are lots of bargains to be had today and tomorrow only.

Unsurprisingly, the best deals are available on Amazon kit, but there are also good reductions on some high-priced goods as well of over 50%!

Here are a few bargains for US and UK clients (affiliated links):

Amazon.co.uk

£100 off Echo Show - Black (Best bargain!)
£39 off SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD 1TB up to 560MB/s Read/up to 530MB/s Write
£22 off SanDisk Extreme Pro 64 GB 160 MB/s CompactFlash Memory Card - Black/Gold/Red
£35 off SanDisk SSD PLUS 960 GB Sata III 2.5 Inch Internal SSD, Up to 535 MB/s
£15 off SanDisk Ultra Fit 128 GB USB Flash Drive USB 3.0 up to 150 MB/s
£15 off Fire TV stick
Canon EOS and Sony camera bargains

Click here for more Amazon UK deals.

Free Amazon Prime 30-day trial.


Amazon.com

Note: Some deals don't start till later today.

$100 off Echo Show
$30 off Echo 2nd generation
$20 off Fire TV stick

$110 off Toshiba 50-inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV with HDR - Fire TV Edition

Click here for more deals.

Free Amazon Prime 30-day trial

Easy2Boot v1.A0 is now released

Change from v1.99 are:

• New grub4dos \grldr (2018-07-01) supporting centering of menu entries and menu help text (new grub4dos setmenu --middle-align command).
• Three new Themes added to demonstrate centred text menu entries.
• New \_ISO\docs\Sample mnu files\E2B Menus\Adjust_E2B_Menu.mnu menu.
• TimeDiskAccess.mnu added - allows user to test raw sector read speed under BIOS of all drives in system. Useful for comparing USB+BIOS driver performance.
• New SHORT_HL variable can be used to set the highlighted menu entry to only highlight the menu text and not the whole menu line. 
• UPDATE_E2B_DRIVE.cmd now checks in case the user has renamed some of the standard E2B .mnu files (e.g. ZZSubmenuAll.mnu) and asks user if they want to delete them or keep them.
• New version of E2B_Editor.exe now uses 24-bit colour values for the heading and footer colours.
• STRINGS.txt files changed - no need to pad out menu headings.
• Small bug fix to remove extra space after menu entries in sample .mnu files.
• KBD_QWERTY_USA keyboard file added so can pick using E2B_Editor.
• Bugfixes to internal handling of menu positioning, etc.
• Bugfix for v1.99 - MAKE_CONTIG.cmd script is now copied across when making an E2B drive (running Update did copy it across but Make_E2B_USB_Drive.cmd did not copy it across).
• Small fixes to centre menu heading when UTF-8 characters used (e.g. Arabic, Chinese, etc.).
• If the FONT variable's path contains ".f24" then 24-high fonts will automatically be used. 
• Small changes to Check_for_Update.cmd and UPDATE_E2B_DRIVE.cmd to display E2B version numbers.
• Some of the .cmd files are now modified to use %WINDIR%\System32\find.exe in case users Windows Path environment variable points to a different version of find.exe.

The new downloads are available on the Alternate Download Areas (see side bar of this blog).

The www.easy2boot.com site download links will be updated in a few days.