UEFI64 Secure Boot to a1ive grub2 File Manager to the Windows 10 Installer

The UEFI64 Secure Boot seems to work quite well even on systems which are set to 'UEFI: Microsoft OS only' except when installing Windows 10 from an ISO.

The solution for this seems to be that we must boot from a Windows 10 .imgPTN file, so we

1. Secure UEFI64-boot to agFM
2. Boot to WinPE
3. Run Switch_E2B.exe and switch in our Windows 10 .imgPTN23 image file
4. Reboot from the new partition and install Windows 10
5. Reboot to agFM and switch back in the E2B partition

I have added the instructions on how to add in the WinPE files here.

It would be nice to not have to boot to WinPE and run SWITCH_E2B.exe, but I am not sure that grub2 can do this like grub4dos can (P.S. see agFM v1.3 for a solution!).

The other alternative is to use agFM to boot to WinPE and then run WinNTSetup.exe from WinPE - this can install directly from a Win10 ISO and there is no need to use .imgPTN files.

E2B v1.B9d Beta available

Changes from v1.B8 are:

• The E2B menu system will ignore .grubfm files and .cfg files which are not grub4dos batch files (in case added for a1ive grub2 file manager)
• Bugfix for Windows ISOs + XML files (unattend answer file error fixed)
• Bugfix for firadisk/strelec ISO booting
• Bugfix in NTBOOT for .wim booting when using grub2 File Manager
• Language file for Simplified Chinese STRINGS.txt updated (thanks to a1ive)
• Change to MAKE_E2B_USB_DRIVE.cmd script to leave 100MB+ at end of the USB drive so a 2nd FAT32 partition can be easily added without needing to resize the E2B drive.

If you make a new E2B drive now, it will leave approx. 100MB of free unused space on the drive (or if a >128GB drive, it will make a large NTFS partition #2). This allows the user to easily delete the 2nd partition and make a new FAT32 partition of 100MB, so they can easily add the grub2 a1ive File Manager UEFI boot files.

I may add an option to add the UEFI files into the E2B installer later, but I need a lot more feedback from users on how good (or bad) the new UEFI File Manager is.

Download v1.B9d

So please let me have your feedback on the 'a1ive gru2 File Manager' and let me know what works and what doesn't.

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Create an account with Banggood and subscribe to get newsletters. Use the link in the email that will be sent to you for over £10 discount!

I recommend getting some extra bits at the same time.

See here for details.

A1ive grub2 File Manager for E2B v1.1 now available.

The latest version has a few improvements and bug fixes to make it more reliable for booting .WIM files.

I have also added a MEMTEST86 folder so that you can boot to the MemTest86 EFI files whenever you like.

Just extract the files straight to your FAT32 2nd partition to update the old version 1.0 files.

v1.1 1Drive Download link
v1.2 includes UEFI32 support

Bugfix in grub_filemanager.mnu (booting .wim files did not work)

If you are using the grub2 File Manager with Easy2Boot and have used the grub_filemanager.mnu menu file in the Main Menu  AND you have an animation on the menu, you may find that direct booting of some WinPE NT6 .WIM files does not work.

To fix this, we need to unmap the floppy drive that the animation uses before we load the grubfm.iso file.

Here is the new grub_filemanager.mnu file (the additional lines are in red)

iftitle [ if exist (hd0,1)/grubfm.iso || if exist (hd0,2)/grubfm.iso ] Grub2 File Manager (a1ive)\nBoot a file using grub2
splashimage --animated=0
map --unmap=0:03 > nul
map --unhook
find --set-root /grubfm.iso
map --mem /grubfm.iso (0xff)
map --hook
chainloader (0xff)
boot

E2B v1.B9b (with bugfix for unattend answer file error when installing Windows)

Alexander reported a problem with E2B v1.B8.

When using an E2B USB Flash drive (removable type), after the Windows Setup 'copy files' stage had completed and the system reboots, if you allow it to boot directly from the internal hard drive, you will see an error message:

'Windows Setup encountered an internal error while loading or searching for an unattend answer file.'

grubfm grub2 menus to install Windows+XML files

I have added two examples to the Alternate Downloads - a1ive grub2 file manager folder.

Direct UEFI64 boot from Tails 4.2/4.16 ISO file using a1ive's grub2 File Manager

Note: Later versions of Tails Live DVD ISO files (e.g. Tails v5.1, now have a UEFI-boot grub2 menu with a 'Tails (External Hard Disk) option. So just use a _.isodef.iso file extension and choose that option if you have an E2B USB HDD - otherwise choose one of the first options.

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This .grubfm menu can be added to the same folder as the ISO to get a 'User Menu' option when you select the .iso file. This allows us to UEFI-boot to Tails ISOs.

You must test on a real system (not a Virtual Machine) as it needs to detect a USB boot device.

Note: for Tails 4.6, and 4.16 you must delete the union=aufs parameter (why do the devs keep changing linux parameters every distro?).

As Tails seems to change on every version (!), you should look at the isolinux\live64.cfg file to get the correct 'params' parameters if you have a different version.

Tip: If you are booting from a VM or a Fixed-disk type of E2B USB drive (e.g. USB HDD or Corsair GTX flash drive), then you will need to press TAB at the Tails grub menu and edit the kernel parameters to remove the 'live-media=removable' entry each time you boot. For E2B, you can instead use the Tails_generic_for_USB_HDD.mnu from the sample mnu files folder (copy it and the ISO to the \_ISO\LINUX\MNU folder and edit the .mnu file with the name of your tails ISO file in two places).

tails-amd64-4.2.grubfm

E2B "UEFI version"

I have added a new page to the E2B website.

It describes how to add a second FAT32 partition to your E2B USB drive instead of using a .imgPTN file. This means it is more compatible for E2B Removable flash drives when booting Win7/8.1 ISOs.

UEFI-boot and then directly boot from ISO, VHD and WIM files using a1ive's grub2! 

No need to create .imgPTN files for most payloads. It also supports SDI_CHOCO configuration installs and other XML files.

Download (version 1.0).

Latest a1ive grub2 File manager v1.4 (with Windows 8.1 and XML support)

The new version 1.4 now supports the ability to run a Windows 7/8/10 install ISO with an XML file.

This allows us to:

1. Install any Edition of Windows from a Win7 ISO
2. Install Windows 8.1 without needing to enter a Product Key
3. Install Windows 10 with an unattend.xml file

Just copy your .XML files into the same folder as your ISO

e.g. on your large NTFS partition:
\_ISO\WINDOWS\WIN8  (contains .iso and .xml files)
\_ISO\WINDOWS\WIN7 (contains .iso and .xml files)
etc.

Download and unzip the latest version of the a1ive .imgPTN23 file (e.g. grub2 File Manager v1.4 (by a1ive).imgptn23auto) - see Alternate Downloads - Other folder for this. Place it in the \_ISO\MAINMENU folder.

Download the Sample_WIN8.1_XML_Files.zip, unpack and place in your Win8 folder.

For Win7 - to choose any Edition, use this XML file.

Use the XML file to choose any Edition in the Win7 ISO.

You can also add .xml files for Windows 7 (to install Home from a Pro ISO file for instance, because Win7 Retail ISOs contain all versions of Windows 7).

Win8...

Navigate to your WIN8 folder and choose an ISO file.