Easy2Boot v2.09 and agFM v1.71 latest release available

E2B v2.09 changes

• New default background
• Changes to UPDATE_E2B_DRIVE.cmd, E2B Launcher.exe, SWITCH_E2B.exe, SUB_MENU_Maker.cmd, E2B SUBMENU Maker.cmd, StartupCheck.cmd, Add_Ventoy.cmd, CheckForUpdate.cmd, Download and update agFM_V2.cmd, MAKE_E2B_USB_DRIVE.cmd
• Sample mnu files added: PTN3_IMGPTNREP3_MENU.mnu, PTN3_MNU.mnu, PTN2_AUTO.mnu, PTN3_AUTO.mnu. PTN_LOG1_AUTO.mnu, Parrot_4.11.2_Persistent.mnu
• REP3.g4b and RestoreMBR.g4b added
• wimboot updated (bugfix for bootmgr)
• DLC and Strelec now always swaps hd0 with hd1 before boot
• bugfix for .isopup extension
• Fix Win7 install not swapping hd0-hd1
• Add .imgPTNREP3 support
• Support for xxx_ file prefix
• .isodd no longer supported - use .isodef
• SDI_CHOCO.cmd improved for Win8 installs (fix access denied error with some versions of Win8 fixed)
• PassMark Memtest86 .imgPTN23 updated to latest version 9.1 Free

agFM v1.71

• Latest PassMark Memtest86 9.1 Free
• Improve .imgptnREP3 support
• Support for Strelec ISOs on UEFI32 devices with 64-bit CPUs (e.g. Asus T100).
• Add DrWeb+persistence .grubfm example to \e2b\Sample agFM Menu Files folder
• Add slacko_v7.grubfm and .cfg sample file added to \e2b\Sample agFM Menu Files\Linux folder for Puppy booting.
• More file extensions supported

agFM v1.71 is live and you can update using 

"\e2b\Update agFM\Download and update agFM_v2.cmd" 

or just get the latest 1.71 zip version and extract it to Partition 2.

E2B v2.09 is on the Alternate Download sites

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AqlrQcdsFA-K7w6Fl2SsaZoPTnLm?e=ChQQGe

Please make a new drive and let me know if you find any issues.

How to fix Windows when it no longer detects your USB drive

Windows 10 seems to have a nasty habit of sometimes not detecting a USB drive that had been working fine 5 minutes ago and still works OK in other systems - just not the one you are using!

I can have no problem for months and then one day, Windows 10 does not seem to recognise my USB drive because it does not list the drive volume letters in Explorer - but only if I connect it to a certain specific USB port! I can connect the same drive to a different USB port and everything works as normal.

One month it can be the lower USB 3 port and the SanDisk Extreme 3 USB drive - another time it can be my super-fast SilverStone USB 3 M.2 SSD enclosure and a different USB port. It's just pot luck!

Another issue I often come across, is that I insert a particular USB drive into a particular USB port and Windows goes into an everlasting cycle of mounting the drive and then dismounting it again and again and again ('dong-diddle-ding' - then 'ding-dang-dong', etc. etc.)!  Often a reboot fixes this (as long as I first unplug the USB drive before a Windows Restart).

Here is what I do to fix USB drive issues (after trying a Windows Restart, of course)

Note: A simple Windows Shutdown is not good enough! You must use Restart or SHIFT+Shutdown so that Fast boot is not used when you next switch on.

E2B v2.09h Beta available

 E2B sorts payload files alphanumerically, so Ubuntu.iso will be listed after Tails.iso in the E2B menu.

E2B also supports filename prefixes in the form of  _*_ (underscore - any number of characters - underscore), e.g.:

_100_Ubuntu.iso
_110_Tails.iso

These will be listed in the E2B menu as:

Tails
Ubuntu

File extension override suffixes

You can also add file extension override suffixes, these too will not be displayed in the E2B menu system, e.g.

Format:  _ (file extension _ [agfm (agfm file extension)] . file-extension

_100_Ubuntu_.isodef_agfmisoagfm.iso
_110_Tails_.isodef_agfmismap.iso

The agfm file override is optional. If not specified then the first file suffix will be used for both E2B and agFM - e.g. _100_Ubuntu_.isodef.iso.

These will be listed in the E2B menu as:

Tails
Ubuntu

BUT both agFM and Ventoy will list the full filename. 

E2B will boot as if the file had a .isodef file extension, agFM will boot as if the file had a .isoagfm (or .isomap) file extension.

Note: If E2B MyE2B.cfg is configured to show the file extension (EXTOFF) then E2B shows the whole filename but without the prefix - e.g. Ubuntu_.isodef_agfmisoagfm.iso.

Hotkeys

E2B v2.09g/h and agFM v1.71f Betas

Previous versions of agFM recognised the .imgPTNREP3 file extension.

If you have a partition image .imgPTNREP3 file  (e.g. hfs partition containing a bootable Mac OSX installer files) on Partition 3, you could select it in the agFM menu system and it would replace the current Partition 3 (if any) with the new image. The partition should be recognised as being in FAT/NTFS/hfs format and use the correct Partition type (e.g. hfs= 0xAF).

You can thus UEFI-boot to agFM, switch-in any image to partition 3 and then boot to it from the agFM F3 boot menu or the MAC boot menu (e.g for Catalina Installer hfs image).

To restore the original partitions, you can UEFI-boot to the agFM menu system and choose the 'Restore E2B Partitions' menu option.

agFM v1.71f

Add Kali+Persistence to agFM menu system

 I have added a post here which describes how to add a .cfg file to boot Kali with Persistence.

agFM seems to have a small problem when the findiso parameter is used. It seems to 'lock' a partition and this causes Kali to not shutdown. The persistence file seems to be saved OK, but it won't then turn off the system or restart it.

This also occurs if you just boot the Kali ISO using agFM (without persistence) and choose the 'Debian - Debian Live' boot entry (which also uses findiso=).

I cannot report the issue as a1ive's grub and grubfm project seem to be in 'archive' read-only status recently.

Add a Secure Boot partition to your E2B USB drive

 A recent Windows Update in Windows 10 has meant that the Kaspersky Microsoft-signed EFI boot file that is used by agFM on the Easy2Boot USB drive is often blocked by the target systems UEFI Firmware.

This prevents us from Secure UEFI-booting.

Apart from disabling Secure Boot in the BIOS, you can go into the BIOS Setup menu and delete/clear/reset the DBx UEFI database - or - another way around this problem is to place a version of WinPE on a new FAT32 3rd partition of the E2B USB drive.

'How to make $1000 a month from the Internet' eBook price now reduced to only $5

 

My latest eBook 'How to make $1000 a month from the Internet' has now been reduced to only $5 (was $10). It also now updated to revision v1.01.

If you want to supplement your income with some passive income from the Internet, then this book should help you.

See here for more details.

Fedora 33 live boot with persistence (fixed)

Fedora 33 with persistence

The Fedora LiveCD ISO can support persistence but the persistence file must be on a FAT32 or ext2/3/4 partition.

To boot from an Easy2Boot NTFS USB drive, we can convert the ISO to a FAT32 .imgPTN file and then add in the persistence file to the new FAT32 partition.

This process was described in a 2017 blog article here, however it seems Fedora persistence has changed slightly since then and recent versions no longer recognise the persistence file.

The blog instructions have now been updated so that you can Legacy and UEFI64-boot to a Fedora 33 .imgPTN file with a persistence file. Two folders needed to be added inside the persistence volume to fix the problem.

Latest Betas with bugfixes available and Puppy persistence

 E2B v2.09c

• Add check in various .cmd files to check for wmic command in PATH 'wbem' environment
• Remove Update E2B link from Launcher app.
• Memtest86 .imgPTN23 updated to v9 build 2020 free version
• Small text help changes to some Mainmenu .mnu files
• Bugfix - fix Puppy ISOs with .isopup extension not booting

agFM 1.71c

• Support for Strelec ISOs on UEFI32 devices with 64-bit CPUs (e.g. Asus T100).
• Memtest86 v9 build 2020 EFI files updated.
• Add DrWeb+persistence .grubfm example to \e2b\Sample agFM Menu Files folder
• Add slacko_v7.grubfm and .cfg sample file added to \e2b\Sample agFM Menu Files\Linux folder for Puppy booting.

The new Beta versions can be found in the 'Latest Betas' folder in either of the two 'Alternate Download Areas' (see sidebar).

Puppy (.isopup)

I discovered that the .isopup file extension seems to no longer work in recent versions of E2B (grub4dos seems to have changed and broken it!), so I have modified the code in QRUN.cmd to now work again. 

31st March is World Backup Day!

 So when was the last time you backed up your files?

I tend to keep most of my 'important' files in the 'Cloud' these days, but if my main Windows SSD went kaput, it would still probably take me a good day to re-install Windows and add all the applications that I use and then I would need to allow all the files to re-sync with the 'Cloud'.