Add Windows 11 to E2B and E2B v2.10 pre-release

You can download a Windows 11 ISO from the official Microsoft page here (3rd option). You need to select Windows 11, then the Country (note: 'English'=American whereas 'English International' = UK and all other English-speaking countries).

System specifications for Win11 are here.

The Microsoft checker app is here.

There is also way to install Win11 on a non-TPM system (or one that does not support Secure Boot or does not have enough RAM) - see the WIN11_TPM_FIX_README.txt file in the \_ISO\WINDOWS\WIN11 folder for details and the screenshot below...

Note that Win11 may refuse to add any updates if your system is sub-spec.

You can also tweak Ventoy to install to a non-TPM/non-Secure-Boot system in a similar way (see here).

If you are using E2B v.2.10 then it will already have an \_ISO\WINDOWS\WIN11 folder for the Win11 ISO.

E2B v2.10 Pre-release is here and has the following changes:

Add Strelec WinPE 21-07-2021 to E2B

 You can download the recent Sergei Strelec ISO from here.

Copy the ISO file to your E2B drive \_ISO\WINPE folder. I renamed the file to

WinPE10_8_Sergei_Strelec_x86_x64_2021.07.21_English_.isowin.iso

so that it will run from E2B and agFM. If using Ventoy and Legacy-mode, press Ctrl+W before selecting the .iso file to use the wimboot method of booting.

If you have problems booting to Strelec with E2B, please update to the latest E2B Beta v2.10g (extract .zip file and run UPDATE_E2B_DRIVE.CMD).

Boot directly from Sergei Strelec WinPE

Add CloudReady (ChromeOS) to Easy2Boot\Ventoy

 Ventoy v1.0.51 includes experimental support for CloudReady (Neverware\Google) and FydeOS (both are versions of ChromeOS).

Since 'Ventoy for Easy2Boot' v1.0.51 is now released, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I can boot to CloudReady from Ventoy from my E2B USB drive + IdeaPad 300 notebook!

CloudReady instructions

1. Update your E2B USB drive to the latest Ventoy version by double-clicking on the "\e2b\Update agFM\Update_to_latest_Ventoy_version.cmd" file on Partition 2 of your E2B USB drive.

2. Download a version of CloudReady. I use the free Home version 64-bit Image file from here.

3. Unzip the .ZIP file that you just downloaded and copy the  6GB file to your Easy2Boot USB drive. Since this will only work under Ventoy, I made a \_ISO\VENTOY folder on my E2B USB drive.

4. Rename the .bin file extension to .img.

CloudReady only supports UEFI, so you need to UEFI64-boot to agFM and then run Ventoy.

Now you should be able to sign into your Google account. If you have two-factor authentication enabled, you will need to confirm via your mobile phone (enable Bluetooth and Location detection on your phone).

Once logged in successfully, any future boot to the CloudReady img file will just require your Google account email and password.

Note: You will need to test using a real system as Virtual Box did not seem to work for me. I successfully tested on an IdeaPad 300.

FydeOS

I used 'mirror 2' to download the 2GB .img.xz file and then unzipped it to make a 7.3GB .img file.

I had problems using the trackpad on the IdeaPad300 with this distro and it appears to be a version aimed at China, so I did not test it by logging in.

Ventoy for Easy2Boot v1.0.51 now available

 The latest version of Ventoy (v1.0.51) is now available for download.

See here for changes.

1. Download the Easy2Boot version of  Ventoy-1.0.51-windows.zip file from here.

2. Drag-and-drop the .zip file onto the \e2b\Update agFM\Add_Ventoy.cmd file which you will find on the second FAT32 partition of your E2B USB drive.

3. Follow the simple prompts (basically type Y and ENTER).

The server is now updated with version 1.0.51 as of 2021-08-30. You can now easily update Ventoy by running:

 \e2b\Update agFM\Update_to_latest_Ventoy_version.cmd.

The Transcend JetFlash 920 USB drive is fast - but is it legal?

I bought and received a Transcend JetFlash 920 (#Amazon ad link) today which was advertised as USB 3.2 Gen 1 and with a capacity of 128GB - but is it legal?

This is half the depth and length of the SanDisk Extreme!

Get the official Microsoft Win11 Preview ISOs

 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windowsinsiderpreviewiso

It seems to need at least 30GB of disk space.

It seems to allow an easy offline account option too.

Not sure why a fresh install from a new Win11 ISO needs to download a newer version?

Latest E2B+agFM Betas now support grub4efi

You can now have the same E2B menu system in both MBR\Legacy mode and UEFI mode! 

grub4efi by chenall\yaya2007/a1ive is the UEFI version of grub4dos.

Most of the commands in grub4efi are the same as used by grub4dos.

The latest Beta of E2B now contains grub4efi.

How to update your E2B USB drive

Check your system for Win11 compatibility

 A new app which is downloadable from github or the Microsoft Store is provided by 'ReadySunValley'.

It must be run in Admin mode...

It does not seem to be an official Microsoft app however.

Windows password bypass utility 'PassPass' in E2B now updated to work with recent Windows 10 versions

 E2B v2.10eBeta has an updated version of PassPass which should now work with recent Windows 10 versions (2020/21).

Using PassPass you can bypass the password entry required for any Windows Local Account.

It does not work on Microsoft online (email) accounts however.

More details on PassPass here.

See the sidebar 'Useful pages' for a link to download the E2B Beta versions from the Alternate Download websites.

P.S. E2B v2.10f has revised patches which also works on Win11 Beta x64.

Ventoy for Easy2Boot 'seven-of-nine' themes

 

A simple Ventoy theme with the 'Seven of Nine' background is available here.

These themes can be used on 'official' Ventoy drives too not just for E2B.

More information in my eBook 'Getting started with Ventoy'

It also contains the Windows 11 TPM patch registry xml files for Pro and Home.

It includes a \ventoy\ventoy.json file, so be careful not to overwrite your own ventoy.json file (if you already have one).