E2B DPMS 2.14b Beta available (with Toshiba Satellite C55D-C XP32 disk driver fix)

A user had a problem installing XP 32-bit onto a 2015 Toshiba Satellite C55D-C  laptop containing a 128GB M.2 SATA SSD card. XP Setup did not detect the internal SSD even though it appeared to detect, identify and load a mass storage driver for the PCI Id PCI/VEN_1022&DEV_7801&SUBSYS_F8451179 correctly.

It seems the driver in the DPMS driver pack was not correct and so E2B DPMS v2.14b Beta now contains what I hope is the correct driver which appears to now work on the users Tosh laptop.

The new E2B DPMS v2.14b now uses the AMD AHCI Compatible RAID SB8xx/SB9xx (WXP-RAID) driver,  so if  you cannot detect a hard drive (but could with a previous version of E2B), please let me know that I have broken something!

The download is available from the Alternate Download sites here (Latest Betas folder).

Ventoy 1.0.75 now released with an improved Secure Boot EFI update plus other fixes

You can add partition images of the latest Ventoy release to your E2B USB drive (see here for details) or if you have a Ventoy USB drive, you can update it using the Ventoy download's Update button (and then add E2B if you like for extra legacy support).

IMPORTANT: If you have already switched in a Ventoy .img file you MUST NOT use the Ventoy utility to update it - otherwise it will destroy the E2B USB data and you will not be able to switch E2B\agFM back in! Instead, restore the USB drive to an E2B\agFM drive first, then re-make the new Ventoy .img files as directed (see here for details) .

If you had problems with Ventoy Secure Boot on some systems, the new version may fix that.

RMPrepUSB v2.1.746 released

This updated version contains a small update to RMPartUSB to fix a problem with some Model strings reported by some USB drive M.2 enclosures.

Download from Fosshub here (the.exe is a self-extracting exe file but it may cause false-positive antivirus warnings).

E2B v2.14a Beta available

A small bug has been found in RMPartUSB which causes a problem when trying to create an E2B USB drive using the Make_E2B_USB_Drive.cmd script on a certain specific M.2 USB enclosure.

The download is here. The only change is RMPartUSB.exe and the version number of E2B is now 2.14a.

Easy2Boot v2.13 is now released

The Webnode hosted site easy2boot.com is now out of service from today onwards and so easy2boot.xyz is the only site that you should use from now on. 

The E2B .cmd scripts in v2.13 have now been updated so that only the .xyz site is accessed for the latest files when making or updating an E2B USB drive.

The changes in E2B v2.13 are outlined below

2.13 2022-05-11 

• Fix issue of AtlasOS Install ISO not working with XML files. 
• Show NOT CONTIGUOUS under menu in Windows Vista-Win11 menu.
• Add ability to type in any extension when alternative extension suggested - e.g. type .isomem instead of Y/N/I/A. 
• Fix so does not use WIMBOOT if ISO is non-standard (e.g. AIO ISO). 
• Add Win11 XML file to bypass TPM/RAM/Secure boot checks. 
• Add .txt file in win10/11 folders on how to create a new local account. 
• Support latest versions of Zorin with persistence using .isopersist and a casper-rw persistence -rw file
• Make_E2B.exe small change if no USB drive detected. 
• Downloads now only fetch files from easy2boot.xyz website (not easy2boot.com). 

agFM is now updated to v1.79 but it is essentially the same as v1.78 except that old .com download URLs in some .cmd scripts have been removed to make downloads faster.

If you have problems updating agFM then run "\_ISO\docs\Make_E2B_USB_Drive\Download and update agFM_v2.cmd" from the USB drive after updating it to E2B v2.13.

E2B v2.13c Beta now available

v2.13c Beta is here

 Changes from 2.12

• Fix issue of AtlasOS Install ISO not working with XML files. 
• Show NOT CONTIGUOUS for info under menu in Windows Vista-Win11 menus.
• Add ability to type in any extension when alternative extension suggested – e.g. type .isomem instead of Y/N/I/A.
• Fix to automatically not use WIMBOOT if ISO is non-standard (e.g. AIO ISO).
• Add new Win11 XML file to bypass TPM/RAM/Secure boot checks
• Add .txt file in win10/11 folders on how to create a new local account
• Fix Support latest versions of Zorin with persistence using .isopersist and a casper-rw persistence -rw file

This version also allows you to simply enter the file extension that you want to try (such as .isomem or .isopersist) without having choose from a list after pressing I.

To update, just unzip the download, run the Make_E2B.exe file and click the Update E2B button. You can delete the extracted files from your Windows drive afterwards.

Fix for Microsoft Office hyperlink error messages - e.g. 'Your browser is up to date'

Have you started seeing this annoying issue whenever clicking on a link in a Microsoft Office document (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.)?

This can occur with various versions of Office and seems to have just recently hit my Windows 10 system just this week (Office 2007).

eBook updated - How to make $1000 a month from the Internet v1.07

The eBook 'How to make $1000 a month from the Internet' has now been updated to fix quite a few typos that I found plus some other small revisions, etc. - it is now at v1.07.

If you have already purchased an older version just use the link in the email that was sent to you to get the new version for free.

There are more eBooks here.

The latest versions of the other eBooks are unchanged from last month and are:

• E2B #1: How to make a multiboot USB drive using Easy2Boot v2.21
• E2B #2: How to install Microsoft Windows using Easy2Boot v1.9
• E2B #3: How to make a UEFI multi-boot Easy2Boot USB drive v1.02
• E2B #4: UEFI-multiboot using the a1ive grub2 File Manager v1.23
• Getting started with Ventoy v1.08  (for Ventoy 1.0.71)
• Getting started with grub4dos v1.01

How to boot to a hundred different payloads from just one ISO!

The netboot.xyz project has come a long way in a few years and many more payloads are now supported.

You can Legacy or UEFI-boot to the netboot.xyz.iso on your E2B USB drive and then it will download from the internet and  run a wide variety of payloads (Linux, Utilities, etc.).

This is most suitable for people who have fast internet via Ethernet (e.g. company offices, etc.).

32-bit and 64-bit payloads are supported, including Fatdog, Manjaro, Kali, Ubuntu, Parrot, Peppermint, Pop OS, Tails, Tiny Core Linux (for quick boot to Linux), Voyager, Zorin, Boot Repair, Clonezilla, DBAN, gparted, Kasperksy, RescueTux, Super grub disk, Rescuezilla, Ultimate Boot CD and many more including Linux installers.

See FAQ for full list.

Just add the ISO to your E2B USB drive.

See here for a previous netboot article.

Costs are going up - here are some tricks I use to save and make money

Times are hard! In the UK the cost of electricity and gas has almost doubled, vehicle fuel is up by 50% and the Retail Price Index is up 6% and still rising. Savings interest rates are stupidly low but mortgage/borrowing rates are rising.

Theo the cat

Energy costs

As I work from home and live on my own (if you don't count my cat Theo who has his own fur coat) then to save on my heating bills, during the Winter I turn the central heating thermostat down to 18°C and I only heat a few rooms. I also wear two 'arctic-rated' Damart thermal vests under my shirt and jumper together with thick corduroy trousers - this saves on fossil fuel expenditure and helps save a bit of the planet.