E2B eBook #1 'How to make a multiboot USB drive using Easy2Boot' v2.13 now available

I have made a few small tweaks to eBook #1 '

How to make a multiboot USB drive using Easy2Boot

'Getting started with Easy2Boot' v2.13

If you have already purchased this eBook, you can download v2.13 using the link that was sent to you in the confirmation email from Payhip.

Not my video...

E2B v1.B5 now released

Changes from  v1.B4:

• Allow file extension suffixes on .wim and .vhd files - e.g. boot.wim64, Windows 7 Ultimate.vhd64pwd.
• Spaces in .vhd and .wim filenames are now allowed.
• Bugfix - fix 'force'ing of file extension from menu - allows 'QRUN.g4b force.iso xxxxx._yyyy.iso' to override the yyyy file extension override. 
• Bugfix - animation sometimes not shown on submenus.
• New E2B_Editor.exe now displays opaque STAMPs (1-10) when a .cfg file with STAMPs is loaded (transparent stamp background is not supported).
• New default wallpaper background.
• New feature - display date & time anywhere on menu (updates each second)
• Add a $$TrueHidePtn2.mnu sample menu file
• Add Display_Disk_Partitions.mnu to Sample mnu Files\E2B to display MBR partition table of disks in system.
• Add Display_DateAndTime.mnu Sample mnu file
• Add latest grub4dos with enhanced setmenu command.

https://www.fosshub.com/Easy2Boot.html

v1.B5 will update both 1.B5 and 1.B5DPMS.

Easy2Boot is featured in today's WebUser magazine

This just arrived through my letterbox today!

'BOOT ANYTHING FROM A USB STICK'

I'm reading this with a nice cup of tea in my official E2B mug!

If anyone would like to buy an Easy2Boot mug (USA, Canada and UK only) then let me know. If there is enough interest I will try to set it up. OR Why not print your own mug with your own Easy2Boot menu\wallpaper on it?

E2B v1.B5c beta now available

Changes from  v1.B4:

• Allow file extension suffixes on .wim and .vhd files - e.g. boot.wim64, Windows 7 Ultimate.vhd64pwd.
• Spaces in .vhd and .wim filenames are now allowed.
• Bugfix - fix 'force'ing of file extension from menu - allows 'QRUN.g4b force.iso xxxxx._yyyy.iso' to override the yyyy file extension override. 
• Bugfix - animation sometimes not shown on submenus.
• New E2B_Editor.exe now displays opaque STAMPs (1-10) when a .cfg file with STAMPs is loaded (transparent stamp background is not supported).
• New default wallpaper background.
• New feature - display date & time anywhere on menu (updates each second) - see screenshot below.
• Add a $$TrueHidePtn2.mnu sample menu file
• Add Display_Disk_Partitions.mnu to Sample mnu Files\E2B to display MBR partition table of disks in system.
• Add Display_DateAndTime.mnu Sample mnu file
• Add latest grub4dos with enhanced setmenu command.

Time and Date can update every second

With the dynamic date&time command, you can use 24-hour or 12-hour time format and 2-digit month ("08") or three-letter English month ("Aug").

A simplified example to add to the end of your MyE2B.cfg file is:

SysRescueCD MBR+UEFI+persistence

The latest SysRescueCD v6.0.3  now uses Arch Linux, so I have updated the instructions in the previous SysRescueCD blog article.

WARNING! Don't buy this 'BAD USB' cable from Amazon - it could start a fire!

I purchased this USB cable from Amazon yesterday for use in the car with my smartphone.

TECHGEAR: USB C Cable, 30cm USB Type C 90 Degree Right Angle Sync & Fast Charge Reversible Cable

I was intrigued by the 'reversible' design of the USB 2.0 connector as well as the right-angle connectors. I have never seen a USB Type-A male connector with a set of contacts on each side and I wondered how it worked...

So today I used it to connect my phone (a Moto G7) to the USB socket of my new VW Golf, but the Golf console failed to detect that any USB device was connected to it!

So I disconnected the phone from the cable but left the USB 2.0 cable connected to the car's USB port.

After driving back home from the supermarket, I went to unplug the USB 2.0 connector from the car in order to test it...

Updated version of E2B_Editor.exe with support for STAMPs

E2B_Editor.exe v1.0.97 now displays any STAMPs that you have specified in your .cfg file.

It is also in E2B v1.B5a Beta.

All ten stamps (STAMP1 to STAMP10) are supported but the transparency value (0x80) will be ignored - all stamps will be opaquely overlaid onto the wallpaper when displayed by E2B_Editor.

You can quickly experiment with the position of your STAMPs by editing the MyE2B.cfg file and then reloading it back into the E2B_Editor.exe to see how it looks.

If a non-existent STAMP file is specified then there will be no error message or warning - it just won't appear.

Please let me know if you find any bugs!

E2B v1.B5a Beta now available

Booting Windows NT6 .VHD and .WIM files

Previously although .wim and .vhd files did not need to be contiguous, their file extension had to be unaltered so you could not use a file extension of say .wim64 so that it would only be listed on 64-bit systems, or perhaps  Win7Ult.vhd64ncq so that it would only be listed on 64-bit systems and so E2B would not complain about the fact that it was not contiguous.

E2B v1.B4 now available

I just noticed that the file extension suffixes '64', '32', '4GB' and '3GB' no longer work on recent versions of E2B!

e.g.  Ubuntu 64.iso64 should only be listed in the menu if the CPU is a 64-bit CPU. Similarly, Ubuntu.iso3GB should only be listed in the E2B menu if the system contains less than 4GB of RAM.

E2B extension suffixes (not case sensitive)

These should work with most file extensions (v1.B5 will also allow .wim and .vhd extensions to have these suffixes)...

32 - file is only listed in menu on systems with 32-bit CPU
64 - file is only listed in menu on systems with 64-bit CPU
3GB - file is only listed in menu on systems with less than 4GB of RAM
4GB - file is only listed in menu on systems with more than 4GB of RAM
pwd - user must enter a password before the payload file can be run
NCQ -  (non-contiguous+quiet), the payload will not prompt the user with suggestions, redir will be set and will not try to make the file contiguous
quiet - redir will be set so that most messages will be suppressed
quietp - redir and redirp will be set so that all messages including warnings will be suppressed

e.g.
Ubuntu amd64.iso4GB64pwdquietp
Ubuntu i386.iso3GBncq

Read more: http://www.easy2boot.com/add-payload-files/list-of-file-extensions-recognised-by-e2b/

New feature in v1.B4

I have also added support for Debian\Kali + persistence by using the new .isopersistdebian file extension in E2B v1.B4 (details here). Although you still have to create the persistence file, you don't need to create a .mnu file for it now.

I noticed the issue '64' extension suffix bug because I tested .isopersistdebian64 as a file extension and found it was still being listed on a 32-bit system!

The new 1.B4 version is also available on the two Alternate Download Areas.

Last Minute Amazon Prime deals!

Get them whilst they are hot!

Samsung 860 2TB SSD
Samsung 240GB SSD  (less than half-price!)
Crucial 1TB M.2 PCIe 
WD 500GB M.2 SATA  (combine with SilverStone USB for super-fast E2B drive)

P.S. If you are reading this you are too late now!

E2B UEFI multiboot video now available on YouTube

A new (pretty bad!) E2B video is now up.

It shows you how adding a 2nd FAT32 partition will allow you to UEFI-boot to any .imgPTN23 UEFI payload and how you can boot to WinPE to run SWITCH_E2B.exe and switch to any other UEFI .imgPTN23 file you have on the E2B drive.

Note that Secure Boot is supported when using this scheme (as long as the UEFI payload files are signed) so you don't need to turn off Secure Boot.

You do not need to MBR-boot or run SWITCH_E2B.exe under Windows first.

I had problems finding a camera that worked - all mine seemed to have auto-focus always on (no manual/fixed focus) and so didn't work very well on LCD screens! I also had problems with reflections too. In the end I used my webcam.

I guess I should invest in a fancy capture card, but it hardly seems worth it for the occasional video where I need to capture the screen output from a real BIOS.

Easy2Boot v1.B3 released (with bugfixes for v1.B2)

Some bugs in v1.B2 have come to light, the most serious being that XP installs no longer work and give an 'ntkrnlmp.exe file could not be loaded' error.

v1.B3 changes:

1. BUGFIX for XP Install Step 1 giving 'File ntkrnlmp.exe could not be loaded. Error code 14'
2. BUGFIX for Change Language mnu
3. BUGFIX some Windows Install ISOs did not give repair option
4. Improve TURKISH help menu (thanks to dnecro) + few other tweaks
5. Latest grub4dos

Please download update from here.

Add Windows Install ISOs to your E2B grub2 menu system

I have made a new version of the E2B grub2 menu system - version 10W.

The 'W' is for Windows because it allows you to MBR or non-secure UEFI-boot directly from Windows Install ISO files.

Assuming you already have your E2B drive setup for the grub2 menu system, do this...

1. Just download the new .imgPTN23AUTO file   UEFI_GRUB2_PTN2_Beta10W_Beta.imgPTN23AUTO   from the Alternate Downloads Area and copy it to your \_ISO\MAINMENU folder.
2. Then switch to it in the usual way (e.g. using SWITCH_E2B.exe)
3. Now create a new folder at \_ISO\WINDOWS\WIN10 on Partition 2 and add all your Windows ISOs into it (you can also use WIN8, etc. too if you wish).

4. Now you can MBR or UEFI boot to the grub2 menu system and then select the new Windows Install menu (W) and pick any ISO listed in the menu.

You don't need to make a menu for each ISO and the ISOs don't need to be contiguous and the filenames can contain spaces so you can rename them as you wish. Microsoft dual/both (x86+x64) ISOs should also work.

More info at the bottom of this page.

Switch to the new .imgPTN file (sorry about the background and the animated squirrel!)

UEFI-boot from Windows Install ISOs using E2B grub2 menu system and wimboot

A1ive has modified the standard grub2 sources and has added a wimboot module for UEFI.

This mean we can now UEFI-boot to grub2 and then install Windows directly from ISO files.

You will need to replace the standard (signed) .EFI grub2 files that are using in the E2B grub2 menu system with unsigned versions however, so UEFI Secure Boot is not possible (although you may be able to use MokManager to load a certificate).

I have added instructions RMPrepUSB Tutorial 145. These use the E2B GRUB2 menu system and you will need to partition and prepare your E2B USB drive first as detailed here.

Once it is set up, you can just add or delete your Windows ISOs to the 2nd partition (\_ISO\MAINMENU\WINDOWS folder) and either *MBR-boot or UEFI-boot (in non-secure mode).

*The drivemap line may prevent it from booting to Setup in a VM - test using a real system.

A1ive also has made a grub2 file manager which allows you to navigate any drive\folder using a menu system and then boot from ISOs, WIM files, etc. just be selecting them. There is also a menu system which is similar to E2B that enumerates any files that you add by aguslr which may be of interest to you.

Common grub2 issues

I have found grub2 to be unreliable when used on a wide variety of systems, here are a few issues I have found with it:

1. When booting linux, grub2 needs to specify the correct kernel parameters which are very specific to each linux distro - these change often and so you constantly find that a new version of a linux ISO no longer works and you have to find out how to modify the grub2 menu.
2. Grub2 does not support the extremely useful partnew command (as found in grub4dos) which solves Problem 1.
3. The grub2 graphical menu system has problems on some systems and updates the screen very slowly.
4. The Secure boot signed versions of grub2 (e.g. Ubuntu) do not contain some modules (such as wimboot or regexp) which means you cannot UEFI Secure Boot and use regular expressions for scripting.
5. If you use an unsigned non-secure grub2 version, when you Secure Boot you need to use MokManager to certify the grub boot file in order to load it. MokManager modifies the BIOS non-volatile RAM and so alters the system (and makes it insecure to some extent). It is often tricky to undo this change.
6. Unfortunately MokManager hangs/crashes on many systems which means you cannot use it to Secure Boot.
7. With a few exceptions, grub2 does not allow writes to the drive (e.g. no dd command in EFI mode). This means we cannot modify sectors or files on a USB boot drive. 
8. The main grub2 developers are very slow/reluctant to add functionality or respond to bug reports.
9. Keyboard does not work after booting to grub2 (MBR or UEFI) on some real systems.
10. grub2 is poorly documented (documentation is very out-of-date). I have not found any good documentation on scripting or regular expression support for instance.

Note: If you use E2B and convert each Windows ISO into Windows .imgPTN files, you can directly Secure-boot from them (but you do not get a UEFI menu containing a list of all ISOs). No additional intermediate loader such as grub2 or syslinux is used.

Raspberry Pi 3 multiboot E2B USB drive (untested!)

I notice that the Raspberry Pi 3 can be made to boot from a USB storage device by setting a one-time programmable bit (see video here and blog article here).

The Raspberry Pi 4 does not yet have this capability, but it should be possible in the future.

I don't own a Pi 3, but looking at the Raspbian download .img file, it contains two MBR-partitions, a FAT32 boot partition and a ext partition. This means it should be possible to boot a Raspberry Pi 3 (and later on, a Pi 4) from any .imgPTN file on an Easy2Boot drive. So you could have multiple Pi .imgPTN files all on one E2B USB drive.

I am unsure if it also makes a swap partition and if it does, how it makes the swap partition, so this process may totally corrupt your E2B drive. For this reason I suggest that you test it on a spare E2B USB drive first. Please let me know if you feel like experimenting but don't use your E2B drive if it contains any wanted files! It would be cool to have multiple Pi images on one E2B USB drive.

How to find any file in seconds (no Indexing needed)!

How many times a day do you spend ages looking for a file that you know is on a drive in your system somewhere, but you just can't remember where you put it?

Well, SwiftSearch (use latest version which is currently v7.5) is a portable, standalone Windows program on SourceForge that will find your file(s) in seconds as long as it is on an NTFS volume. It does this by directly accessing the $MFT (directory) on each NTFS volume in your system and it's really quick!

I use this utility about 20 times every day and have it pinned to my taskbar!

How to extract the hidden contents in 'special' ISOs and images using 7Zip

7Zip is pretty good at opening ISOs and other files. However, sometimes you may find that it does not expand the contents correctly.

I learned recently of a way to use 7Zip to reveal these 'secret' files.

Easy2Boot v1.B2 and MPI Tool Kit v0.096 now released

E2B v1.B2 and MPI Tool Kit v0.096 are now available from the 1Drive and Box download areas.

I will update the main web site and the FossHub site in a few days.

Changes for E2B are as detailed in previous blog.

Read eBook #1 for details on how to remove the blue E2B startup banner screen (or contact me for details if you have already made a donation).

Changes from MPI Tool Kit v0.095 to 0.096 are:

• Add Czech language for CSM menu
• Add latest E2B_Editor.exe to MPI folder
• KBD variable can now be used to set KBD type
• Update grub4dos (\grldr file)
• Add all KBD translation files.

The MPI CSM Legacy menu now supports English, German, Hungarian and Czech. To use a non-English menu, create a MyCSM.cfg file in the .\CUSTOM folder and set the LANG and KBD variables.

Please update your E2B drives and let me know if you spot any problem. You can easily downgrade to a previous version of E2B very quickly if required.

Latest E2B v1.B2e Beta with bugfix for some Acronis ISOs hanging

Some bugs have been found and fixed in grub4dos.

The most serious for users is that a few Acronis ISOs seem to hang when using the previous version of grub4dos.

Changes from released version v1.B1 are (v1.B2e changes in red):

• Bugfix: grub4dos hangs when booting some Acronis ISOs.
• Bugfix: grub4dos blue\black color setting causes green background
• New feature: %MEMSIZE% and %BITNESS% variables can now be used in HEADING and HELPTEXT or anywhere inside MyE2B.cfg (e.g. 2028 64)
• Add Slovenian language files and Croat\Slov kbd file added (thanks to Peter K).
• Add Turkish language and kbd (thanks to Tayfun)
• Add improved Czech language files (thanks to Pepa) and new Czech kbd files
• Bugfix for switching to .imgPTN after ptn2/ptn1 switched over using RMPrepUSB-Ctrl-O-2.
• Improve ISO's VOL and UUID which are displayed below menu area
• Improve E2B_Editor.exe for MyCSM.cfg editing (will add language and kbd from a .imgPTN USB drive)
• Improve change kbd and change wallpaper .mnu menu files
• Change QEMU to use standard VGA graphics ROM instead of cirrus logic graphics ROM
• Tweaks to \_ISO\e2b\grub\menu.lst
• Updated Make_E2B.exe

http://rmprepusb.blogspot.com/p/e2b-alternate-download-areas.html - see Latest Betas folder.

v1.B2e1 - bugfix in countfiles.g4b now works even if user has deleted any of the Windows sub-folders.

I hope to release this version soon, so let me know if you spot a problem.

Adding UEFI-bootable Lenovo BIOS updates to E2B

The Lenovo BIOS updates are typically either in .iso form or you can download their executable Windows BIOS Update (Flash from operating system version) utility and run it under Windows or WinPE (not all WinPEs will work, choose one with WoW64 such as Strelec or Bob Omb's WinPE).

If a UEFI .ISO update file (not a BIOS update ISO) is provided, you can convert this to a FAT32 .imgPTN file in the usual way. See here.

Sometimes a .zip file is provided. This can be drag-and-dropped onto the MPI_FAT32 Desktop shortcut to make a FAT32 .imgPTN file.

After making a .imgPTN file, always check that it contains a \EFI\BOOT\BOOTX64.EFI file - if not, then it is not going to UEFI64 boot (check by opening the .imgPTN file using 7Zip).

Method 1 uses the ISO, Method 2 uses the utility which makes a bootable flash drive (but we use it to make a .imgPTN file instead)...