Upcoming Amazon Echo offers

Hi
Just a heads-up, apparently there is an Amazon Echo Sale coming up starting 26th May.

Use the links below after 25th May to get $10 and $15 off.

Echo Dot (affiliated link to Amazon.com)

Echo  (affiliated link to Amazon.com)

I have an Echo (in the kitchen) and an Echo Dot (in the bedroom) and find them really useful for...

1. Reminders ' Alexa - remind me to call Fred at 3pm' (I also get an alert on my phone)
2. Play radio or music 'Alexa - play BBC Radio 4'
3. Radio Alarm clock 'Alexa - set an alarm for 8am every day and play BBC Radio 4'
4. Calculations - 'Alexa - what's 297.2 minus 167.6' and 'Alexa - what's 127 dollars in pounds?'
5. Shopping list 'Alexa - add yoghurt to my shopping list' (can see list on phone when I go shopping)
6. News - 'Alexa - give me a flash briefing'
7. Music - 'Alexa - play Blue by Joni Mitchell' (Amazon Prime or Spotify account required)
8. Queries - 'Alexa - what are Asimov's 3 laws of Robotics'
9. Vanity or scary - 'Alexa - who is the fairest of them all?' and 'Alexa - open the pod bay doors'
10. Internet calls - 'Alexa - drop in on mum'  (immediately connects me to mum's Echo at her house so I can hear what's going on - e.g. snoring!)

Six new USB-boot eBooks are now available!

Get my eBooks on VENTOY, GRUB4DOS and E2B. Perfect for the beginner or 'experts'. Learn the secrets of legacy and UEFI/Secure booting. Get all your ISOs and payload images on one USB stick or disk and then customise it. Many tips and tricks included. This will save you months!

EBook #1 includes instructions on how to remove the 5 second blue-and-white start-up E2B banner screen.

E2B eBooks are downloadable PDF files here (payable via PayPal or card).

See instructions in eBook #1 to remove this banner.

• EBook #1 'Getting started with Easy2Boot'
• EBook #2 'How to install Microsoft Windows using Easy2Boot'
• EBook #3 'How to make a UEFI multi-boot Easy2Boot USB drive using .imgPTN files' has instructions on how to make a UEFI multiboot E2B drive (no MBR\Legacy boot required) and includes links to the pre-made download files. Uses .imgPTN files which are useful for Secure Boot payloads (no shim is used).
• EBook #4 'UEFI-multiboot using the a1ive grub2 File Manager'  is on direct UEFI booting from .ISO, .WIM, .VHD, .EFI, .IMG files, etc. using the UEFI agFM File Manager and supports Secure Boot.
• 'Getting started with grub4dos'
• 'Getting started with Ventoy'

Updated revisions are available free to previous eBook buyers by using the link in the email receipt that will be sent to you when you purchase the eBooks.

The 'Getting started with grub4dos/Ventoy' eBooks are not specifically about E2B, and have all the information you need to get you started on making your own grub4dos or Ventoy boot menu system and USB disk.

Click here - E2B eBooks

E2B v1.99f Beta (includes feature to play tunes!)

yaya, one of the main developers of grub4dos, has done a lot of work to add a 'beep' command to grub4dos. It can play synchronously (in background) or asynchronously (waits until end of play before continuing execution).

E2B v1.99f (was 1.99e) includes this latest \grldr file (grub4dos 0.4.6a) which has the new beep command.

Now you can load the E2B Main menu and simultaneously play the Mission Impossible or Tetris background music (or any tune you like)! Your system must be fitted with an internal speaker (or buzzer) - Virtual Machines will not make any noise, you must use a real system.

Instructions to update your E2B drive

Installing Windows Embedded POSReady 2009

The POS2009 ISO is a bit different from normal XP ISOs in that it has no 2nd stage boot and it requires a 'flat-file' structure and \i386 folder on the installation media to be present during the 2nd boot.

There is a ReadMe file at \_ISO\docs\Sample mnu Files\Windows\POS2009_ReadMe.txt on the E2B drive which can be used to install POS2009 to an IDE hard drive.

E2B v1.99 contains revised instructions for guidance on how you can install to SATA\RAID\SCSI disk too.

The ReadMe file in v1.99 is shown below:

Windows 10 font confusion

This problem took me a while to solve today.

I had a file called MissionImpossible.g4b which did not seem to get recognised by grub4dos.

It turned out it was a typo problem and because Windows Explorer shows virtually identical characters for capital I and lowercase L (l), I did not spot it!!!  see below...

Can you tell the difference between I and l in the Windows font?


Good choice of font Microsoft - but give me function and clarity over aesthetics any day!

With some fonts I have problems distinguishing the number 1 from a lowercase l? Now it seems I also need to look out for uppercase I's as well!

Unfortunately Windows 10 has no facility to change the default font (unless you hack the Registry).

Anyone know how to have a legible font in Win10 without having to hack the registry?

P.S. In case you are wondering, the next version of E2B (and grub4dos) will be able to play annoying tunes through the PC internal speaker (if fitted) whilst the animated icon is displayed on the menu! I am testing/debugging it now.

Windows Forensic course for only $25 - Hurry!

If you would like to take a course on Windows Forensic investigation and the Windows Forensic Operating System (WinFE) by Brett Shavers, then you can sign up here for a sale price of only $25 (normal price $95) but be quick - less than 2 days to go!

There is an intro video on the same page (in the Contents list on right hand side of the page) so you can see what the course covers.


About the course
This course is specific to the Windows Forensic Operating System. Everything you need to build and use a WinFE is included in this course (except your personal license for Windows that is needed to build a WinFE) . You'll learn why WinBuilder was chosen as the preferred method, how previous methods are now outdated, and how other methods are not as well suited as the latest Mini-WinFE build. In fact, the latest build application is focused on during this course.

You'll learn various methods of using a WinFE, whether it is for civil matters, criminal cases, or educational uses. Customize your WinFE specific to your needs and see how a customized WinFE boot disc may handle the vast majority of booting the evidence computer forensically over other boot systems such as Linux Live CDs.

MPI Tool Pack v0.082 available

MPI Change History v0.082

• grub4dos \grldr updated to latest version
• Small change to csm\menu.lst for KonBoot menu
• Menu.lst now warns if no UEFI boot files are found
• Chandra's Split_WinISO.exe utility is now included for making split WIM files when a Windows Install ISO has >4GB install.wim/esd files.
• Add 'set default menu and timeout' menu entry to CSM menu
• Change to  add clover menu for (hd0,2) EFI boot files
• Update to latest Clover 64-bit+plist.conf
• Improve FreeBSD menu (now works with Nas4Free)
• Add boot as floppy drive A: to DOS menu entry to \menu.lst

Download here from the Alternate Download Areas. Please let me know if you spot a problem.

The download is named 'Beta' but it is the full released version of 0.082 which I will simply rename and fully release next week if no one reports any issues.

Install Win98 from E2B

PhilsComputerLab has just produced a nice YouTube video showing how to install Win98 onto an old Legacy computer (with IDE drive and <1GB RAM) using a Win98 ISO and an E2B drive.

Several people have commented that they do not want to remove files from the ISO to reduce it's size.

Here is a way of adding a full Win98 Install payload to E2B by using a .imgPTN file.

Useful PDF from Microsoft of Windows Command Line commands

Microsoft PDF for the A-Z list of command line commands.

New Online Html Version
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/windows-commands

New PDF Download
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/opbuildpdf/administration/windows-commands/TOC.pdf?branch=live

You may learn something new!

Older versions

Click here to download
English direct download here.

E2B v.1.99d BETA available

When I first added the .imgPTN feature to E2B, I was not sure what partition configuration to use in order to make it bootable on a large range of different UEFI BIOSes.

So I included a wide range of file extensions such as .imgPTNLBAa23, .imgPTNna23, etc. etc.

However, no one has reported any issues and I personally have not had to use any other file extension except for .imgPTN and .imgPTNLBAa23.

So E2B v1.99d has a slight change in that the file extension .imgPTN23 will now be identical to using the file extension .imgPTNLBAa23. i.e.

In versions of E2B before 1.99d, .imgPTN23 did not set the partition as active or use large LBA parameters but in version 1.99d it does. SWITCH_E2B.exe however did use LBA and set the partition active, so E2B now does the same as SWITCH_E2B.exe.

This means that there are now just two file extensions to worry about for 99% of the time: .imgPTN for most purposes or .imgPTN23 if you want the 2nd partition to remain available after switching.

E2B v1.99d is available from the Alternate Download Areas as usual (see side bar).

P.S. The other .imgPTNxxxxx variations will still work in the same way and you do not need to change the file extension of any of your .imgPTN files for this new version.

Progress on the E2B eBook

I have almost finished writing most of the content for the E2B eBook but there is still a lot of work to do yet.

It now has over 100 pages and over 40 'Exercises'.

It will be available as a PDF because this allows a hyperlinked Contents table and you can read it on pretty much any device. I have come to the conclusion that the eBook ePub format is just too limiting for this type of book.

I haven't yet decided on what platform I will use to sell it. I looked at using Lulu.com, but it does not allow me to to easily include a hyperlinked Contents page and has other limitations, so I am now looking at payhip.com which do not provide a purchase site like Lulu does, but just a 'sales page' for each product. However it will accept virtually any PDF format and it will watermark the pages with the buyers email address before making the download available.

Please let me know if you want any more topics added (though some more advanced topics will probably go into a second eBook).

I haven't decided on a price yet, but $6.99 is my initial thought so far, does this sound OK? There may be voucher codes for discounts available later too.

Here is a screenshot of the Contents so far.

E2B v1.99c Beta available

Differences from v1.99b are:

1. Update_E2B_Drive.cmd now has 2 second tolerance on file times (/FFT switch added)
2. CONTIG.ISO is not copied when using red button in MAKE_E2B.exe GUI to make a new E2B drive.
3. Make_CONTIG.ISO.cmd added.

If you want a CONTIG.ISO file you should use the Make_E2B_USB_drive button in the GUI instead of the big red button.

The 500MB CONTIG.ISO is still in the download, it is just not copied across when using the red button.

There is also now a .cmd script to quickly make a CONTIG.ISO file at "\_ISO\docs\E2B Utilities\Make_CONTIG.ISO\Make_CONTIG.ISO.cmd".

The new version can be found in the Alternate Download Areas as usual.

Should I remove CONTIG.ISO from Easy2Boot?

As you may know, \_ISO\CONTIG.ISO is a 500MB blank file which is included in the Easy2Boot download.

The CONTIG.ISO file is only used when a payload file is not contiguous but when E2B needs it to be contiguous. E2B will then copy the entire original payload file to the CONTIG.ISO file. This can take some time and it is done each time you boot to that same payload file.

I never actually use this feature and I suspect most Windows users do not use it either.

When you first make an E2B drive, this large file needs to be copied over to the USB drive and this can take several minutes on slow pen drives. The file also takes up 500MB of space on the USB drive which is never used as long as you always run \MAKE_THIS_DRIVE_CONTIGUOUS.cmd first.

So, my proposal is to remove the CONTIG.ISO file from the E2B self-extracting download file in the next version of E2B (v1.99c).

However, the .zip E2B download file (which is used by linux users to prepare an E2B drive) will still contain a 500MB CONTIG.ISO file.

If a Windows user still wants to use the CONTIG.ISO feature, they simply have to create a \_ISO\CONTIG.ISO file (I can provide a small batch file which will create a file of any size).

Please let me know if you think this is a bad idea ASAP, otherwise I will remove the CONTIG.ISO file in the next version.

Problems adding WiFiSlax to E2B!

Yesterday, someone contacted me via a Chat Session on my www.easy2boot.com website to ask about getting WiFiSlax ISOs to work with E2B. He had tried both the latest 64-bit and 32-bit versions.

The 'List of tested ISOs' page showed that I had tested wifislax-4-7-2-final.iso successfully but this user could not get it to boot.

Since he mentioned that he was using an E2B USB Hard Disk and I had my Corsair 256GB GTX USB drive handy, I downloaded the wifislax64-1.1.iso file and quickly tested it using Virtual Box and VMUB (it looks like an internal IDE\SATA\SCSI HDD under this arrangement). I had no problems and it booted to the WiFiSlax desktop.

However, I then tried booting it from several 'real' systems and they all failed to boot.

Even the older 4-7-2 ISO failed in the same way.

Play WAV files from FreeDOS with E2B

You can play wav files using FreeDOS through your PC speaker, the sound quality is amazingly good!

This works on computers that have an internal PC speaker fitted but won't work on a VM as the PC Speaker is connected to a hardware timer chip which is not emulated by most VMs.

1. Go to http://www.vgmpf.com/Wiki/index.php/Digital_Sound_System#Download and download the 2006 version
2. Unpack the contents to a newly created \DSS folder on your E2B drive
3. Edit the \DSS\dss.ini file and change the SoundDevice section to use the PC Speaker as  device 8

[SoundDevice]
Device=8

4. Copy a .wav file to the \DSS folder (or several)

To play the wav file (e.g. ring03.wav)

1. Boot to E2B on a system that has a PC Speaker
2. Go to the DOS menu and boot to the FreeDOS floppy image
3. At the C: prompt type

cd \DSS
DSS ring03.wav /L-

The /L- tells it not to loop

You can press F1 for help, or type DSS /? for command line options.

Try pressing the Fn keys for different screen affects whilst it is playing.

I got a repetitive clicking sound approx. every second, but if you use the down-arrow to reduce the volume, it is less intrusive.

If you play an MP3 file, you get some horrible noise for a few seconds, but then it plays OK.
You cannot play midi files via the PC Speaker.

It does not seem to work on all systems for some strange reason (e.g no sound, bad sound or DSS crashes!), but does work on other systems.

Good Luck!

Installing Avaya Appliance Virtualization Platform (AVP) using E2B

When installing the Avaya Appliance Virtualization Platform v7 to a server, you usually need a DVD which contains an OS that installs onto the internal hard disk and a USB flash drive that contains a configuration file.

If you have an E2B (Removable-type) of Flash drive, you can install AVP without needing a DVD.

1. Download the AVP ISO
2. Drag-and-drop it onto the MPI_FAT32 Desktop shortcut
3. Run \MAKE_THIS_DRIVE_CONTIGUOUS.cmd
4. Run \_ISO\SWITCH_E2B.exe and switch in the new image file
5. Open Windows Explorer and copy your AVP .cfg configuration file to the root of the USB drive (there should be \EFI and \clover and \e2b folders present if you have the correct partition).

You should now find that you can boot to the E2B drive's CSM menu and select option 1 to MBR-boot to start the formatting of the internal drive and the unattended installation of AVP.

I have not tested this process using an E2B USB HDD, but it has been tested using an E2B USB Flash drive. As I think the script searches only Removable USB drives for the .cfg file, this does not work under a VM like VBox if the E2B USB drive appears as a IDE\SATA\SCSI fixed disk and not a true USB drive. You could connect a 2nd USB flash drive containing the .cfg file instead of placing the file on the E2B drive.

Headless Server

If your appliance has no keyboard or monitor, we need to make some changes to the \menu.lst file so that it runs automatically (which is dangerous because it will format the internal HDD!):

The Windows Answer File Generator website has moved!

It is now at www.windowsafg.com

This allows you to generate autounattend.xml files easily for both MBR and UEFI installs.

You can use XMLtoE2B.exe to tweak the xml file for use with E2B.

As I have lost the source files for XMLtoE2B, the top buttons which try to open pages on the old WAFG site will no longer work.

Easy2Boot v1.99b Beta now available

Changes from v1.98 are:
v1.99a - updated "\_ISO\WINDOWS\INSTALLS\APPS\CHOCBOX\chocolatey-core.extension.1.3.1.nupkg" to 1.3.3. Automatic bugfix for menu.lst file in old .imgPTN files if selected via the E2B menu system.

v1.99b - setting redir now suppresses the 'System Hard Disk (hd1) not detected' warning message, GIFtoIMA.cmd script now asks user for transparency\opaque background setting, Utilities Menu - List Files entry now has extra option to list UTILITIES_MEMTEST files, UPDATE_E2B_DRIVE.cmd now repositions cmd shell window, fix dpms2.g4b so doesn't crash VBox 5.2.8.

v1.99b is available from Alternate Download Areas.

I am still working on the eBook (it will be available as a PDF). There are still a few chapters to write, then lots of pictures to add + proof checking!

Using SDI_CHOCO with Windows 10 1709 (and fixing the 'No internet' prompt)

The 1709 version of Windows (as well a many other versions - but not all versions!) seems to have broken internet connectivity during the Specialize pass of an automated install again and also broken something in MSOOBE.exe too!

Revised MemTest86.imgPTN file (and how to fix a corrupt E2B drive)

If you are having problems when using the ready-made MemTest86.imgPTN file which I made available in a previous post, please update to the latest version here.

The previous version was not compatible with the latest versions of RMPrepUSB (grub4dos installer) and could cause strange effects such a 'GRLDR not found' errors on booting and perhaps not being able to return back to the E2B menu from the CSM menu.

If you have been using the latest version of RMPrepUSB to install grub4dos on your E2B drive, make sure you are using the latest version of the MPI Tool Pack to make your .imgPTN files.

If you have used the latest version of RMPrepUSB to install grub4dos on your E2B drive, you will need to remake all your .imgPTN files again. Alternatively, edit the \menu.lst file inside each .imgPTN file and replace "Missing MBR" with "helper" throughout the file.

If you update your E2B USB drive to version 1.99a Beta or later (available in Alternate Download area), when you switch to a .imgPTN file using the E2B menu (not using SWITCH_E2B.exe) E2B will automatically make the patches to the \menu.lst file inside the .imgPTN file as it is run. Once it has been patched, you can use SWITCH_E2B.exe as well as the E2B menu system to select a .imgPTN file.

Fixing a 'broken' E2B drive

If your E2B drive has a problem booting or switching back to the E2B partitions, try this process using any version of RMPrepUSB...

1. RMPrepUSB - Ctrl+B  (writes a standard MBR)
2. RMPrepUSB - Ctrl+G - Y=MBR - cancel grldr copy (installs grub4dos to MBR and backs up the standard MBR to LBA1 - grub_inst will not back up the MBR if it contains grub4dos which is why we install the standard MBR first)
3. Now select the drive in Windows Explorer - Properties - Tools - Check (to fix any errors)

If the drive is in the CSM mode (i.e. has a switched-in .imgPTN file), switch it back to the E2B mode by booting to it and using the CSM  0 - EASY2BOOT menu option or using \e2b\SWITCH_E2B.exe - Restore E2B partition(s) button.

Now repeat steps 1, 2 and 3 above.

Finally, update to E2B v1.99a and use the E2B menu to switch in any 'old' .imgptn file in order to 'fix' the menu.lst file inside it:

i.e.
1. Boot to E2B menu
2. Select .imgPTN file in the E2B menu and switch to CSM menu to 'patch' the \menu.lst file inside the .imgPTN file.
3. Select menu item 0 EASY2BOOT in the CSM menu to return back to the E2B menu.

You can now use SWITCH_E2B.exe or the E2B menu to select the old .imgPTN file.

Tip: The MBR is saved to \e2b\MBR.BIN by E2B when you switch in the .imgPTN file. It may still contain the original NTFS partition table.

Drive not listed in SWITCH_E2B.exe?

If you have switched to a .imgPTN file and then tried to switch it back using the CSM Menu 0 option, you may find that it will may no longer boot to grub4dos or be listed in by SWITCH_E2B.exe.

SWITCH_E2B.exe only lists drives that have grub4dos boot code in the MBR (LBA0).

If you follow the process above, it should fix the issue.

No files? unformatted drive?

If Windows wants to format the E2B drive and it appears unformatted, the CSM menu may have restored your old original backup partition. This type of problem only happens if you have re-partitioned your E2B drive after you originally installed E2B onto it.

To fix the issue, follow the FAQ Troubleshooting guide

Would you be interested in an eBook for Easy2Boot?

I have started to write an eBook for Easy2Boot  (with pictures!) as several people have requested one.

Currently it has a working title of  'Getting started with Easy2Boot (or how to create a useful multiboot USB drive)'.

The content in the eBook will not be as detailed as on the E2B website (but it will not have all the repetitive text that is on the website pages either!). The eBook is intended to be followed as a 'Course'. It will be aimed at the intermediate Windows user who knows how to copy files and use Windows applications, but is not very familiar with Easy2Boot or using multiboot USB drives.

It starts with a few basic Chapters on E2B and how to make an E2B USB drive, but then has Chapters on:

Add BlackArch LiveCD (MBR+UEFI) to E2B

The BlackArch Linux LiveCD ISO can simply be added to the E2B USB drive (e.g. \_ISO\LINUX\blackarchlinux-live-2017.12.11-x86_64.iso).

Because the file is larger than 4GB, your E2B USB drive will need to be formatted as NTFS.

This will allow us to Legacy\MBR boot, but what about UEFI-booting to BlackArch Linux?

Well, the E2B grub2 menu system will UEFI-boot from the ISO, but what if we want to use a .imgPTN file instead?

We cannot simply drag-n-drop the blackarchlinux-live-2017.12.11-x86_64.iso file onto the MPI_FAT32 Desktop shortcut to make a .imgPTN file, because there is a large (>4GB) .sfs file inside the ISO.

Here is how to add BlackArch Linux to your E2B USB drive (preferably a large E2B USB HDD) and both UEFI and MBR boot to it.

Instructions

Spanish YouTube E2B videos - Lesson 4 now available from Decomputo

Even if you don't speak Spanish, you might like to watch the YouTube course on E2B by Decomputo.

The latest one has just been uploaded here.

Boot Eset Rescue using UEFI from E2B

To legacy\MBR boot, you can simply directly boot from the Eset system rescue ISO file (or to add persistence for updates - see previous blog articles).

See also: ESET SysRescue 2020 with persistent updates and agFM UEFI support

To UEFI-boot (64-bit UEFI) or MBR-boot from recent versions (no persistent updates):

1. Drag-and-drop the eset-sysrescue-live_enu.iso file onto the MPI_FAT32 Desktop shortcut
2. Add 5MB to the suggested size
3. Copy the .imgPTN file to the E2B drive \_ISO\ANTIVIRUS folder, make it contiguous and 'Switch' to the .imgPTN file using the E2B MBR menu or \_ISO\Switch_E2B.exe.
4. Extract the contents of \boot\grub\efi.img to the root of the E2B volume, so that you now have a \efi\boot folder containing two .efi files

However, here is a way to 32-bit and 64-bit UEFI-boot by using the E2B grub2 menu system.

You will need to be familiar with the E2B grub2 menu system first.

Warning: Do NOT update to VirtualBox v5.2.8!

The latest VirtualBox v5.2.8 version crashes your host system (i.e. BSOD on your Windows system) when booting to an E2B USB drive.

If you use VBox to test booting of E2B then please install v5.2.4 or 5.2.6 instead, but do not update to 5.2.8.

I discovered this several days ago (I thought it may have been just my system), but it has now been confirmed by another user.

http://www.easy2boot.com/forum/

[Edit: I have re-released E2B v1.98 2018-03-09 which should prevent the BSOD with VBOX from occurring. Please download the latest version of E2B and update your E2B drives if you want to use VBOX 5.2.8]

E2B v1.98 released

v1.98 2018-03-03 - changes from v1.97A

1. Patchme grub4dos script now removes 'If hangup , use 'geometry --lba1sector (128)' grub4dos startup message
2. Variables SIZE_E2B and SIZE_HD1 can now be used in MyE2B.cfg files in menu HEADING and FOOTER (for sizes of drives in GB)
3. 'GodMode' folder added to \_ISO\docs\Download URLs for easy access to Windows GodMode list of utilities (just doubel-click on it within Windows)
4. DrWeb900_Persistent.mnu sample added
5. Support for *NCQ.iso suffix
6. Support for isopersist file extension so can easily add persistence files to Ubuntu-based ISOs
7. Add text tip to use .isopersist for Ubuntu-based files +persistence
8. Add .isoBF option to 'ISOASK' menu list
9. Add text tip to use .isopup for files with 'pup' in their name for puppy linux ISOs
10. Change FreeDos floppy image to increase amount of conventional memory from 310K to 530K and add mem.exe utility + extended memory driver for DPMI support, add mouse.com DOS mouse driver, increase floppy disk size to 7.6MB so more files can be added by user, update KERNEL version
11. Add support for TESTPLOP variable for booting Plop! with VMWare
12. Use Inno Setup as the Self Extractor engine for less AV false positives (E2B .zip file is also available for linux users)
13. Changes to many of the Sample .mnu files to clarify instructions
14. Bugfix for EXTOFF=1 not being set in MyE2B.cfg when using Make_E2B to make the USB drive (EXTOFF suppresses file extensions being listed in menus).

As usual, the new versions are available from the Alternate Download Areas first so you can try it out and feedback any issues before I release it on the E2B website.

A .zip version of E2B v1.98 is also available for linux users.

Note: E2B v1.98 was re-released (2018-03-09) with a small bugfix which should prevent VBOX v5.2.8 from BSOD'ing your system when using it to boot an E2B USB drive.

Testing Inno Setup for making Self-Extracting files

I have been using WinRaR to package up the Easy2Boot files into a self-extracting executable (SFX) file. When the user runs this, it unpacks the E2B files to a temporary folder and then runs Make_E2B.exe as Administrator.

However, the WinRaR package seems to trigger false positive alerts with several Anti-Virus packages such a Windows Defender (depending on what day it is!), Avast and Norton Symantec, etc.

So, as an experiment, I have packaged up E2B v1.98g BETA using the free Inno QuickStart Setup package from here.

This Inno Setup version is similar to the WinRaR version (it only extracts the files - it does not install anything).

Please try the above link and let me know the results (i.e. what your AV solution is and if it runs OK or gives a virus alert).

I have noticed that if you run it with Avast AV installed, you get an error pop-up box, however if you click past this it runs OK. This is apparently a known issue with Avast when running a 'strange' exe for the first time.

P.S. If the above link no longer works (becomes outdated), look for a more recent E2B_v1.98+ file in the Alternate Downloads Areas.

Tick 'funny' if it gave no problems, otherwise please let me know what AV gave a false-positive

How to add older versions of the Hirens Boot CD to E2B

Older versions of the Hirens boot CD earlier than version 9.7 were based on DOS and designed to run from a CD only.

Here is how I converted HBCD v8.1 to run from E2B.

MPI Tool Pack v0.081 fixes 'ERROR: Please install Grub4dos to the MBR' error!

If you are getting this error a lot when trying to switch to .imgPTN files, the reason is that you are probably using RMPrepUSB v2.1.740 or later to install grub4dos or BootIce+grub4dos 0.4.6a.

To fix this, you can either use an older version of RMPrepUSB, or use v 0.081 or later of the MPI Tool Pack and remake your .imgPTN file.

The problem is due to the grub4dos boot code changing. The code in the menu.lst file looks for 'Missing MBR-helper' but the code has now changed with 0.4.6a to be 'Missing helper' and so it does not restore the original grub4dos MBR sector when you switch back to the E2B MBR, but restores the backup sector from LBA 1 instead (which usually does not contain the grub4dos boot code).

The new \menu.lst in MPI v0.081 will work with either version of the grub4dos boot code.

Add AROS AspireOS Titan to E2B

The AspireOS ISO seems to have a problem booting if we just try to add the ISO to E2B.

Here is how to add it to E2B as a .imgPTN file for MBR and UEFI-32-bit booting.

References

Amiga Board forum

Instructions

Boot from an E2B USB drive using VMWare

You can test install Windows (7/8/10 etc.) from an E2B drive to a virtual hard disk using VMWare.
The advantage of this process is that a Removable-type USB flash drive will appear in the VM as a Removable drive and thus will load the 'LOADISO.cmd' file in the same way as it runs on a real system. This means you can test E2B with Windows ISOs+Unattend XML files without using a real system.

There is also new page on the E2B site here which describes the process.

This process works using VMWare Player (free) or VMWare WorkStation...

E2B v1.98f/g BETA

E2B v1.98f BETA (in Alternate Download Area) now has a revised version of the FreeDOS boot image.

The disk image (\_ISO\DOS\MNU\ FreeDos288.ima.gz) is now actually a 7.6MB FAT32 disk image containing FreeDOS.FreeDOS now loads an NTFS driver, EMM386 and a DOS mouse driver. It also contains a selection of FreeDOS utilities.

This means you can just copy a mouse-enabled DOS utility, such as the DOS version of Ghost.exe to your E2B drive, boot to E2B, and then boot to the FreeDOS floppy image from the DOS menu and directly run C:\Ghost.exe directly from your NTFS or FAT32 E2B drive.

Because the FreeDOS image is over 7MB in size and has 5MB of free space available, you can also extract the .ima file and then add your own DOS utilities into the image. See the E2B DOS page for more details.

Adding Dos programs and utilities to E2B

If you have a DOS (FreeDOS or MS-DOS, etc.) floppy disk image (.ima or .img), you can just directly add it to the E2B drive and it should boot correctly.

If you want to be able to modify the contents, you can use a program like WinImage, or you could convert the image to a FAT32 .imgPTN file.

Using the E2B FreeDos image

E2B includes a FreeDOS disk image as \_ISO\DOS\MNU\Freedos288.IMA.gz.

If you boot to this, you can access and run small DOS programs directly from the E2B drive because the FreeDOS image also loads an NTFS driver and support (sort of!) for long-filename for FAT32.

My YouTube channel has just reached new dizzy heights!

Wow! It seems I am well on the way to making my first $million (not!).
Strange, as it says I have 2500 subscribers on the videos???

Please feel free to subscribe (before it goes back below 1000 again!).

E2B v1.98b/c BETA available

v1.98b BETA is available
v1.98c BETA (small change to QRUN to add NCQ tip message)
v1.98d BETA (small change to QRUN for .isopersist tip messages)
v1.98e BETA FreeDOS floppy image now has increased conventional memory (was 300K, now 530K) so can run larger programs

Download here - if you have problems with Windows Defender, download the .zip version or E2B instead - extract the files and run Make_E2B.exe.

Changes from v1.98a BETA

• Support for .iso filenames ending in new NCQ suffix (e.g. WinPEx64_ncq.iso)
• Other v. small changes

About the *NCQ filename suffix

Bob Omb's WinPE v1.5 (2018-01-14)

Bob Omb's latest release is v1.5. You can just add the .iso file to E2B as it is a WinBulder-based ISO.

Once at the Desktop, you can use CTRL+TAB to change languages. For a UK keyboard, pick the American flag which is shown immediately after the French flag (there is no UK flag available!). The second American flag shown is for USA (default).

Bob Omb's default desktop

It also works with PEStartup, so you can easily modify the default wallpaper, add your own desktop shortcuts to your own portable apps, drivers and auto-start any applications - see here for more details about PEStartup and how to add it to any WinPE. Note that it may take about a minute or two before PEStartup auto-runs, so be patient.

E2B v1.98a BETA available (with new .isopersist file extension for ubuntu-based ISOs)

v1.98a Beta changes are:

• patchme script now removes the grub4dos startup message 'If hangup, use 'geometry --lba1sector (128)'
• Variables SIZE_E2B and SIZE_HD1 can now be used in MyE2B.cfg files in HEADING and FOOTER (size of drive in GB)
• 'GodMode' folder added to \_ISO\docs\Download URLs for easy access to Windows GodMode list
• DrWeb900_Persistent.mnu added
• .isopersist ubuntu file extension supported (no .mnu file required for persistence)

.isopersist file exension details

Add Dr Web LiveCD ISO + persistence to E2B

Here is the .mnu file for Dr Web 900 LiveDisk ISO with persistence

A copy is available from the Alternate Downloads Area here.

Set up a different E2B wallpaper for each menu

It is possible to configure E2B so that each menu loads a different background wallpaper.

For the AUTO and WINDOWS menus, we just need to add these 800x600 files:

• \_ISO\AUTO.bmp
• \_ISO\SVR2K8R2.bmp
• \_ISO\SVR2012.bmp
• \_ISO\VISTA.bmp
• \_ISO\WIN7.bmp
• \_ISO\WIN8.bmp
• \_ISO\WIN10.bmp
• \_ISO\SVR2016.bmp
• \_ISO\WINMENU.bmp (background for the Windows Install Menu - if any of the other Windows .bmp are used, this should also exist)

Note that the file extension should be .bmp, even if the actual contents are .jpg files or .gz or LZMA compressed .bmp files. For instance, you can just rename VISTA.jpg to VISTA.bmp, etc.

For the other 9 menu folders (MAINMENU, DOS, ANTIVIRUS, etc.), we can add a .mnu file to each of the menu folders as described at http://www.easy2boot.com/configuring-e2b/multiple-backgrounds/

However, I have added an alternative method now which may be easier for you to change and update...

RMPrepUSB v2.1.740 released

v2.1.740 has better support for grub4dos when installing to an exFAT drive and also has the most recent version of WinContig.

MPI Tool Pack v0.079/0.080 released

Just a few small bugs and tidy-ups.

MPI Tool Pack v0.079

1. Fix CreateDesktopShortcuts.cmd so it now works with Windows systems with a non-standard Desktop path.
2. Small change to menu.lst for clover boot patch (should have no discernible affect).
3. Fix menu.lst for detection of 3rd ptn for FreeBSD images when Switch_E2B.exe is used.

Update by downloading and unpacking to your Desktop and then running CreateDesktopShortcuts.cmd again.

MPI Tool Pack v0.080

1. Update with latest SWITCH_E2B.exe version
2. Bugfix for when syslinux\isolinux is in root of drive

How to add an animated GIF to your E2B menu

Here is an example of how to add the 'TeaTime' optical illusion animated GIF to E2B.

It takes about 2 minutes!

Adding animation is really quite easy now...

Add jokes to your E2B menu for Xmas

One way to add jokes to your E2B menu would be to convert a series of PowerPoint slides into an animated GIF and display it on the E2B Menu, however, this would always show the jokes in the same order each time you booted to E2B.

Here is a small grub4dos script that allows you to display one of 36 randomly-chosen jokes on your E2B menus.

You must update to E2B v1.97A or later for this to work properly due to some bugs in older versions of grub4dos.

Instructions...

E2B v1.97A released

The bugs in grub4dos have been fixed by the developer now and v1.97A is now released.

Please update your E2B drives.

Changes from v1.97 to v1.97A:

• bugfix in grub4dos \grldr for helptext colour and --string= issues.
• E2B_Editor.exe - small bugfix for colours 6, 7 and 8 not quite correct shade.
• WinLite10 XML sample files updated to add amd64 section.

Design a Decomputo-like theme for E2B

A few people have asked about the theme used by Decomputo in their E2B YouTube video:

An example of the Decomputo menu is shown below:

I do not know the exact details of how this was configured, however I can give you a few hints on how to add a similar menu system...

Small bug in E2B v.1.97

I have just noticed a bug in E2B v1.97.

The issue is that the helptext just under the menu does not appear in the correct colour.

This is due to a bug in the new grub4dos version 2017-12-05 which I hope will be fixed soon.

The issue can be fixed by changing your MyE2B.cfg file so that the helptext color command follows the normal colour command, e.g.

#this does not change the helptext colour!
color helptext=0x0001FF
color normal=0x808040

#this does change the helptext colour correctly.
color normal=0x808040
color helptext=0x0001FF

It seems the color normal command also changes the helptext colour.
If you wish, you can use a previous version of \grldr instead.

I have reported the bug here and will re-release v1.97 as v1.97A when it is fixed.

New 'Display colours' .mnu file included in E2B v1.97

I have added a sample .mnu file, \_ISO\docs\Sample mnu Files\E2B Menus\Display_RGB_Colours.mnu, to E2B v1.97.

You can copy the Display_RGB_Colours.mnu file to a menu folder (e.g. \_ISO\UTILITIES) and use it to help you choose a grub4dos 4-bit or 24-bit RGB colour values...

Easy2Boot v1.97 Full Release is now available

The latest E2B v1.97 full release is now available from the Alternate Download Areas.

Changes from v1.96 are:

• Download is now in self-extracting .exe RAR4 format instead of .zip format (less false-positive virus alerts!).
• Small change of all E2B menus and language files - menu help text now does not have leading space at start of each help line.
• New grub4dos 2017-12-05
• New hstart and hwidth parameters can be set in MyE2B.cfg to set the menu help text x start offset and the line width. You can now position the menu help text anywhere on the display.
• Make_E2B_USB_Drive.cmd now prompts user to delete or change the size of the 500MB CONTIG.ISO file.
• New Make_E2B.exe - the extract button now works even if no USB drive is detected and it was not run as admin. Also, it now warns that user will require WinHelper USB Flash drive for Windows Install ISOs if Fixed Disk type of USB drive is detected.
• Fix $Default E2B Menu.cfg by adding !BAT to prevent initial error message after using PimpMydrive.cmd (bugfix).
• 'No !BAT string in MyE2B.cfg' error message suppressed if no MyE2B.cfg file exists (bugfix).
• Snappy SDIO .cfg file changed to suppress GNU licence EULA on first run + updated version
• CENTREHD code revised for better centering of menu headings.
• Small bugfix to E2B_Editor.exe + it now lists both .bmp and .jpg files in open file dialog by default.
• New setmenu draw-box command added (see here).
• String command bugfix and documented on E2B site.
• New BoxDemo sample theme added to demonstrate new hstart, hwidth, drawbox, line and string features.
• Small \_ISO\Sample_MyBackground.jpg file added for use with E2B_Editor.
• Small changes to some .cfg sample themes.
• Desinfect 2017 sample .mnu file added.

Please report any issues ASAP! If you have used Pimp_My_Drive.cmd to add extra mnu items, please re-run Pimp_My_Drive.cmd again after you have updated to the new version.

Easy2Boot v1.97f available (Release Candidate - please try it!)

E2B v1.97f BETA is now available from the Alternate Download Areas.

I will release this as v1.97 Full Release in a few days, so please test it by updating your E2B drive and report any issues.

The self-extracting .exe download now uses .RAR instead of .ZIP internally because it seems to trigger far less false-positive virus warnings.

It does however mean that it cannot be used with RMPrepUSB directly by renaming it to .rar or .zip. You will have to extract the files to a new folder first if you want to use it with RMPrepUSB instead of just using the renamed file directly with RMPrepUSB - Choose Files.

Note: I have now updated RMPrepUSB with a more recent version of 7zG.exe which can extract the files from a self-extracting .rar file. So if you download RMPrepUSB v2.1.739B and rename the E2B download to have a .rar extension, then RMPrepUSB will extract the contents.

Silence grub4dos boot-up messages

As gub4dos boots, you may see the following messages as it boots.

If your E2B USB drive is an exFAT drive, you may see even more messages.

The \_ISO\Sample_MyE2B.cfg file contains some sample code lines which can suppress these and other boot messages by patching the code in the MBR and the \grldr file.

This should work on both grub4dos 0.4.6a and 0.4.5c versions.