Is YouTube getting worse or is it just broken?

I have some YT videos on my YT channel  and I have made comments on some other peoples YT videos, as I am sure many of you have.

For several years, I have noticed that sometimes, I can look through the comments under other peoples YT videos and I will be surprised to see a comment with my name on it but that I did not write. Here is an example:

Microsoft just made Secure Boot multibooting more difficult!

After the recent Windows update KB5012170 (August 9, 2022) was released, it seems Ventoy can no longer boot on some systems when Secure boot is enabled. This Windows update may also affect the Kaspersky EFI boot file used by agFM in E2B too.

Summary

This security update makes improvements to Secure Boot DBX for the supported Windows versions listed in the "Applies to" section. Key changes include the following:

Windows devices that has Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) based firmware can run with Secure Boot enabled. The Secure Boot Forbidden Signature Database (DBX) prevents UEFI modules from loading. This update adds modules to the DBX.

A security feature bypass vulnerability exists in secure boot. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability might bypass secure boot and load untrusted software.

This security update addresses the vulnerability by adding the signatures of the known vulnerable UEFI modules to the DBX.

KB5012170

See also this post.

Introduction

Ventoy (and the 'official Ventoy' .img files used by agFM) use an .EFI file which allows you to add any file or key onto the BIOS DB 'whitelist' by using MokManager. This basically allow you to secure boot to ANY unsigned .efi file and is therefore a very obvious security risk.

agFM uses a signed Kaspersky EFI boot file which has a security flaw because it allows you to load unsigned grub2 modules. The unsigned grub2 module can then disable the secure boot checks and then allow you to load unsigned .efi bot files.

Microsoft have released various Windows Updates which (if you have UEFI-booted to Windows) will add blacklist entries into the DBx non-volatile RAM of your BIOS so that it will now refuse to Secure Boot from the naughty EFIs that Microsoft should never have signed in the first place!

So this leaves us with a problem (that has been seen coming for several years) - how do we load a multiboot loader/manager such as Ventoy or agFM (which use unsigned grub2). Microsoft will not sign any generic grub2 version because they allow you to load other modules or run dd, etc. and thus potentially hack the secure boot mechanism.

Solutions

E2B v2.16b Beta available

I have added support for the CTRL+F7 hotkey into the E2B menu system.

This hotkey sets the menu system to graphicsmode 3 and text mode.

If you have display issues on some systems and the E2B graphics mode menu system cannot be displayed properly on a particular graphics adaptor or monitor, you may see a 'fuzzy' or 'garbled' or 'corrupt' screen. In this case, hitting Ctrl+F7 may fix the display issue.

Please let me know if this causes you any issues and if you think it is worth keeping this feature in for the next full release.

VentoyPlugson.exe for 'Ventoy for Easy2Boot' available

I have recompiled VentoyPlugson.exe so that it will detect an Easy2Boot drive (although it may also detect other drives too!).

So you can now make a \ventoy\ventoy.json file directly from your E2B USB drive. This will save you having to switch in an 'official' Ventoy Partition 2 image just to configure the ventoy.json file.

Please note this is NOT the official VentoyPlugson.exe and you must make sure you select the correct drive letter if it displays more than one drive! As it only creates a ventoy.json file though, it should not be too harmful if you accidentally choose the wrong drive.

Let me know if you have any issues.

agFM has now been updated to v1.85. The only change is that the cmd file
\e2b\Update agFM\GetLatestVentoyPluginFiles.cmd
now adds a \ventoy\VentoyPlugsonE2B folder to the first partition. You can then run \ventoy\VentoyPlugsonE2B\VentoyPlugsonE2B.exe from that folder.

Action:

1. Run \e2b\Update agFM\Download and update agFM_v2.cmd to update to agFM v1.86

2. Run \e2b\Update agFM\GetLatestVentoyPluginFiles.cmd  to get VentoyPlugsonE2B

Note that 'Ventoy for Easy2Boot' v1.0.79 is also available - see eBook #4 for the download URL and password. It will be released publicly some time in September.

Subscribe for more updates!

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Send faxes for free online (no fax machine required)

Recently I had to send a solicitor who was located over 100 miles away, some copies of my ID documents (passport, driving licence, etc.).

Now solicitors do not like receiving emails with attachments as, of course, opening an email attachment carries serious security risks, so they automatically bin all emails with attachments and they wanted me to either send a fax or use snail mail.

However, in the UK, we have just had a warning of a forthcoming  Royal Mail postal service strike and so I was afraid that my documents would be delayed or worse - lost if I posted them! So it seemed that it was best to send them faxes of my ID docs.

My printer does actually have fax capability, but I needed a BT phone socket adaptor for it which I didn't have. So instead I decided to try an online fax service.

E2B v2.16a Beta

While testing all the .wim files in Medicat 21.12, I found that the Lockpick.wim file would not Legacy-boot from the Easy2Boot menu system.

All the other .wim files seem to Legacy-boot OK (except for the DiskGenius.wim file which seems to load and briefly display the WinPE Desktop and then immediately reboot on E2B, agFM and Ventoy???).

Easy2Boot 2.15 and previous versions booted a .wim file by using a default boot.sdi and bootmgr file and it creates a BCD dynamically with the name of the boot file in it. For some reason it seems to crash however on the Lockpick.wim file.

So Easy2Boot v2.16a Beta now supports the .wimboot file extension and this will load the  wim file using the wimboot method (derived from the iPXE github project and used by agFM and Ventoy).

Download E2B v2.16a from the 'Latest Betas' folder - https://easy2boot.xyz/download/alternate-download-sites/

QRUN will suggest that you try .wimboot instead of .wim, or you can just give the .wim file a _.wimboot.wim file extension and it will automatically use the wimboot method without prompting you.

e.g.

Add MX Linux with persistence to agFM

If you want to UEFI64 (or legacy) boot to an MX-Linux ISO and have persistence, you can use a .grubfm file. The .grubfm file must be the same name as the ISO file and in the same folder, e.g.

• \_ISO\LINUX\MX-21.1_x64.iso
• \_ISO\LINUX\MX-21.1_x64.grubfm

1. Copy on the two files. The grubfm file can be found on Partition 2 at "\e2b\Sample agFM menu files\LINUX\MX-21.1_x64.grubfm" folder or download from here.

2. The persistence files that will be created by MX-Linux must be stored on either Partition 2 of the E2B USB drive or Partition 3. Check that you have enough room (the default files are 8GB and 10GB but you can choose a smaller size). If you do not have a Partition 3 on the E2B USB drive then you could resize the partitions using EaseUS Home Partition Master or a similar tool. 

3. Edit the .grubfm file and change the partition number to the one that you are going to use - either 2 or 3, e.g.  line 15-17, make sure set PERSIST_PTN= 2 (or 3) as the only line and comment out any other set PERSIST_PTN= line...

Ventoy for Easy2Boot v1.0.79 pre-release is now available.

The current Ventoy for Easy2Boot is version 1.0.57 and it is getting a bit long in the tooth - so I have today edited and recompiled a new version for Easy2Boot.

I have added a link to it in the latest eBook #4:

'E2B #4 - UEFI-multiboot using the a1ive grub2 File Manager_v1.24.pdf' 

which will take you to the download file for 'Easy2Boot v1.0.79'. The password is also in the eBook (search the PDF for '1.0.79' to find it).

New! IODD ST400 Disk emulator (2.5" SATA HDD enclosure)

IODD have brought out a new disk enclosure which allows you to add your own 2.5" SATA disk drive (spinning rust or SSD). The IODD allows you to select and boot from any ISO or VHD as long is it is bootable, so there should be no issues with Secure Boot failures as long as the ISO/VHD has signed boot files.

It is called the ST400 (Amazon.com #ad). It is available from Amazon.com (USA) now for about $90 and you can add a cheap 1TB 2.5" SSD for about $100 (it does not need to be fast as the USB 3 transfer rate for the ST400 device seems to max out at around 140MB/s) - or add a spinning rust Seagate Barracuda 5TB drive for about the same price instead. The IODD Mini is approx. $130 for the 256GB SSD unit.

E2B v2.15 released (bugfix for SWP01 error in v2.14)

Please Update to v2.15. There was a problem in v2.14 (the QRUN.g4b batch file was too long as limitation of only 2048 lines of code are allowed in a grub4dos batch file).

The only change is the QRUN.g4b file and the version.txt file.

agFM v1.84 released (bugfix)

Some .img and .vhd files would not boot in Legacy mode when using the 'map' option (which runs grub4dos).

For instance, if you install Medicat to a fixed-size .VHD file, you can boot to it using E2B (as .vhdhdd) or agFM (as either .vhd or .img) or Ventoy (Ventoy requires the extension to be .img) -  so use the extension _.vhdhdd.img so that it works on all three.

You can update just by running Ptn2:\e2b\Update agFM\Download and update agFM_v2.cmd.

Note: There is a bug in E2B v1.14 - if you get a 'Cannot find label SWP01' error then please update to v2.15aBeta.

E2B v2.14 now fully released

 v2.14 is now fully released and is on FossHub for fast download.

There were a few small changes including tweaks to QRUN.g4b and E2B_Editor.exe since the 2.14 version that I made available a few days ago on the Beta Alternate Downloads OneDrive site. You can update again to the full release version if you wish.

The E2B_Editor.exe utility now displays the X-Y co-ordinates of the cursor as well as the colour of the pixel under the cursor in the floating tooltip - as shown below. This may assist you when setting STAMP and ANIMATION co-ordinates. 

Easy2Boot v2.14 available

E2B v2.14 DPMS is now available here. I will put it on FossHub in a few days but I thought I would make it available to blog subscribers here first.

E2B v2.14 is now fully released.

Here are the changes (please feed back any issues if you find any ASAP):

More tips to save on gas/oil/electricity energy bills

If your house has a hot water tank (not a combi-boiler/direct water heater) then a simple tip is to just set the timer so that the hot water will come on for only an hour or so in the morning and then switch off for the rest of the day.

The water in a well-insulated tank will stay quite hot for the rest of the day and should still be warm enough in the evening to do any washing up, face washing, etc. if required (especially in the summer).

Obviously, if you use too much hot water during the day then it will go cold, but you can adjust the timer accordingly. The idea is to not use energy to keep the tank of water hot when you really don't need it to be hot. It is a shame that we cannot have two temperature settings for the hot water because we really only need very hot water when we have a bath\shower and need more than one tank-full of hot water.

Also, if you do not use a lot of hot water in the morning for a shower or bath, then instead of adjusting the temperature by mixing in some cold water, just turn down the hot water thermostat to reduce the temperature of the water in the hot tank. Try reducing the hot water temperature by 2 deg C each week until you find the lowest temperature that suits your usage and preferences.

In Summer we don't really need really hot water from the sink taps anyway and it seems silly to heat a whole tank of water up for the whole day. The rooms near the hot water tank will be cooler too if it is not on all day.

Most domestic appliances are cold-fill only (because most houses have directly heated hot water and it is considered 'more efficient'), however if you have a tank full of hot\warm water available during the day, it is more efficient to use a hot+cold-fill washing machine or dish washer and make good use of that warm water instead of just letting it cool down slowly during the day.

In the winter, you may need to adjust the timer and thermostat settings again.

Free newspapers and magazines for 3 months!

Why not cancel your daily newspaper and magazine subscriptions, save money and also help to save trees at the same time?

Sign up before the end of this month and Readly will give you 3 months for free. After that they will charge you the reduced rate of £8.99 a month for the next 12 months (£9.99 thereafter). You can cancel any time (even in month #3 of the free trial period).

agFM v1.83 released

 The new version has a few changes

v1.83 2022-07-21

• Add \e2b\update agFM\GetLatestVentoyPluginFiles.cmd.
• Improve download speeds. Fix problem of .imgPTN switch-in operation sometimes detecting difference in MBR and offering to restore instead of switching in new imgptn.

GetLatestVentoyPluginFiles.cmd – this downloads the latest plugins required by Ventoy for some functions (Windows vhd plugin, Windows wim plugin, Linux persistence .dat files in a .zip file, bootable ISO to remove Ventoy Secure Boot whitelist key from UEFI BIOS NVRAM).

The files are copied to the \ventoy folder on Partition 1 of the E2B USB drive.

To update your E2B drive, run Make_E2B.exe and click the Update E2B button or run "\e2b\Update agFM\Download and update agFM_v2.cmd".

Note: E2B v2.14 will be also available soon and then I hope to produce a new 'Ventoy for Easy2Boot' version.

'Getting started with grub4dos' eBook updated to v1.02

I have updated this eBook.

If you have purchased the eBook already, you can get the updated version using the link in the order confirmation email that you would have received from Payhip.

Other Articles

https://rmprepusb.blogspot.com/2022/08/ventoy-for-easy2boot-v1079-pre-release.html
https://rmprepusb.blogspot.com/2022/06/how-to-make-for-zero-cost.html
https://rmprepusb.blogspot.com/2022/04/ebook-updated-how-to-make-1000-month.html
https://rmprepusb.blogspot.com/2022/03/easy2boot-v212-released-new-ebook.html
https://rmprepusb.blogspot.com/2022/03/are-you-looking-for-good-website-or.html
https://rmprepusb.blogspot.com/2022/02/getting-started-with-ventoy-v107.html
https://rmprepusb.blogspot.com/2022/01/ebook-getting-started-with-ventoy-v106.html
https://rmprepusb.blogspot.com/2021/12/ebook-getting-started-with-ventoy-v105.html
https://rmprepusb.blogspot.com/2021/10/ventoy-ebook-rev102-now-updated-for.html
https://rmprepusb.blogspot.com/2021/10/ventoy-ebook-now-available-getting.html

FakeFlashTest v1.1.4 updated (now much faster!)

I wrote FakeFlashTest many years ago when a 16GB Flash drive was considered top of the range and very expensive. Time has moved on since then and Flash memory chips are now cheaper and larger.

So FFT v1.1.4 is now much faster and will dynamically adjust it's algorithm to cater for larger drives. Most drives should take less than 5 minutes to test now (and some a lot less).

You can find the latest version here.

Easy2Boot v2.14i Beta available

The developer yaya2007 has fixed the UDF ISO bug in grub4dos, so DLC Boot ISOs that are in UDF format (and maybe other ISOs that had problems booting under E2B) are now fixed in E2B v2.14i.

2.14i also has a new menu entry in the UTILITIES menu to display CPU information. Thanks to a1ive for writing the cpuid utility for grub4dos..

2.14h can now boot Tails ISO files (without persistence) even if your E2B USB drive is a fixed disk.

Note 2022-07-13: 2.14i and later uses the latest version of grub4dos which has a BUG! You will get problems with some operations (e.g. Windows Install ISOs give  unattend error). Awaiting fix from the developer (grub4efi has same bug!). Late news: Fixed in latest release 2.15.

    

New CPU Info menu entry

 

Don't miss the bargains on Amazon (12th July)

Amazon Prime Day is 12-13th July this year. There will be loads of special offers but only for Amazon Prime Members.

Membership costs $14.99 a month (£7.99 in UK) and you get free delivery and free Amazon Prime Video too.

Prices will be different in USA.

However, you get a free 30-day trial (#Ad), so sign up now and watch some movies, grab the bargains on July 12th/13th and then (if you really want to), cancel before the end of the month and it won't cost you a penny.

You must check these four things on your computer at least once a year

If you have purchased a new computer, perhaps have built your own PC or have a PC/notebook which is over a year old, you should check these things now and at least once a year.

Introduction

Modern computers are able to monitor various temperatures, fan speeds and voltages throughout the system. You can easily download software to display these values (often the BIOS setup/configuration menu system will display them too). Using SMART, we can also find out about the health of our internal disk drives too.

If you have received a new or second-hand system recently, a typical problem is that during transportation, the CPU heatsink may have come loose. This would mean that your CPU will get too hot and when this happens, modern PCs will usually 'throttle back' and go slow to avoid permanent damage to the CPU. 

If you have a computer that is a few years old, the thermal paste between the CPU and the CPU heatsink may have dried out. Again, your CPU may be getting too hot.

Also, if your PC\Notebook is older than a year or so, it may have accumulated dust and cobwebs! This can seriously affect the air flow through the system and can thus cause the hard drives and CPU to overheat.

If you have overclocked your system, you will need to be particularly careful, because you are probably running it at its maximum performance capabilities - any overheating may cause damage or a system crash!

Some monitoring programs which I recommend you to try are:

How to fix Windows Startup program errors (e.g. HP printer drivers/programs)

 After uninstalling some programs from your Windows system, you may find that as soon as you log in to your Windows account, you see some Windows dialog boxes which are reporting missing programs or DLL files, etc.

This is usually because the Uninstaller has forgotten to remove all of the programs or services that it had originally installed and configured to run on startup. There are two types of mechanisms which could be causing this:

agFM v1.81 released plus E2B Beta v2.14h (with DLC Boot 2022 v4.0/4.1 ISO support)

agFM v1.81 is now released and supports the latest DLC Boot 2022 ISO.

E2B v2.14i Beta and v2.15 is also available which also supports the June 2022 DLC ISO and has UDF ISO bugfix in grub4dos.

For DLCBoot 2022 ISO UEFI64 booting from agFM please use agFM v1.88 or later.

easy2boot.com now redirects to easy2boot.xyz

I have set up a redirect from the old .com site to the new WordPress easy2boot.xyz home page now and some of the old .com URLs will even redirect to the equivalent page on the xyz site!

Please let me know if you find any bad links!

How to make $$$ for zero cost while you sleep!

Do you have some knowledge, information, know some 'secrets', hints and tips, great gluten-free recipes, good websites/blogs/social media sites/forums, etc. which may be valuable to others, then why not write some eBooks. Although I sell an eBook called 'How to make $1000 a month from the internet' for just $3 in my eBook store, I am going to show you how easy it is to sell eBooks world-wide for absolutely no cost and very little effort once it has been written and is set up for sale.

The great thing about eBooks is that it is passive selling. Once it is available for sale you just sit back - everything (sales, delivery, payment) is automatic and it is very simple to set up too!

If eBooks aren't your thing, musicians can sell their own music files, photographers can sell their photos and artists can sell their graphics downloads. You can make and sell courses and coaching products on a subscription basis too (typically using Zoom, setting milestones, etc.).

Legacy-booting the RedHat Trial Beta RHEL 9 ISO (registration issue)

 A user reported that the trial version of RedHat RHEL 9 did not seem to work correctly when booted from an ISO file using E2B, agFM or Ventoy.

All seemed OK, except that the installer GUI did not seem to pick up the trial licence information and it required the user to register online using their RedHat login credentials before it would allow you to proceed...

To work around this issue, it was necessary to ensure that the legacy MBR Partition 4 Type number was not set to 0 so that the Linux OS would mount the ISO mapped to Partition 4 and would see the licence files.

E2B 2.14e Beta thus supports a new .iso83 file extension which works around this issue.

For more details see here and the Forum thread here.

Fix for the KINGS_OVERKILL USB drive not booting to the AMD files on Partition 3

I have updated the previous article with instructions on how to boot to the AMD test files on Partition 3 of the KINGS_OVERKILL USB drive.

So after fixing the problems, you can Legacy and UEFI-boot to the AMD graphics RAM test programs as well as the two nVidia RTX test images.

Please refer to the previous article here.

Adding the AMD files to an E2B drive

It is possible to add an image of the AMD large (60GB) ext4 Partition 3 to an E2B USB drive as a .imgPTNREP3 file.

Please contact me if you want a download link for my 63GB TEST_AMD_GPU_PTN3.imgPTNREP3 file (split into 17 x 2GB 7Zip files).

The method I used to make a working image was as follows:

1. First ensure that the KINGS_OVERKILL USB drive will boot to Partition 3 correctly (Legacy and UEFI).

2. Use RMPrepUSB - Drive>File button to capture the whole of Partition 3 as a single file (a 60GB file!). Start P3, End P3, file start 0.

3. If your E2B USB drive is a large drive with 3 partitions, copy the image file you just made to E2B Partition 3 (NTFS) and name it something like TEST_AMD_GPU_PTN3.imgPTNREP3. As an alternative, you could just use Disk Genius to create a Primary Partition 3 on the E2B USB drive using the 3.pmf image file (not tested and you may have to fix up the fsck files as mentioned in the previous article!).

Here is the NTFS Partition 3 on my E2B USB drive (the large file must be defragmented - I used Defraggler for this)...

Run nVidia/AMD GPU graphics memory tests from an Easy2Boot drive

I recently came across a YouTube video which booted from a large dedicated USB drive to run Nvidia and AMD diagnostics using MATS (Memory Automated Test System) and MODS (Modular Diagnostic Software).

Nvidia has a proprietary software tool called MODS (Nvidia MOdular Diagnostic Software) which has a standalone VRAM test called MATS. How to use MATS can be found below.

• Here is a written guide on how to use MATS Nvidia Memory Testing Guide.
• Here is a video by MV TechLabs on How to set up and use MATS
• Overview of MATS/MODS: https://rk.edu.pl/en/nvidia-modular-diagnostic-software-mods/

Note: To get the Kings_Overkill USB drive fully working - scroll down!

Also see this article.

To make a new bootable USB HDD with all three test images, see 'How to make a MODS and MATS USB drive' below.

The USB he created comprised of three separate Primary MBR partitions with each partition containing a separate set of bootable files:

• Partition 1: nVidia RTX 30xx Series And Before 5GB
• Partition 2: nVidia RTX 20xx, GTX 16xx/10xx/9xx/7xx/6xx/5xx Series And Before 5GB
• Partition 3: AMD RX4xx/RX5xx/RXVEGA64/R7/R9 Series/HD7xxx 60GB

I made a separate USB drive from the .rar files from the instructions in the video but for some reason the ext4 Partition 3 seems to be corrupt on my drive and would not boot at all :-(.

However I could legacy boot and UEFI64-boot OK to Partitions 1 and 2 of the new USB drive.

I wanted to add some sort of bootable images of these to my E2B drive so I used RMPrepUSB - File - Make grub4dos ISO file function to make a bootable ISO. However, the ISO file only worked when Legacy booting (it hung on a UEFI boot as did Ventoy).

XMLtoE2B.exe v2.0.52 with 'skip TPM check for Win11' now available

I have added a 'Skip TPM checks' button to XMLtoE2B.exe so that you can easily make an XML file for Windows 11 which will not check for a TPM, free disk space, CPU, RAM capacity or a SecureBoot.

The new .exe file is in the Alternate Downloads - Latest Betas folder here.

A slightly tweaked version has now been fully released.

Let me know if you find any issues!

See my earlier article if you don't know what this is.

Kon-Boot 4.1 update released

A Kon-Boot 4.1 update is now available from U-Lead.

Kon-Boot is currently the only solution worldwide I am aware of that can bypass Windows 10/Windows 11 online account passwords and does not modify the Windows files (though you can use the E2B UtilMan hack to do a similar job).

4.1 Main updates: Updates for  Windows 10 / Windows 11 Fixed 0xc0000001 boot error issue on newest Windows 11 release Updates for macOS Monterey 12.4 Updates for legacy BIOS loader Installer updates

Note that the Kon-Boot EFI boot file is obviously not signed by Microsoft so Secure Boot to a Kon-Boot USB drive is usually not possible, however you can add the Kon-Boot files to an E2B drive and then Secure Boot to agFM and from that menu run Kon-Boot. See a previous blog for more details.

Installing Windows 11 offline and creating a local account - is it possible?

The Windows 11 setup procedure now insists that you are connected to the internet and that you must use an online account rather than a local account. However, there are some ways around this:

Setup + Ethernet connection to internet

Win11 Setup will see that you have an internet connection and ask for your account email address and password. However, if you enter an invalid password with Windows Pro or Home, it will fail and then allow you to create a local account. e.g. test@test.com or a@b.com with any password.

Setup + WiFi only

Win11 Setup will insist that you connect to a WiFi network if it cannot detect an internet connection via Ethernet. If you connect to the internet by WiFi by entering the WiFi SSD credentials, you can also use the same trick of using an invalid online account + password or if installing Win11 Home see the next section.

Setup + no internet

If you do not want to or you cannot connect to a WiFi router, you can use the oobe bypass method as in this Britec video.

The other alternative is that you use an unattend XML file which will automatically create a local account for you. You can edit the XML file before you start so it uses the user name that you want (and can also force it to install Pro even if it was OEM registered for Home). The XML file can also skip the TPM and other checks that Win11 insists on.

In E2B v2.14cBeta (Alternative Downloads - Latest Betas folder), I have added some XML files which you may find useful.

WIN11_LOCAL_ACCOUNT_USER1_SKIP_CHECKS.xml   (no product key - Setup will ask)

WIN11_LOCAL_ACCOUNT_USER1_SKIP_CHECKS_PRO.xml

WIN11_LOCAL_ACCOUNT_USER1_SKIP_CHECKS_HOME.xml

Only the default settings will be used. The install is almost fully automated.

You can make an XML file with your own settings using WAFG (and XMLtoE2B.exe - optional) if you wish (see here for more details). The same XML files can be used by E2B, agFM, grubfm and Ventoy.

For more information on fully automating Windows installations see eBook #2.

E2B v2.14dBeta now has XML files which will allow the user to create either a local OR an online account during Setup without having to specify the name of the user account within the XML file. It also bypasses the TPM checks.

agFM update v1.80 available

 1.80 2022-05-13

• Update Make_Latest_Ventoy_Partition_Image.cmd to allow debug CI versions of Ventoy to be used to make new Ventoy partition images. 
• A few new sample .cfg files were added for Porteus+persistence and fossapup+persistence.

Updated eBooks now available

The eBooks below in red have been updated.

If you have already purchased an older version just use the link in the email that was sent to you from Payhip to get the new version for free. You do not need to pay to get the latest revision.

eBooks store is here. Most are $5 each.

The latest versions of the eBooks 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 v1.09  (for Ventoy 1.0.76)
• Getting started with grub4dos v1.01
• How to make $1000 a month from the Internet v1.08  - now only $3

Some of the eBooks product pages have reader reviews under the descriptions at the bottom of the page.

XMLtoE2B v2.0.51 is now available

XMLtoE2B.exe is a small Windows utility that helps you to make a Windows Install XML file to fully automate a Windows install from an E2B USB drive or from a grubfm\agFM\Ventoy USB drive.

Using multiple SDI_CHOCO config sets, you can automate the online or offline installation of drivers, applications and Windows updates. If a new Windows ISO is released by Microsoft, simple copy the new ISO file to your E2B USB drive!

An updated version of XMLtoE2B is now available. If you have a licence file for the old version, it will also work with the new version.

Note that without a licence file you will not be able to save XML files. If you have purchased 3 or more E2B eBooks then please contact me for a complimentary licence (provide name and email address).

Version changes

v2.0.51 2022-06-07

• Check if ComputerName is same as UserName (illegal)
• Change website URL to easy2boot.xyz
• Change Win10 buttons to 'WIn10/11'.

For details on how to use XMLtoE2B to easily and quickly modify your XML files for automated Windows installs, see here. 

eBook #2 contains detailed exercises on how to set up fully automated Windows installs.

Note: New Beta is v2.0.52 (.exe file only) and includes a 'Skip TPM checks' tick box for Win11 XML files.

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.

Easy2Boot v2.12 released + new eBook revisions

E2B v2.12 is now released and contains a few small bugfixes.

I have also updated most of the eBooks.

The latest Ventoy versions can boot payload files on any disk\partition. The Ventoy eBook now contains an added chapter for setting up a Linux ISO file + persistence on another partition (e.g. USB Partition 3 or a system hard disk).

FREE updated revisions are available for all previous eBook buyers using the link in the email receipt that was sent to you when you first purchased the eBook(s) or you can buy the eBook PDFs here (or Ventoy Kindle).

The latest versions 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) - Amazon Kindle edition here #Ad
• Getting started with grub4dos v1.01
• How to make $1000 a month from the Internet v1.06

How to edit PNG Alpha transparency levels (e.g. for a grub2 theme)

Recently I needed to edit some PNG files which were used in a grub2 theme (tutorial).

Many grub2 themes use a semi-transparent 'styled box' as a grey background on which the grub2 menu text entries are displayed.

In this example, menu_s.png, menu_sw.png and menu_se.png have been changed and so the bottom of the box is a slightly different colour and is opaque. You can see the clouds in the background wallpaper underneath the centre section.

Some themes draw a line across the bottom of the menu by making the top line of pixels in these three .png files a different colour - e.g. white...

Are you looking for a good website or blog host?

If you have read my eBook 'How to make $1000 a month from the Internet' you will see that I recommend that you set up your own website and/or blog and that you do not use the free hosts .

I also strongly recommend that you always use a WordPress (Linux-based) host server and that you do not go for any host which attempts to suck you in with free offers or very cheap deals. The reason is that after a year , when you come to renew your subscription, you will realise that their full annual rate is much more expensive than the others. Also, you will realise that in order to get certain features working on your site, you will need to purchase a more costly 'premium plan' and that you are now 'locked in' (having spent hundreds of hours on the design and content of your website).

Also, with a free host site, you are not in control. They can easily turn round one day and say 'we are sorry to announce that from next month we are closing this service' and you are stuffed!

Invest now!

Whether you have purchased my ebook 'How to make $1000 a month from the Internet' and made some money from a side hustle for very little initial cost or you have some savings sitting in a bank account which is earning a paltry 0.7% interest at best (or 0.01% as some banks like Barclays and NatWest are offering - wow - thanks guys!) - why not invest it in stocks and shares?

Even if your savings are earning 2% a year, you are losing money when you take inflation and the rising cost of living into account!

Due to the Ukraine crisis, now is a perfect time to invest in the stock market as prices are low.

Introduction to ETFs

ETF screener to help you pick the right ones for you out of the 1000+ available.

I recommend a USA or Global ETF. For instance the SWDA ETF currently at 5925p (top global companies only) charges 0.2% annually and has almost tripled in value in 10 years (+75% in last 5 years). Quite a difference from the bank rate, isn't it?

As with all shares, the trick is to buy low.

Have you been 'jobfished' by Madbird&Co? You could be working for free!

The people on reputable job market sites like fiverr will agree to do a specific task for a specific price. Payment is made up front to fiverr by the customer so that you will always receive the agreed amount from fiverr on satisfactory completion of the work.

A recent BBC Radio 4 and BBC 3 TV program detailed a scammer who took advantage of the Covid lockdown to entice people to work for him from their own homes for up to 6 months for free (just empty promises). Although his company was registered at UK Companies house (something which anyone can do for less than £20), the company Madbird&Co. appears to comprise of just one man and a bedroom!

'Getting started with Ventoy v1.07' revised edition with extra info on booting ISOs from Partition 3

I have added an extra section to the chapter on booting from payloads that are situated on Partition 3 of a Ventoy USB drive. The examples included are for a Linux-based StorageCraft ISO and a Ubuntu 64-bit ISO and it uses the F6 Extended grub2 menu facility of Ventoy.

As usual, all my eBook updates are free - just use the link that was sent to you in the original Payhip purchase confirmation email.

Amazon Ventoy Kindle version.

Getting started with Ventoy (v1.07 - 2022-02-02)

Contents:
Chapter 1 - Introduction .. 5
Chapter 2 - Glossary of terms ... 6
Chapter 3 - Make a Ventoy multiboot USB drive .... 8
GPT or MBR? ... 8
Ventoy partitions .. 8
Is your USB drive larger than 128GiB? ...... 9
4K sector disks (Advanced Format Storage) ... 9
Typical Ventoy Legacy\MBR partition arrangement .. 11
Secure Boot ... 12
Using the Ventoy installer. 14
Beware of fake flash drives!...... 14
Recommended USB drives .. 14
Exercise 1: Make a Ventoy drive under Windows ...... 15
Troubleshooting Ventoy installation and updates ..... 15
Exercise 2: Make a Ventoy drive under Linux ...... 17
Re-format Partition 1. 19
Updating Ventoy ... 20
Chapter 4 - Using the Ventoy USB drive ... 21
Exercise 3: MBR-boot to the Ventoy menu... 22
Exercise 4: Add an Ubuntu ISO.. 24
Exercise 5: Add more Linux ISOs. 28
Chapter 5 - Using the Ventoy menu .. 29
Ventoy menu keys ..... 30
Ventoy Menu Function keys ... 31
Special Ventoy keys ... 31
Debug mode .... 33
Exercise 6: Grub2 mode ...... 34
Troubleshooting summary...... 36
Chapter 6 - Add more payload files... 37
Exercise 7: Add a Windows 10 Install ISO ..... 37
Exercise 8: Add the Parted Magic ISO..... 39
Exercise 9: Add PassMark's MemTest86 memory test ..... 40
Chapter 7 - Hide some files/folders from Ventoy ... 43
Chapter 8 - The Ventoy user configuration file (ventoy.json)... 45
Ventoy.json syntax rules: .... 46
JSON Syntax checker..... 48
VentoyPlugson. 48
Multimode. 54
Chapter 9 - Ubuntu with persistence ... 55
Exercise 10: Ubuntu 64-bit ISO with persistence ... 55
Exercise 11: Kali 64-bit ISO with persistence ... 63
Chapter 10 - Windows Installs using an XML file .. 65
Exercise 12: Install Windows 10 Professional onto any computer. 67
Exercise 13: Platform specific XML file ... 70
Chapter 11 - Install Windows 11 to systems with no TPM ... 72
Exercise 14: Install Windows 11 on old hardware...... 73
Chapter 12 - Add WinPE ISOs...... 77
Strelec WinPE ...... 77
Exercise 15: Add the Strelec WinPE ISO.. 78
Hirens Boot CD WinPE ...... 79
Exercise 16: Add HBCD_PE ISO.. 79
Other useful WinPE ISOs... 80
Chapter 13 - Add AntiVirus ISOs.. 81
Chapter 14 - Add Chrome OS ISOs (CloudReady and FydeOS) ... 82
CloudReady (UEFI64 only). 82
FydeOS ... 82
Chapter 15 - Add Windows .wim files (wimboot plugin).... 83
Exercise 17: Add support for booting .wim files... 83
Chapter 16 - Add Windows .VHD files (Win VHD plugin) .. 84
Exercise 18: Add support for .VHD files .. 84
Chapter 17 - Boot from other drives/partitions/files (grubfm) ... 85
Exercise 19: Add grubfm and boot ISOs from any drive or partition.... 85
Boot from Partition 3 using Ventoy...... 88
Exercise 20: Add StorageCraft Recovery Environment Cross Platform to Partition 3 ..... 88
Chapter 18 - Add rEFInd to UEFI-boot from any disk/partition ... 91
Exercise 21: Add rEFInd.img...... 91
Chapter 19 - Change the default Ventoy menu theme ...... 94
Exercise 22: Add a 'Seven-of-nine' theme..... 97
Exercise 23: Random themes .. 100
Exercise 24: How to make your own Ventoy theme ...... 101
Chapter 20 - Specify the exact menu entries (Image List plugin)... 102
Exercise 25: Exclude legacy-only ISO files in the UEFI menu. 102
Whitelist menu .... 105
Chapter 21 - Replace the menu filenames with text (Alias plugin)...... 106
Chapter 22 - How to display grub2 menu icons (Class plugin). 107
Chapter 23 - Display payload tips to the user (MenuTip plugin) ... 109
Chapter 24 - Add your own grub2 menus (Extension plugin). 112
Exercise 26: Make a simple ventoy_grub Extended menu ... 119
Chapter 25 - Auto-select Memdisk mode for some payloads (Auto-memdisk) ...... 121
Chapter 26 - Add passwords (Password plugin).. 122
Chapter 27 - Other Ventoy features. 124
Chapter 28 - How to recompile the Ventoy source code ... 125
Chapter 29 - Add Easy2Boot (Legacy) to Ventoy ... 126
Chapter 30 - Important BIOS bugs and features that you really need to know about! ... 129
Chapter 31 - Bootable devices (USB 3 devices are best!). 131
IODD Mini...... 132
Chapter 32 - So how does UEFI-booting actually work then? ... 133
UEFI booting...... 135
EFI Shell. 136
Chapter 33 - Secure Boot.... 137
About UEFI Security (PK, KEK, DB and DBX) .... 138
Platform Key (PK). 138
Key Exchange Key (KEK) .... 138
Whitelist Database (DB) .... 138
Blacklist Database (DBX) ... 139
Machine Owner Key (MOK)..... 139
How Secure Boot works.. 139
Secure Boot and Mok Manager... 140
How to disable Secure Boot .. 141
Chapter 34 - Grub2 configuration file syntax...... 143
Words .. 143
Reserved words. 143
Quoting ... 143
Variable expansion .. 143
Locale strings. 144
Comments... 144
Simple commands ... 144
Compound commands.... 144
Built-in Commands .. 145
Chapter 35 - grub2 troubleshooting. 146
Linux ISO boot issues ...... 147
Theme errors - 'alloc magic is broken'...... 147
Corrupt screen/bad screen resolution...... 147
Chapter 36 - Useful links..... 149