E2B v1.61Beta 2 available

v1.61 Beta2 has these additions (compared to v1.60):

1. Italian language files added (thanks to Fabrizio)
2. Can specify both a specific ISO and XML file for a single Windows Install ISO from a mnu file.
3. German language STRINGS.txt improved.
4. isoboot.g4b added to boot some non-contiguous linux ISOs,
5. Fix problem with F1 menu heading
6. Better menu heading positioning using HEADPOS variable, menus left-aligned, Footer Help text directly positioned by HBTM variable.

Easy2Boot v1.61Beta3 available (adds direct boot from non-contiguous linux ISOs)

For Beta2 changes see here.

Beta3 additions are:

1. When installing directly from a Windows Install ISO (Vista or later), the cfadisk device driver is now loaded automatically. This means that by the time Windows Vista/7/8/10 Setup GUI is displayed, all partitions on a Removable USB drive are accessible to WinPE\Setup. Normally, Windows will only mount and make accessible the first partition of a Removable drive.
This means that, in theory, (not yet tested!), if you use a special .mnu file, you can locate your Windows Install ISO files (and whatever .xml and .key files too) on a different partition on a Flash drive.

Note: Now removed in Beta4 because the driver causes problems with Win 8.1 64-bit Install ISOs!

If you would like to be able to treat Removable USB drives as a Hard Disk for Windows installs, you can add the cfadisk driver to the boot.wim file using 'devadevs' method, described here.

2. More direct ISO booting support for more linux non-contiguous ISO, list is now:

Easy2Boot v1.61 released

Changes from v1.60 are:

• .mnu files for Windows Install ISOs menu entries in the Main menu can now be added by the user which can specify both the .ISO file AND the .XML file to use. See the $$AddWin2Main.mnu sample menu. This means a Windows Install ISO will boot without the user needing to choose a specific XML or Key file.
• New grub4dos version
• Menu heading positions have been altered - menu headings are now left-aligned instead of being centred. STRINGS.txt files updated.
• HEADPOS variable is now easier to use (can place the menu heading on any line just by changing HEADPOS). See here for details.
• Help Footer text at the bottom of the screen is no longer padded out by HPAD, so now HBTM determines it's absolute position in the menu. See here for details.
• \_ISO\docs\mythemes and \_ISO\docs\Templates files updated
• \_ISO\Sample_MyE2B.cfg file updated (for HEADPOS, HBTM)
• Italian language files added (thanks to Fabrizio)
• German language STRINGS.txt improved (thanks to Frettt).
• FreeDOS bootable floppy disk image changed (some FreeDOS utilities added)
• Some superfluous files deleted from \_ISO\e2b\firadisk folder
• Support for .isonousb and .imgnousb/.imanousb file extensions added - see here for details
• Sample .mnu files added: DOS_ISONoUSB.mnu and DOS_IMAnoUSB.mnu, CentOS7_FAT32_ISO.mnu, Fedora20_FAT32_ISO.mnu
• isoboot.g4b added to boot some non-contiguous linux ISOs, See here for details.

If you are using a MyE2B.cfg file and your own background, you may find you need to change the HEADPOS and HBTM values in your MyE2B.cfg file.

isoboot.g4b

If an ISO is not contiguous, E2B will try to copy the contents of the ISO to \_ISO\CONTIG.ISO which is 500MB in size by default. If this fails for some reason (e.g. CONTIG.ISO has been deleted to save space or the ISO is bigger than the size of CONTIG.ISO) then E2B will now use the isoboot.g4b batch script to attempt to boot directly from the linux ISO file by loading it into memory and using linux 'cheat codes' to boot it. This may not work for all versions of linux and it will only boot to the default 'live' version (no full boot menu is displayed).

Boot Fedora and CentOS directly from ISO using grub4dos

I have added another small tutorial on how to boot Fedora 20 and CentOS 7 directly from an ISO file using grub4dos.

http://www.rmprepusb.com/tutorials/126_Fedora

I found that they are rather fussy in their requirements...

E2B v1.B0g Beta now available (Make_E2B.exe now automatically creates 2nd partition if large USB disk)

v1.B0g is now available.

If you make a new E2B USB drive and the USB drive is larger than 128GiB, then the cmd script will now use Windows Diskpart to create a second maximum-sized partition. Note that if you have a >128GiB USB Flash drive (removable-type) then Windows 10 Build 1703 or later is required, otherwise you will just get the usual small 31K 2nd partition.

The filesystem choice is left up to Diskpart to decide - if the second partition is less than 32GB, it will be formatted as FAT32, if larger then it will be formatted as NTFS.

You can still make a single large first partition if you wish, if you run the .cmd file instead of the clicking the big red button in Make_E2B.exe.

Changes from the current v1.A0 released version are:

Linux script to install Easy2Boot to a USB drive

The latest version now includes a fmt.sh bash shell script which can be run from a linux OS and it will format a partition as FAT32 on the specified drive, copy over the E2B files and then run bootlace to install grub4dos. There is also a fmt_ntfs.sh script to create an NTFS E2B drive (v1.83+).

I have tested it in a VM (VBox)  using Linux Mint Debian Edition (64-bit) and Ubuntu 14.04.
Of course, there are lots of linux distros and it may not work on all of them.
As it formats a partition, you need to be careful when using it - you have been warned (but it has been independently tested here)!

The E2B download is on this page (linux users will probably not need to use the much larger DPMS version which you will only want if you are intending to install XP from E2B).

Once you have made your E2B FAT32 USB drive, just add all your ISO files to any one of the menu folders - e.g. \_ISO\MAINMENU or \_ISO\LINUX.

Alternatively, you can add your payload files into the downloaded files first, before you run the fmt.sh script. This is useful if you want to make a fresh, contiguous E2B drive and it is often quicker to make a fresh drive, rather than running defragfs to make any added/changed files contiguous.

Here is a screenshot of the script in action. You need to run chmod first before you can run the script.
The script can be found in the \_ISO\docs\linux_utils folder after extracting the files from the download (the folder also contains defragfs which you can use to make your ISO files contiguous - only works on FAT32 volumes).

Please tick 'funny' 'interesting' or 'cool' or add a comment to let me know which posts you most enjoy.

E2B v1.83+ includes a fmt_ntfs.sh script to format a drive as NTFS, plus the udefrag utility to defragment an NTFS drive. Read the ReadMe file for details.

E2B v1.88d Beta available

Marco has kindly made some changes to WinContig which allows me to now make the MAKE_THIS_DRIVE_CONTIGUOUS.cmd script just operate on files in the root of the drive and then it runs on files under the \_ISO folder (so WinContig runs twice).

This means that WinContig does not attempt to make any files in the user's own folders contiguous.

The E2B 1.88d Beta is available from the Alternate Download Areas.

Note: WinContig.exe is a Beta version.

P.S. If you are wondering about v1.88c, it only lasted a few minutes, I decided it was better to do it this way!

Tip: If you only want to make files in the root contiguous, or files under \_ISO contiguous, you can simply copy one of the .cmd scripts from the \_ISO\docs\WINCONTIG folder to the root of your E2B drive.

E2B v1.B9j Beta available + grub4dos bug discovered

This version fixes the issue where Make_E2B_USB_Drive.cmd did not make a CONTIG.ISO file when requested.

It also now searches on Partition 3 for partition image files which have no file extension.

e.g.
Ptn1: \_ISO\WINDOWS\WIN10\Win10 x64.imgPTN23    (FAT32 boot files)
Ptn3: \_ISO\WINDOWS\WIN10\Win10 x64    (NTFS >4GB INSTALL.WIM)

The Win10 x64 file (which has no extension) can either be in the root of the volume or in \_ISO or in the same path as the .imgPTN file. The file name should not have any dot in it or else it will be treated as having an extension.

This means the .imgPTN23 file can be the FAT32 boot partition and the file with no extension can be the NTFS volume containing your large install.wim file. You can secure boot and install >4GB install.wim files in this way. Instructions are on the agFM E2B page here.

Grub4dos bug discovered!

E2B v1.B0 and MPI Tool Pack v0.039 now released

Available from Alternate Download areas here.

New eBook on UEFI multi-booting using WinPE images here.

E2B v1.B0 changes:

Easy2Boot v1.B7b with bugfix for non-contiguous files hanging menu loading

I just came across a long-standing bug in grub4dos which has the affect of making E2B freeze when listing a non-contiguous ISO file, as shown below...

It is not supposed to hang!!!

Version 1.B7b avoids this bug by not showing the Volume and UUID details of the ISO which is normally listed under the menu and so avoids the issue.

By habit, I always make files contiguous after I copy them to the E2B drive, so I never noticed until now!  This issue must have been present since E2B v1.B0!

The grub4dos bug report is here.

Build your own Porteus ISO and run it with persistence using Easy2Booot

Porteus is a linux distro that is quick to boot and you can be running a browser within 30 seconds from selecting the menu entry in the E2B menu. Porteus is a complete linux operating system that is optimized to run from a USB flash drive. It's small (under 300MB) and fast which allows you to start up and get online while most other operating systems are left spitting dust.

You can also configure and build your own ISO online in just a few seconds too!

To download the ISO of your choice, click on the Download button on the top of the page at www.porteus.org. This will take you to a page that walks you through selecting and downloading your ISO. Users with 64-bit hardware can use either version, but users with 32-bit hardware can only use the 32-bit (i486) version so I suggest you stick with the 32-bit version.

You can make a Desktop Edition or a Kiosk Edition. The Kiosk Edition has been restricted to only allow public users access the web browser. It is ideal to boot to if you just want to quickly boot to a browser from another system. Furthermore, the browser has been locked down to prevent users from tampering with system settings. The kiosk edition will run on both 32-bit (i486 or greater) and 64-bit (x86_64) systems and is extremely lightweight in terms of size and used resources. Default kiosk image size is under 50 MB while your custom kiosk ISO size will depend on your choice of adding extra components like flash, java, additional fonts, end even what home page you want, etc. When the kiosk boots it automatically opens firefox to the home page. When firefox is restarted all caches are cleared and browser reopens automatically with a clean session. By adding Flash and Java, I could play YouTube videos with sound on my Asus EeePC with no problem.

For your first ISO, I suggest you start with the Desktop 32-bit - GUI - KDE4 version. Just select your options from build.porteus.org, choose a browser (choice of Firefox, Chrome or Opera), a Word Processor (AbiWord or LibreOffice), Skype and Development tools (binutils, gcc, make, etc.), video card drivers (nVidia, Radeon, Linux OpenSource) and Printer Support (as desired) and click on the large BUILD button. Within a few seconds your ISO will be ready to download and copy to your E2B drive!

The Kiosk version is worth checking out also, just to see what configuration options you have in the Kiosk build wizard!

MBR-boot Porteus with persistence on E2B from ISO

To run Porteus from Easy2Boot with persistence, use the correct Porteus-xxx-persistent.mnu file or Porteus_generic_persistence.mnu  (in the \_ISO\docs\Sample mnu files folder of E2B). Instructions are inside the .mnu file.

1. Add generic .mnu file to \_ISO\LINUX\MNU folder

2. Add ISO to \_ISO\LINUX\MNU folder

3. Create \porteus persistence file on USB drive (see .mnu file for instructions)

4. Run \Make_this_file_contiguous.cmd

See also here for more details or you can follow the instructions in Tutorial 73.

UEFI-booting with persistence

Using agFM (legacy and UEFI64)

Create a .cfg file using the text below.

Then follow the instructions on the commented lines. The same /porteus  persistence file can be used for both E2B and agFM if you wish.

# agFM .cfg file for Porteus 4 x64 iso boot with persistence

# For UEFI and legacy

# Place this .cfg file in \_ISO\LINUX folder, place ISO file in \_ISO\LINUX\MNU folder

# Use Make_Ext.exe to create persistence file \porteus  with volume name of porteus in root of USB drive

# make all files contiguous

# NO SPACES in filenames or paths

# If you get a 'spawning too fast' error, just reboot. It is a known issue (maybe to do with NTFS filesystem and dirty shutdown?)

# Only show menu if 64-bit CPU:

if [ "$CPU" = "64" ] ; then

menuentry "Porteus 4 64-bit with persistence" --unrestricted --class ubuntu {

# WARNING: partnew will write a new partition entry

   set "grubfm_per=(${grubfm_device})/porteus"

   

   set "grubfm_path=/_ISO/LINUX/MNU/Porteus-CINNAMON-v4.0-x86_64.iso"

   

    set "grubfm_file=(${grubfm_device})${grubfm_path}"

if [ ! -e "${grubfm_per}" ] ; then 

echo ERROR ${grubfm_per} does not exist on (${grubfm_device}) ; read ; fi

if [ ! -e "${grubfm_file}" ] ; then 

echo ERROR ${grubfm_file} does not exist on (${grubfm_device}) ; read ; fi

if [ ! -e "(${grubfm_device})${grubfm_path}" ] ; then 

echo ERROR (${grubfm_device})${grubfm_path} does not exist on (${grubfm_device}) ; read ; fi

# check files are contiguous

set x=0

set NC=0

stat -c -q -s x "${grubfm_per}"

if [ ! "${x}" = "1" ] ; then 

echo ERROR: ${grubfm_per} is not contiguous or does not exist!

sleep 5

set NC=2

fi

   if test -d (${grubfm_disk},4) ; then echo ERROR: Partition 4 in use ; sleep 5 ; set NC=5; fi

if [ "${NC}" = "0" ] ; then 

   if ! test -d (${grubfm_disk},4) ; then partnew --type=0x00 --file="${grubfm_per}"  (${grubfm_disk}) 4 ; fi

   loopback loop "${grubfm_file}"

   set root=(loop)

   set gfxpayload=keep

   linux /boot/syslinux/vmlinuz from=${grubfm_path}  changes=LABEL:porteus/

   initrd /boot/syslinux/initrd.xz

   boot

fi

}

fi

menuentry "Back" {

grubfm "${grubfm_current_path}"

}

Using .imgPTN

Porteus uses rEFInd for UEFI-booting. I used Porteus-XFCE-v3.2rc5-x86_64.iso.

1. Convert the ISO file to a FAT32 .imgPTN file. Increase the suggested size to allow for a persistence file (e.g.  add 300 MB extra).

2. Switch to the .imgPTN file

3. Edit the \EFI\BOOT\refind.conf file as below:

menuentry "Porteus GUI mode" {
volume KERNELS
icon EFI/BOOT/icons/os_porteus.png
loader boot/syslinux/vmlinuz
initrd boot/syslinux/initrd.xz
options ""
submenuentry "Save changes" {
add_options "changes=/porteus/porteussave.dat"


4. Edit the \boot\syslinux\porteus.cfg file as below for MBR booting:

LABEL GRAPHICAL
MENU LABEL Graphics mode
KERNEL vmlinuz
APPEND initrd=initrd.xz changes=/porteus/porteussave.dat
TEXT HELP
    Run Porteus the best way we can.
    Try to autoconfigure graphics
    card and use the maximum
    allowed resolution
ENDTEXT

5. Boot to Porteus and use the Systems - Porteus Save File Manager   (password=toor) to create a \porteus\porteussave.dat file on the E2B USB drive. Set the size so that it uses all the free space available.

You may get some error messages on first boot but these can be ignored.

Tip: Use CTRL-S to pause the boot messages and CTRL-Q to resume, so you can see if the persistence file was accepted as valid or not.

Login using  root (pwd-toor) and type startx to start the Desktop GUI if any problems.

Now you should be able to UEFI (press F2 in rEFInd menu and choose 'Save changes' menu entry - see below) or MBR boot with persistence.

Porteus 3.2

The latest builds of Porteus come as straight ISO files (the Porteus Build Wizard has been discontinued).

If you make a FAT32 .imgPTN file from the ISO (I used Porteus-MATE-v3.2.2-x86_64.iso), then you can also download any of the .xzm modules (e.g. palemoon-27.2.1-x86_64-1.xzm) and copy them into the \porteus\modules empty folder which is already present.

When you next boot to Porteus from the .imgPTN file, the modules will be automatically added (e.g. Applications - Internet - PaleMoon).

Tip: Create the persistence file as detailed above only after you have added all the modules that you want. If you add modules afterwards, it may prevent Porteus from running startx and booting to the Desktop GUI.

Note: To boot with persistence via UEFI - press Insert or F2 in the rEFInd menu and choose the 'Save changes' boot option.

Thanks to Ed.P for the info about adding modules.

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).

Booting Dr.Web LiveDisk ISO with persistence from grub2

A DrWeb_Persistent.imgPTN23 file can be found here. It was made as follows:
1. Make a 800MB FAT32 partition on a USB drive
2. Download and run the DrWeb USB creator utility drweb-livedisk-900-usb.exe
3. Run it to extract the files to the USB drive
4. Boot the USB drive on a real system - this prepares it
5. Refresh the updates - reboot and check updates are persistent
6. Drag-and-drop the USB drive letter onto the MPI_FAT32 Desktop icon to make a .imgPTN23 file (syslinux 603, auto-convert). I modified the \syslinux\txt.cfg and the \boot\grub\grub.cfg files to add nomodeset vga=ask ignore_uuid. 

Note: Updates are not persistent even on their own flash drive!  So it obviously has a bug!

Booting from ISO

The Dr.Web ISO boots fine in MBR mode from E2B and can be booted from the ISO with persistence by adding a .mnu file.

However, during testing of the new GRUB2 menu system for E2B, I tried the Dr.Web LiveDisk ISO (drweb-livedisk-900-cd.iso - free), but it did not boot using the grub2 menu that I 'borrowed' from the 'Multiboot USB Flash drive' project here (I got a 'squashfs not found' type error).

After many attempts to get it booting from an ISO using the cheat code 'iso-scan/filename=', I finally looked at the 'casper' linux shell script file located inside the initrd file in the scripts folder (using 7Zip), and found this code...

MBR-boot and UEFI-boot (almost) any file using a1ive's new grub2 and grub2 File Manager

a1ive has been busy modifying and extending a branch of grub2.

 Just copy your ISOs, etc. onto the drive and Secure UEFI boot!

Later versions: 
https://rmprepusb.blogspot.com/2020/01/a1ives-grub2-file-manager-v12.html 

https://rmprepusb.blogspot.com/2020/01/a1ive-grub2-file-manager-menu-for.html

As you know, grub4dos only supports MBR\Legacy-booting but grub2 also supports 32-bit and 64-bit UEFI. Now, a1ive has added support to UEFI-boot Windows Install ISOs, .wim files, .VHD files using NTBOOT. grub2 now supports the partnew and map commands even under UEFI, so we can generically boot most Linux ISO files under UEFI too.

He also has scripted a grub2 menu as a 'File Manager'. You can Legacy or UEFI-boot to grub2, select a partition and then select a file (.iso or .vhd(x) or .wim or .img, .ima or .efi). The File Manager will then offer a range of various options. The current supported list includes:

Also boots Windows Vista//7/8/10 Install ISOs too!

File extensions supported are:
.cfg - run as grub2, syslinux or pxelinux menu
.efi - run as UEFI file (UEFI mode only)
.img - run as disk image
.ipxe - run as ipxe
.iso - run as .iso (also includes .grubfm file of the same file name)
.lst - run as grub4dos menu (MBR mode only)
.lua - run as lua script
.mod - load grub2 module
.pf2 - load font file
.png  - graphics image
.vhd - run as VHD
.wim - run as NT6 .wim file

Add this to your Easy2Boot USB drive

If you want to try this with Easy2Boot, you can download the .imgPTN23 file (from Alternate Download - Other folder).

Note: This .imgPTN23 file also supports an automated workaround for bypassing Secure Boot on UEFI64 systems so you can boot any unsigned payload from a Secure UEFI boot!

New grub2 menu system, UEFI_GRUB2_PTN2 Beta2 Tool Kit now available

This Beta 2 toolkit allows you to UEFI-boot and then directly boot from a range of ISO files (and some .img and EFI files) by selecting any of the payloads from a grub2 menu system. The files do not need to be contiguous and you can add your own grub2 menus and files too.

The .xls spreadsheet showing all the payloads that have currently been tested is here (also in download).
[Edit] Forgot to include Kaspersky in the spreadsheet, You can EFI and MBR boot using the extracted files (see readme.txt in \rescue folder). You can also have persistent updates if you re-make the .imgPTNLBAa23 file as a 400MB file.

Note: It is possible, using this system, to UEFI-boot from many linux ISOs, even if they do not contain any UEFI boot files (e.g. UEFI-boot to Zorin, Kaspersky, etc.)!

In Beta2, 95%+ listed payloads have been tested on FAT32 and are working.

Instructions

Follow the instructions on the E2B page here (full details are also on this page). Screenshots, etc. are in my previous blog post here.

Basically,
1. Download the .7z file here and extract it to an empty folder on your Windows system
2. Create a 2nd Primary FAT32 partition on your E2B USB HDD
3. Copy the xxxx.imgPTNLBAa23 file to your E2B drive's first partition at \_ISO\MAINMENU
4. Copy the contents of the PTN2 folder to the root of the second partition (you should see a \_ISO folder at the root of the second partition)
5. Add your ISOs, etc. to the second partition (see .XLS spreadsheet for details of what name you need to use for each file)
6. If you want to be able to run the same ISOs from the E2B menu, copy the five .mnu files provided to the \_ISO\MAINMENU folder on the first partition of your E2B drive.
7. Now boot to E2B and select the new .imgPTNLBAa23 Beta 2 file and have fun!

If you already have Beta 1, I suggest you delete all *.grub2 files from the second partition, and then run the .\PTN2\COPY_ALL_GRUB2_FILES_TO_USB_DRIVE.cmd script which will copy all the .grub2 files over. If you have purposefully deleted any of the .grub2 files on the second partition (for faster booting), then use the UPDATE_GRUB2_FILES_ON_USB_DRIVE.cmd script.

Most of the payloads should work with a NTFS partition on partition 2 but I have not tested many of them on NTFS yet. FAT32 is more compatible, but you cannot boot from ISOs that are over 4GB.

The grub2 menu system does not need the ISOs to be contiguous, but the E2B grub4dos menu system does.

There are probably at least two more Betas to release before I can think about a full release yet, but it is getting there. if you see any ISOs missing from the spreadsheet that you need, please let me know.

Please feedback any comments, suggestions or problems!

How to directly install from Windows Install ISOs using UEFI with E2B

E2B allows you to boot Windows Installers via UEFI. However, you must first convert the Windows Install ISO to a .imgPTN file if you wish to UEFI-boot from it as well as MBR-boot.

This means that you must convert each Windows Install ISO to separate .imgPTN files.

However, there are ways to perform UEFI installs directly from Windows ISOs.

If you first MBR- or UEFI-boot to a Windows PE .imgPTN file and your Windows ISOs are on a second partition, you can use WinNTSetup or Windows Setup.exe to install Windows.

The WinNTSetup process has the advantage that you can boot to either a 32-bit or 64-bit WinPE and install either 32-bit or 64-bit Windows to the target hard disk. The Windows Setup.exe process is simpler, but you must boot to WinPE32 to install 32-bit Windows or WinPE64 to install 64-bit Windows.

Here is an outline of the Windows Setup.exe process:

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.

Add Easy2Boot to your Ventoy USB drive

It seems that LongPanda has now put extra checks into Ventoy so that it now checks the MBR for grub2 boot code. This means that being able to make and add 'Official Ventoy' images as described here has now been updated! You can also use 'Ventoy for Easy2Boot' which is included in E2B.

Add E2B to Ventoy

Ventoy is improving all the time and it is now pretty good at booting most payloads, however it does not support Legacy installs of  Windows 95/98/Me/XP/2000 and it's DOS and legacy ISO support is a bit weak. You may also find that E2B may work with some Linux payloads where Ventoy fails (but make sure the ISO files are contiguous as required by E2B!).

The good news is that you can easily add legacy E2B (not agFM) to an existing Ventoy USB drive as follows:

Latest news and updates for E2B + rEFInd

I have been testing various combinations of partition types on different systems and also had some feedback from users.

The latest version of E2B and SWITCH_E2B.exe has a few changes and bug fixes.

The X4 file can now also be placed on the 2nd partition of your E2B USB drive. This solves the problem of having to re-order the two files if they are not in the correct order for UEFI-booting.

e.g.
Ptn1: \_ISO\MAINMENU\Ubuntux64.imgptnX4SwitchPE   (FAT32 .imgPTN file with rEFInd)
Ptn2: \_ISO\SwitchPE                              (partition image containing WinPE)

The latest versions at the time of writing are:

E2B 1.62Beta8/9 (monthly PIN code support)

A few new tweaks.
Beta9 fixes a bug - if you deleted CONTIG.ISO then it ran isoboot without using the normal partnew code! Thanks to Cristian for reporting this!

• If you hold down either Left-CTRL key (think 'Ctrl=Crc') whilst selecting a payload file (not a .mnu file) and keep it held down for a few seconds after pressing ENTER to boot to the payload file, E2B will calculate and display the CRC32 value of the file before it runs the payload file. For instance, if an ISO file does not seem to boot correctly, you can find it's CRC32 value and compare it with the CRC32 value of the original file. Note that this feature only works with files that run using QRUN.g4b  - so this CRC32 feature does not work with .mnu menu entries and Windows Install ISOs in the \_ISO\WINDOWS\xx folders.
• If you hold down a SHIFT key whilst selecting a (linux) ISO file (think 'Shift to isoboot') and keep it held down for a few seconds after pressing ENTER to boot to the payload file, E2B will run it using only isoboot.g4b - in this way you can test out the E2B isoboot feature even if your ISO file is contiguous. Note that isoboot is a 'last resort' attempt to boot a non-contiguous linux ISO - it probably won't work for old or non-standard linux ISOs and quite a few others too!
• Monthly PIN code - use the MyE2B.cfg file to request a 4-digit pin number from the user before it will load the E2B Main menu. The PIN code automatically changes every month, so you will need to tell the users the PIN code for the next month at the end of the previous month. A small Windows utility (see below) can be provided which the admin can use to display the  monthly PIN numbers. The seed value can be changed so that your E2B version will have a unique set of PIN numbers.