Three new 'Tutorials' added

109 - USB Rubber Ducky Hack Device (Hak5)  (just information rather than a tutorial!)

110 - Run full Windows XP to Go! from a USB drive Install full XP to a VHD in 30 minutes (works on some systems but not all!)

111 - How to semi-automate and speed-up Windows driver installs (if you often manually re-install Windows using Setup.exe on the same model of system, why not semi-automate the driver installation and save time).

FAST! Windows NTFS file search of your entire system in a few seconds! - SwiftSearch

SwiftSearch requires Admin privileges, however, it is VERY FAST!
You can use regular expressions or use a search pattern like t*.xl??  to find Excel files beginning with t or T. On my 250GB nearly full C: volume it did this search in about 1 second (after reading the NTFS file table on the first search, which took about 5 seconds)!
Not only is it fast, but it actually finds the files I am looking for (even if it is a hidden or system file) unlike the next-to-useless Win 7 search engine! Finally you can disable the resource hungry and delay-causing Windows Search Service and no need for an enormous index file either. Shame MS couldn't do this!
SwiftSearch is a standalone executable and therefore is a portable application - it ran fine under a vanilla Windows 7 PE environment too. This means it could be very useful for booting a system to WinPE from a USB drive and then quickly using SwiftSearch to find and copy an important file (or all .doc files?) onto your USB drive. Unfortunately you can only select and copy one file at a time in the search results (no Ctrl+A function) but at least right-click works as expected on individual files. Maybe this will be improved soon?
See here for a forum thread on SwiftSearch and comments from the author of SwiftSearch about hidden (previously undocumented) features:

• F5 - re-index target volume (use this if you have copied files to the same volume since you launched SwiftSearch)
• Ctrl+Search = find all files included deleted files (right-click on result to see file number) - combined with DiskBuddy's ability to read the MFT, that should be enough to tell you where a file is located on the disk.
• Shift+Search = display all NTFS attributes
• ESC - minimise to System Tray (re-indexes every 15 minutes)

Easy2Boot v1.08 - few minor changes

v1.08 2013-09-04 bitdefender mnu file added to docs folder, Windows 8.1 temporary Product Keys added, master pwd option in MyE2B.cfg

Setting a master password prevents the user from running E2B unless they know the password.

Tested with Windows 8.1 x86 ISO (no E2B code changes were required but new Windows 8.1 keys need to be entered to install Win8.1).

Link for leaked Win8.1 ISOs is available in External Links page on www.rmprepusb.com site.

'Hide' grub4dos menu.lst and other 'sensitive' files

If you have made a grub4dos bootable USB drive and you have password protected the menu.lst (or maybe just some of the menu entries) using the grub4dos password command, it is really quite easy for someone to hack the menu.lst file and simply remove the password lines just by using Notepad.

Another scenario is that you have set up an expiry date in the menu.lst file, so that when the expiry date is reached, a message will warn the user that it has expired and it should be updated and you don't want this to be circumvented! . See here for details on how to set this up.

Here are two ideas which I use to deter the amateur hacker.

1. Use 7Zip to compress the menu.lst file (or any sensitive .g4b batch files or other files loaded by grub4dos) to GZip format. Ensure that the resultant filename and extension is not changed and grub4dos will still run it just fine.

2. Set the file attribute on the 'sensitive' files (e.g. menu.lst) to Hidden (right-click - properties - Hidden).
You could also set the file attribute to System+Hidden+ReadOnly to make it even more difficult to see in Windows Explorer. You can use the Windows command line and the attrib menu.lst +h +r +s command or use NirSoft BulkFileChanger to do this.

This (compression to Gzip +  attribute change) will also work on most of the grub4dos Easy2Boot files (e.g. all .g4b, .lst and .mnu files and even your \_ISO\MyE2B.cfg file). Just keep the filename and the extension the same. Any file loaded by grub4dos that is detected as being in compressed gzip format is automatically uncompressed by grub4dos when it is read.

Of course, now I have told everyone this, it is no longer a secret!


Footnote: Another format that grub4dos can read is lzma, but not the standard lzma compression used by 7Zip. This format is slightly better because if you open it in NotePad, you don't see any tell-tale header information. For this lzma compression which grub4dos understands, we need to use the Windows lzma.exe utility

1. Download lzma.exe from https://code.google.com/p/grub4dos-chenall/downloads/detail?name=lzma.exe
2. Open command prompt
3. Type
                  lzma.exe e J:\_ISO\MyE2B.cfg J:\_ISO\MyE2B.cfg.lzma
4. Delete the original file and rename the lzma so it is the same name as the original (e.g. MyE2B.cfg).

To decode the compressed file, use the d parameter:

              lzma.exe d J:\_ISO\MyE2B.cfg J:\_ISO\MyE2B.cfg.txt

P.S. 7Zip can also decode the compressed lzma files if you add the .zip extension - 7Zip lists them as LZMA:23 encoded files.

For more details and also a handy drag&drop utility to compress E2B files (without changing the original filename) see Tutorial 72a here. It also has a decompress drag&drop utility included too. Each file selected is checked first to ensure you don't try to double-compress a file by mistake!

E2B - bitdefender ISO + persistence now supported

You can run a BitDefender .ISO with persistence from an E2B USB drive which keeps AV updates on the USB drive's persistent ext2 filesystem. I have added a new .mnu file to the E2B download - look in the \_ISO\docs\Sample mnu files folder (as usual).

New Easy2Boot Intro Video

Easy2Boot v1.07 Video now on YouTube

Easy2Boot v1.07 now available

Download Version 1.07 here.

• Latest grldr gives better alphabetical sorting (e.g. _fred.iso now listed in E2B menu before afred.iso).
• .isope file extension support - if WinPE2/3/4 iso then when wpeinit runs, the iso will be loaded as a virtual CD/DVD.  See here for more info.
• WinPE ISOs (.isope) can mount the .ISO after booting and user can define any drive letter for the ISO and auto-run a post-cmd batch file once ISO is loaded. See here for more info.
• ISOASK variable supported (is set, will ask user how to run every .iso). See here for more info.
• Can force any .iso to run as if it had a different file extension by creating a .mnu file for the iso file. See here for more details.

E2B v1.07 Beta5

Another small change for Zalman ZM-VE200/300/400 CD emulator owners! You do not have to change the .iso file extension for E2B now.

This version allows you create a .mnu file for each .iso file that requires a different extension for E2B.

For instance, if you have a Hirens iso file and you want to run it with the .isowinvh file extension in E2B, but leave the hirens iso file with a .iso extension on the Zalman E2B drive, use this .mnu text:

title Hirens ISO\n Boot direct from Hirens ISO\n If running DOS utilities from an NTFS drive you may need to select the NTFS driver when offered a choice instead of AUTO
/%grub%/qrun.g4b force.isowinvh %MFOLDER%/Utility/Hiren's.BootCD.15.2.iso
boot

The force.isowinvh is a dummy filename (any filename will do!) followed by the extension that you want E2B to use. Whatever extension is specified in this first dummy parameter will be used to run the .iso file that is specified in the second parameter. So in this case, the Hirens .iso file will be run by E2B as if it had a .isowinvh file extension.

In the example above, the hirens iso file and .mnu file would be present in the \_ISO\UTILITIES\Utility folder or \_ISO\MAINMENU\Utility folder  (i.e. at the \_ISO\xxxx\Utility level).

E2B v1.07Beta 4 now available - BUGFIX!

bugfix for v 1.00 and all later versions - %MFOLDER% was set to ()/_ISO/xxx instead of /_ISO/xxx by AUTOMN.g4b. This meant that some sample .mnu files that used (bd)%MFOLDER% did not work and you needed to remove the (bd) portion to get them to work.
Beta4 fixes AUTOMN.g4b so that MFOLDER is now /_ISO/xxxx  as it was in most previous Beta versions.
If you are having problems getting the sample .mnu files to work, try this new version!
See Easy2Boot V1 Tutorial 72a  (bottom of page) for the download.

E2B v1.07Beta3 now available

If you add the line
set ISOASK=1
to your \_ISO\MyE2B.cfg file, then any ISO file listed in the E2B menus will run as if the extension was .isoask  (i.e. it will run the .iso and ask you to choose a way to run it).
This means if you have a Zalman CD/DVD  USB HDD caddy, you do not have to have duplicate copies of all the iso files (e.g. have hirens.isowinvH for E2B and hirens.iso for the Zalman). All your files can be .iso but when running E2B, it will ask you how to run them.

Easy2Boot 1.07 Beta 2 now available

This has enhanced WinPE2/3/4 ISO support.

If you place a file that is the same filename as the ISO in the same folder as the WinPE ISO, e.g.

\_ISO\MAINMENU\WinPEx86ABC.isoPE

\_ISO\MAINMENU\WinPEx86ABC.cmd

WinPEx86ABC.cmd
===============
set ISOLETTER=S:

then if no <isoname>.cmd file exists then Y: is used, otherwise the letter set in your .cmd file is used. If Y: is already used then the next free letter will be used to mount the WinPE ISO.

Now .cmd files as well as .mnu and .txt files will not be listed in the menu.

This version also supports the .isoPE01  extension. This has the same function as .isoPE but swaps hd0 and hd1 over before booting to the ISO. This may be useful for some repair ISOs that expect hd0 to be the primary internal system disk.

Beta2a has minor change to add double-quotes around the iso filename when ImDisk is called to load the ISO - this should (may) allow filenames with spaces in them to work (e.g. SVR2012).

Easy2Boot v1.07Beta now available

This version recognises iso's with a .isoPE extension.

This can be used with Vista/7/8 WinPE ISOs. If the extension is .isoPE then when WinPE runs and wpeinit starts, the .ISOPE file will be automatically loaded in WinPE as a virtual CD/DVD drive.
This means that once the WinPE is fully loaded, it will have access to all the files in the ISO as a virtual CD/DVD drive.
Note that this only works if you use an E2B USB flash drive, or use an E2H USB HDD + USB 'Helper' Flash drive, as the \unattend.xml file is required to be on a 'removable' USB drive for this to work.

This version is available from the downloads section of the E2B Tutorial here.

There have also been some minor changes to the LOADISOxx.cmd files used for Vista/7/8 install ISOs but hopefully this should not affect their function at all.

Easy2Boot v1.06

If you update your current E2B USB drive, it will make quite a few changes and you will need to delete some files from your existing E2B USB drive - otherwise you may get duplicate entries in the menu!

The big change in this version is that ALL files are sorted alphabetically. In previous versions you could either have all .mnu files listed in the menu first and then all payload (e.g. .iso) files OR all payload files first and then all .mnu files.

With version 1.06  .mnu and payload files are enumerated in one go, so the menu will list entries according to the files alphanumeric order. This means you can arrange the menu better (just sort the files by name in Windows Explorer to see what order they will be in). It also means that the boot is quicker as the whole \_ISO folder is only enumerated once instead of twice.

I have had to re-organise some files in the \_ISO\Mainmenu folder.  Mainmenu.mnu is gone and so are the SubMenuxxx.mnu files. Instead we have some ZZxxxxx.mnu files. Obviously these will be listed last in the main menu.

Although all menu entries will now be listed in the menu according to their filename, it is important to realise two things:

1. If a .txt file is specified for a payload file, or a .mnu file is found, then the actual text that appears in the menu is that contained in the file.
e.g.
a.mnu   (contains 'title X files')
z.iso  
z.txt     (contains 'title Runs z.iso')

then the menu will look like this

X files
Runs z.iso

2. Files in sub-folders will be listed alphabetically as each folder name is discovered. This means that a .mnu file entry from a file at \_ISO\MAINMENU\A\Zlot.mnu will appear in the main menu before a payload file at \_ISO\MAINMENU\backup.iso.



If you want to try the new version, you can download it here.

I recommend you make a new USB E2B drive and re-copy your payload files onto the drive.

If you want to just update your current E2B drive then you will need to delete the following files:

All \_ISO\MAINMENU\SubMenuxxxxx.mnu files
\_ISO\MAINMENU\mainmenu.mnu
\_ISO\e2b\grub\adf2mm.g4b (no longer required)

Note that you can now control the position of each individual menu entry (except F9 and F10 which will always be last in the menu) by renaming the payload and .mnu files.

Files in \_ISO\MAINMENU folder
=========================
ZZSubMenuAntiVirus.mnu
ZZSubMenuAuto.mnu
ZZSubMenuBackup.mnu
ZZSubMenuDos.mnu
ZZSubMenuLinux.mnu
ZZSubMenuUtilities.mnu
ZZSubMenuWinPE.mnu
ZZWindowsInstall.mnu

ZZZF7BootHdd.mnu
ZZZF8ReloadMenu.mnu

If you want the sub-menu entries for the sub-folders to be listed first in the main menu, just add $ in front of the first 8 ZZxxxx.mnu files.

Note that ZZZF7BootHdd.mnu and ZZZF8ReloadMenu.mnu must not be deleted and must be alphabetically last so that the F9 and F10 entries, which are automatically added to the end of the menu by E2B, will be listed in order and look nice!

Please add a comment if you have tried this and give me your feedback!

Easy2Boot v1.05

This version has a few minor changes:

1. Some more sample .mnu files added to the docs folder
2. A new 'Jolene' menu theme added to docs folder (see below) For Star Trek fans!
3. Ability to suppress the E2B file enumeration messages by setting a new grub4dos variable in your MyE2B.cfg file.

set redir=> nul

If you also want to suppress the E2B progress messages (not recommended as they may be useful on systems with bad BIOSes) then add this line:

set redirp=> nul

See the \_ISO\Sample_MyE2B.cfg file (end) for an example of these two lines (note there is a space between the > and nul).

New 'Jolene' sample background and borderless menu (also redir is also set, so silent file enumeration is enabled).

Easy2Boot and XBMCBuntu

I have added a new .mnu file that can be used with an XMBCBuntu 12.2 ISO file to allow you to run XBMCBuntu with persistence. Please read the text in the .mnu file for details. The .mnu file is at the bottom of the Tutorial 72a page.

Puppy linux for E2B with persistence

If you want the 'Save on Exit' feature to work for Puppy Linux ISOs, you will need to add a .mnu file.

I have added two .mnu files to the bottom of the Tutorial 72a E2B page. One is for E2B USB HDDs and the other is for E2B USB Flash drives.

The .mnu file is for Puppy 5.4.3 but you can easily edit it for any other version just by changing the ISO filename.

For USB HDDs the cheat code pmedia=usbhd is required. For USB Flash drives the cheat code pmedia=usbflash is required. These codes are already in the .mnu file.

Puppy seems to work well on my Acer 7741G notebook. Audio, Video, trackpad scroll bar support and WiFi all worked on first boot.

RMPrepUSB v2.1.708 - Change partition type menu option added

V2.1.708 is now available. It has the latest grub4dos version (compatible with E2B v1.04) and also has a new menu option to change the primary partition type number.

This new option was added primarily to allow people to format a USB drive with a FAT32 partition and then use the new menu option to change the type to EEh which is the partition type number for EFI partitions. This means you can now create an EFI FAT32 partition which will boot to grub4dos if you install grub4dos, and boot to an EFI OS or secondary bootloader if you install rEFInd or gummiboot.

Easy2Boot v1.04 (minor changes)

The new version has only minor changes (not worth updating if you already have E2B working OK).

1. DPMS2 - minor changes to fix some issues with some drivers.
2. Improved grldr version warning
3. XP Installs Step 2 now allows user to press D or A to debug or abort

P.S. new version RMPrepUSB 2.1.708 installs the same version of grub4dos as used by E2B.

E2B v1.03 available (includes DPMS2)

Easy2Boot v1.03 can now be downloaded here.

It is essentially v1.01 of E2B + DPMS2 + small changes/bugfixes:

1. DPMS2 added (but not the mass storage drivers - you must download and add these files yourself)
2. New grub4dos version - files/folders can now be sorted alphabetically and are NOT case sensitive (bugfix in grub4dos).
3. Bugfix for large HDDs (>1TB) - E2B reported bad BIOS when it wasn't!
4. Change to XP Step 1 install code - now correct choice is automatically made for the user for most questions.

DPMS 2 Update Package now available!

Update: You can now download Easy2Boot+DPMS2 in one download - see Tutorial 72a for the link.

Using E2B and a vanilla unmodified XP ISO, you can now install to any SATA/RAID/SCSI system without needing to integrate the mass storage drivers into the ISO!

Auto-F6 SRS floppies made. Adds [Config.xxx] sections to txtsetup.oem so should work with scsi drives too.

If using an E2B USB-HDD and FiraDisk then you need to load the ISO into memory (answer Y to the question just after DPMS2 runs).

If using an E2B USB-flash drive and FiraDisk then you don't need to load the ISO into memory (just press Enter or let it timeout).

Includes improved alphabetical menu sort code for E2B.

Instructions on how to use it here.

You can disable alphabetical sorting of menus (if you find it too slow), by adding

set NOSORT=1

to your MyE2B.cfg file.