E2B Users Forum

Thanks for ur answer,
I devided the HDD into 2 partition, one primary and active with 20 GB volume, and another logical and inactive and about 3.6 TB it's volume.
Then I copied E2B files to the primary partition. But the command file "MAKE_THIS_DRIVE_CONTIGUOUS", makes an error, "can't find wincontig.exe in this folder or in wincontig folder !" .
I run the script as administrator.
Also the software "RMPrepUSB", doesn't recognize the smaller partition. Just greater partition is detected.
Any response is appreciated.

Try running WINCONTIG from the \_ISO\docs\WINCONTIG folder.
To get a disk of more than 2TB, you will have had to format it as GPT. Can you see the smaller partition under Windows? Does it have a volume letter?
Using GPT is going to cause big problems with many iso, etc, and I am not sure if grub4dos even fully supports it!
You need to format the drive as MBR, but then your maximum is 2TB.

Thanks for ur response.
The derive is devided into 2 partition.One is 30 GB and primary and active and the other is 3.6 TB and logical and inactive. Both are represented by letters under "mycomputer", on "win 7".
I checked the drive in "disk management", and it is "MBR".
I run "wincontig", and difrag the smaller partition, without any change in it's bootability. Still the HDD isn't bootable, and still when I run "MAKE_THIS_DRIVE_CONTIGUOUS", it issues the error, "can't find wincontig.exe in this folder or in wincontig folder!"

You cannot have a >2TB partition unless the disk is GPT.
Use RMPrepUSB - Drive Info - 0 to view the partition table.

hi, thanks again;
Here is the result of RMPrepUSB - Drive Info - 0;
"Accessing Drive 1 - "Seagate Expansion Desk" (4,000,787,025,920 bytes)

Error accessing sector 0 on Drive 1

ERROR: The parameter is incorrect."

It sounds like the disk is a 4k sector disk.
You cannot MBR boot from such a disk.
You must use a 512-byte per sector 512e disk.

It's a 4k 512e drive.
Can I use a usb flash drive, as an assistant, to boot into the mentioned HDD.

Sorry, most BIOSes cannot read 4k devices.
There is some new work for the USB driver in grub4dos 0.4.6a to support 4k drives, but I have not tested it.
You can test by making the USB flash drive the boot drive for grub4dos 0.4.6a and loading the USB driver using
usb --init
but it only works for USB 2.0 ports and many USB controllers are not detected. Unless you are very experienced and are prepared for a lot of problems, I would not go there!

im using usb helper, the problem is :
Windows could not parse or process unattend answer file [D:\autoattend.xml] The answer file is invalid

Windows 95,98,3,XP,7,8.10???
What XML file did you use?

win7
xml from E2B\_ISO\docs\USB FLASH DRIVE HELPER FILES
autounattend.xml and unattend.xml

You copy the ISO to \_ISO\WINDOWS\WIN7
When you run the ISO from the menu - it asks you to pick a .XML file.
Q. What XML file did you pick.

well i have tried all of 3 and i got same error

Are you testing on a real system (not a VM).
Using USB 2.0 ports?
Are you using original Helper .XML files from E2B \_ISO\docs\USB FLASH DRIVE HELPER FILES folder on Helper flash drive?
Try this:
1. Delete both XML files from the USB HDD (not from Helper drive).
2. Boot to E2B and run Win7 - choose first default XML option.
3. Wait until you get the invalid XML error.
4. Do NOT reboot to E2B menu - just examine .XML files on the HELPER USB drive - the AutoUnattend.xml contents should be the same as \_ISO\e2b\firadisk\au.xml.

real system, usb 2.0, yes the original
autounattend.xml on usb drive is emty, nothing there

So \AutoUnattend.xml file is not being written to.
I assume Helper drive is FAT32 or NTFS?
Try this.
1. Insert both USB E2B HDD and USB Helper flash drive
2. Boot to E2B menu
3. Press P key and type easy2boot for password
4. Press C key to get to grub4dos console
5. Type find - is Helper USB drive listed?
Try to list contents of helper drive - e.g. if drive is (hd1,0)
ls (hd1,0)/
can you list files on Helper drive OK?

jep, it is listed, but i think usb helper method its "messy thing" because i tried on other systems. on my laptop setup freezes, on my other llaptop i cant do nothing with e2b drive when i plug helper usb. So im not smart and I beg you to find other way.
Or can you tell me, it is possible to boot .imgPTN into legacy mode ? and how to do it ?

Just drag-and-Drop ISO onto MPI_FAT32 or MPI_NTFS desktop shortcut to make a .imgPTN file.

maybe ure getting bored. But i really love this masterpiece so i need to make it work. after i made .imgptn, replace the e2b partition, select keyboard and language (no blue console showed), then it stuck on windows setup is starting ... Tried 17 times all day and same result :S

You don't need or get the blue console with a .imgPTN arrangement because Windows can access the install.wim directly on the USB drive (it is not inside the ISO).
If it is hanging on Windows Setup then there is something about the system that Setup does not like. Maybe bad internal HDD or bad memory (or you have bad USB drive and files are corrupt).
Try another system, a different ISO or a different USB drive. Experiment to find out where it works and where it does not.

So basically i want to install E2B on my internal\external HDD but i need to have installed windows 7 on HDD cause sometime ill use it like internal HDD. So tell me, is there any tutorial for that, or can i make 2 partitions for this purpose ?

I don't recommend having a Win7 external USB HDD - Win8 WinToGo would be better. E2B is intended to be used on a multiboot external drive, not as a main OS. For instance, if you use .imgPTN files, you may switch out the Windows partition and then may not be able to boot to Windows.
In any case, you can use the same NTFS partition for both Windows and E2B or use two Primary partitions, one for each. Install Windows first and then add the E2B files and install grub4dos to the MBR. You will then need to boot to E2B and press F7 to boot to Windows each time.

when i press f7, its says selected disk does not exist.
i have installed windows 7 and E2B in same partition ?
what i have missed ?
pls help me solve this

Sorry, my mistake!
If the Win7 is on the same drive that you boot from, you need to add the 'Boot Windows bootmgr.mnu' Sample menu file to \_ISO\MAINMENU folder.

I have convert winhelper.usb image to a file in .imgPtn extension I want to use this file instead of helper drive but i do no t know what to change in menu.lst and else where plz help thanks.

Your joking, right?
Read https://easy2boot.com/faq-/how-e2b-works/ Windows Install ISOs section.
The WinHelper files MUST be on a Removable USB drive.
If what you are doing would work - don't you think I would have suggested it or just added it to E2B already...
Convert the ISO to a .imgPTN file.

I have problem in booting e2b on real system
I get continous scrolling http://s7.postimg.org/477iriba2/IMG_20150316_092238.jpg
and i add the lines to the menu.lst in easy2boot but I get a black screen? =']

bad sata hdd

I used Grub4dos installer 1.1 and install gldr on hd0 fixed drive with whole mbr option and i finally replace the gldr file on hard disc from e2bver1.62.ZIP file and copy all file from e2b.zip file to hard disc and i got successfully e2b drive on my hard disc working very well. but i have some iso file on another partition i have only two partition on my hard disc one is primary partition c drive and another is logical partition d drive my iso file is on drive d:\ and i want to run these iso file using Ptn2_menu.mnu file but it is not working please help. thanks

Partitions are numbered 0-3 for primary partitions and 4-n for logical.
So first Logical partition is (hd0,4). Use PTN_LOG1_Menu.mnu for Logical partition 1.

Hi,
Can anyone tell me how to create a menu selection for Windows 7/8 restore? Basically I would like to be able to get to the screen which allows me to select system image restore and then choose my image based on whatever HDD I have attached to the computer - just like doing it manually with a Win7/8 install CD.
Thanks,
Dave

What's wrong with just using the Install ISO?

I would like to boot knoppix:
http://www.knopper.de/
and with some persistent solution
Nota Benne: I can imagine my own solution like I install knoppix on stick, then I make an entry in it's own isolinx boot which will start easy2boot grub, I already done such think for Hiren,
but I would like to have knoppix "contained" in an iso image
thank you :)

No problem!
Please see new blog post
http://rmprepusb.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/add-knoppixpersistence-to-your-e2b-drive.html

Is it possible to boot from a folder? WinPE have chance add a folder with drivers and iso which have me, support the installation of certain folders.

Please explain more clearly what you want to do. e.g.
1. Boot xxxxxx from an ISO? on E2B
2. Install drivers from a folder on the E2B drive ???
Automated?

No.
I have an ISO (http://www.sergeistrelec.ru/forum/20-198-1) that provides unpacking on the flash drive. Can I make a menu in Easy2Boot, that will not boot from the ISO, and from the folder of unpacking the ISO. Since one of the folders unpacked ISO can put my drivers, who established at startup.

I would suggest you use MakePartImage.
Drag-and-drop the ISO onto the MPI_FAT32 Desktop shortcut to make a .imgPTN file.

And that it will give me?

And that it will give me?

It will give you what you desire.

I don't understand - how?

Hello I installed 8 different images on an Easy2Boot USB-Drive.
But only two of these actually are working, all the others get stuck during the boot process. I also tried convertign all non functional images to imgPTN Files, but that only led to even more errors. I ran the the make continuous script after any change.

FreeBSD 10.1 amd64 dvd version
(.iso):
"Mounting from cd9660:/dev/iso9660/10_1_RELEASE_AMD64_DVD failed with error 19.
(.imgPTN):
"No OS found. Remove All Drives containing no OS."

FreeBSD 10.1 Memstick version
(.img):
"Mounting from ufs:/dev/ufs/FreeBSD_Install failed with error 19."

FreeNAS 9.3 Stable
(.iso):
"mountroot: waiting for device /dev/iso9660/FreeNAS_INSTALL"
(.imgPTN):
"No OS found. Remove All Drives containing no OS."

lxle-12045
(.iso):
"(initramfs) Unable to find a medium containing a live system"
(.imgPTN):
"(initramfs) Unable to find a medium containing a live system"

PCBSD10.1.1 x64 DVD-USB
(.iso):
"Mounting from cd9660:/dev/iso9660/PCBSD_INSTALL failed with error 19."
(.imgPTN):
"No OS found. Remove All Drives containing no OS."

TRUEOS10.1.1x64 DVD-USB
(.iso):
"Mounting from cd9660:/dev/iso9660/PCBSD_INSTALL failed with error 19."
(.imgPTN):
"No OS found. Remove All Drives containing no OS."


super-grub2_disk_i386
(.iso):
working

Hiren's BootCD 15.2
(.iso):
working

Could you help me with some of these please?

Sorry, I forgot to add:
I know there are solutions, like using some manual commands during the boot process for making some stubborn OSses boot, but it's not very workable having to put these commands every time I want to boot one of these images and I can never remember these commands at all. So I could use a more generic solution.

Are you booting using a Real system and are you using a USB 2.0 port?

lxle just works for me as a .iso file??
See also blog page http://rmprepusb.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/adding-freebsd-freenas-pcbsdtrueos-to.html

FreeBSD 9 and 10 and pfSense 'memstick' images are now supported by the new MPI Tool Kit and new E2B v1.62 Beta 3 versions.
See new page https://easy2boot.com/add-payload-files/freebsd/
and blog http://rmprepusb.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/easy2boot-163-beta-3-now-supports.html

Seems like good news :)
I just saw your post regarding E2B v1.62 Beta 3 and the new MPI Tool Kit after I had responded to your answer, so nevermind.
Thank you!

Thank you for help!
1) Yes, I tried the USB drive using the physical USB 2.0 Port of my Thinkpad T60.
2) Thanks for the link. If I understand that site right, then there currently is no way for creating working images from FreeBSD 10.x drives at all?

Yes - see latest blog post and use new MPI Tool Pack and E2B 1.63 Beta 3. http://rmprepusb.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/easy2boot-163-beta-3-now-supports.html
Also https://easy2boot.com/add-payload-files/freebsd/

Hello!
Thank you for your help!
I wanted to inform you, that the recently bought USB drive I was using is faulty. Probably the problems with booting lxde and such came from that. It's now on RMA.
Also, I got another question:
Do you think you could make proxmox ISOs work out of the box?
This distribution is debian based. The setup hangs when trying to start the install script. I have to follow these instructions for making it work everytime:
http://rmprepusb.blogspot.de/2014/03/add-proxmox-isos-to-easy2boot.html

Hi all and thanks for this project!
I have a problem with persistence.

I have ubuntu.iso and ubuntu.mnu file in /_ISO/LINUX/MNU folder and EXT2 with "casper-rw" name of volume in root of USB drive. ubuntu.mnu was an ubuntu sample file with all paths edited for my organization.
Nothing.
The MNU file is not read, even the title and "help text" are detected.

So I made a new attempt:
I created the MNU file with /_ISO/docs/E2B Utilities/E2B MNU Maker.cmd and now MNU file is read with title and "help text" right.. but in this file there isn't persistence.
I tried with "kernel ..." line before "boot" line but generate an Error "file not found".

How do I enable the persistence?
Thanks in advance,
Dreeg

If a .mnu file does not appear to be working, it is probably because you have not edited it to contain the name of your ISO file (two places usually).

There are some Ubuntu mnu file examples in the \_ISO\docs\Sample mnu Files folder - e.g. Ubuntu-13.04-desktop-amd64_Persistent.mnu.
Just copy the one for your version to the \_ISO\LINUX\MNU folder and read the instructions inside the .mnu file. e.g.
# Make a ext2 file using RMPrepUSB in the root of the drive (i.e. File Name=Ubuntu1304-rw Volume Name=casper-rw)
# Place this .mnu file and the Ubuntu ISO in (_ISO\xxx\MNU), e.g. \_ISO\MainMenu\MNU or \_ISO\Linux\MNU
# This menu will work even on an NTFS USB boot drive
# IMPORTANT: you MUST run WinContig (Ctrl+F2) before booting E2B.

You must edit the name of the .iso file inside the .mnu file to match your own ISO file name.

Hi, thanks for reply.
I already edited all occurrency of .iso and ubuntu1404-rw in .mnu sample file but don't work.
Now I create manually a new .mnu file (and deleted old .mnu file, I haven't duplicate :P ) and all work but return error "File not found" on hd0,3 or %E2BDEV%,3 (that is ubuntu1404-rw).

hd0,3 is ISO not rw file!
Please show your menu file...

This is my .mnu file in /_ISO_/LINUX/MNU
http://pastebin.com/SMUZUgsM

You have
iftitle [if exist $HOME$/ubuntu-14_04_1-desktop-i386.iso] Ubuntu 32-bit v14.04.1 \nAvvia Ubuntu 14.04.1 i386 con 2GB di persistenza
set ISO=%MFOLDER%/LINUX/ubuntu-14_04_1-desktop-i386.iso

This is NOT what is in the sample .mnu files???

Try this instead
iftitle [if exist $HOME$/ubuntu-14_04_1-desktop-i386.iso] Ubuntu 32-bit v14.04.1 \nAvvia Ubuntu 14.04.1 i386 con 2GB di persistenza
set ISO=$HOME$/ubuntu-14_04_1-desktop-i386.iso
etc etc

It work!! As I said I tried to create the .mnu file by hand, taking inspiration from various sources since the sample didn't work for me.
Thanks a lot! A good make,
Dreeg

I made my own theme config and when I navigate to the menu for Hiren's boot cd restored (extracted) it changes my settings for text color and highlighting. Is there a way to make it adhere to my theme?

The .mnu file contains
configfile /HBCD/menu.lst

So /HBCD/menu.lst must contain color commands.
You just need to remove them. They are usually near the top of the file.

On the main menu of E2B I have 5 or 6 different things. By default, they all show up together. Is there any way to add something to separate each item? Maybe just a blank line. Maybe a line of ****************s or something like that? I saw some docs on the text files you can edit but wasn't really sure where to start looking.
Thanks.

See the \_ISO\docs\Sample .mnu files folder
A_BlankMenuEntry.mnu
A_BlankMenuEntrySeparator.mnu
Just add one to the folder (e.g. MAINMENU) and then rename it so that it is where you want when ordered alphabetically.
or rename the ISOs too and use a .txt file
(you can use a .txt file for each ISO/payload.)

e.g.
1_myiso.iso and 1_myiso.txt
2_separator.mnu
3_mynextiso.iso and 3_mynextiso.txt
4_separator.mnu
etc.

So I setup E2B on a flash drive and tested it on a Dell laptop and it worked great. I'm using it for imaging Windows. I have 8.1 and server 2012 on it and had no problems during my testing.

I now tried to use it on an actual server (Dell R630) and it doesn't work. I get the menu, choose my OS, and then I get an error stating:
Windows failed to start.
File: \windows\system32\boot\winload.exe
Status: 0xc0000001

Anyone run into this before or have any idea what I can do to fix it?

is it UEFI ?

It supports EUFI per this link:
http://www.dell.com/support/Manuals/us/en/19/Topic/poweredge-r630/R630_OM_Publication-v1/en-us/GUID-12C950B3-B0EF-4089-867E-89277DB2DA6A

Not sure if it's enabled or not as we just unboxed the servers. Should it be off to make it work?

I just checked and it is NOT set to EUFI mode.

We got this figured out. It was a problem on the server itself that the raided hard drives hadn't been initialized so nothing was working.

I want to heavily customize the menu system so that the main menu is a preliminary menu that requires a password before it will go to the actual main menu - otherwise it boots to the default hard drive. The point of this is (when I accidentally leave my flash drive behind) to scare low-tech users and prevent them from using it (as well as to get them to call me and return my flash drive.) On other USB toolkits, I've used a "DANGER" background bitmap with embedded text that says, "Please Return This To..." I configured the menu to be very small/narrow with all the menu text/borders/highlights/shadows/selection/etc. set to the same color as the background image. Assuming the password is "1234", you'd have to press 1 to get to the next menu, then at the next menu, you'd have to press 2 to get to the 3rd menu (otherwise you go back to the first menu), etc. I know this is low tech and not super secure, but it accomplishes the goal - and usually gets my toolkit returned to me. So my question is, can I replace the main menu with my "password menu" and automatically populate a submenu the way the current main menu is done?

https://easy2boot.com/configuring-e2b/protection-and-security/
See Other Passwords heading

This will show any bitmap you like which can contain text.
Just change the password to 1234 instead of fred.

Did you manage this or do you need more help?

i have a 1TB external hard drive. what i want to do is split it into 2 partitions, a 20GB bootable for E2B, and the rest non bootable for other things. is this possible? And if so, what is the process I should use to accomplish it?

I actually have just made the whole thing a E2B drive. any way to shrink the E2B portion down to 100GB?

You can shrink it and repartition it any way you like - e.g. Easeus Home Partition Master or MS Disk Manager or whatever.
Just make sure you only have two Primary partitions - use RMPrepUSB - Disk Info - 0 to check.
If you have a small Type 21 hidden partition you can delete it.
You can have two primary partitions or 1 primary and any number of logical partitions (as they just use one type 0F primary partition entry).

when i get to step 5 it only bring up the whole drive as a whole and not the individual partitions. This is after I used Easeus and split it in two.
by step 5 I am referring to..........
In Windows Explorer, right-click and choose 'Run as Administrator...' on the \_ISO\docs\Make_E2B_USB_Drive\Make_E2B_USB_Drive.cmd

Make_e2B_USB_Drive.cmd uses RMPartUSB to partition and format the whole drive. You have two choices
1. Use Make_E2B_USB_Drive.cmd or RMPrepUSB to make the USB drive first and then resize the partition and add partitions using Easeus HPM (recommended)
https://easy2boot.com/make-an-easy2boot-usb-drive/make-and-e2b-usb-drive-using-rmprepusb/
2. Create partitions using Easeus HPM then install grub4dos to MBR and PBR using RMPrepUSB

I can only find one mention of MAKE_THIS_DRIVE_ CONTIGUOUS.cmd on the site but do not see it in any of the downloads. Is this something that didn't work out?
I was just thinking it would useful to just run that on the drive to make everything contiguous while I am on another computer that doesn't have wincontig installed.

It's in the latest Beta 1.62 version on the Alternate Download area (Google Drive and OneDrive).

Hello,

Running the script ../Make_E2B_USB_Drive.cmd, after copying the files to the USB, it fails in grub4dos instalation with error "grubinst: partition not found"

Please advise

First test USB drive using FakeFlashTest to see if it is a fake.
If it passes, try again and pick FAT32 when running Make_E2B_USB_Drive.cmd. If that works but you want NTFS, then run it again and pick NTFS.
Any more problems, give details of what system you have and what USB drive you have and what drive number you picked.

Hi Steve, thanks for your response. Ill test the usb drive as soon as i get home.

When i run the Make_E2B_USB_Drive.cmd i do pick FAT32 (the iso i want to install is 700mb) but it fails on grubinst with the error mentioned above.

I have the same suspicion as you - the usb drive might be somehow corrupted.

My system is WinXp SP3 32 bits and I dont have my usb pen here to lsusb it and give you the details but i do have one exactly the same model (with some company data):

"UDisk :

Product ID: 0x1234
Vendor ID: 0xabcd
Version: 1.00
Serial Number: 1405251407421358464002
Speed: Up to 480 Mb/sec
Manufacturer: General
Location ID: 0xfd130000 / 5
Current Available (mA): 500
Current Required (mA): 100
Capacity: 2.01 GB (2,013,265,920 bytes)
Removable Media: Yes
Detachable Drive: Yes
BSD Name: disk1
Partition Map Type: MBR (Master Boot Record)
S.M.A.R.T. status: Not Supported
Volumes:
NO NAME:
Capacity: 2.01 GB (2,013,249,536 bytes)
Available: 1.88 GB (1,880,064,000 bytes)
Writable: Yes
File System: MS-DOS FAT16
BSD Name: disk1s1
Mount Point: /Volumes/NO NAME
Content: DOS_FAT_16"

Hi Steve,
I did a fakeflashtest and it passed.
The number of the drive is 1 when running the script.
Let me know if you need more info.

So after you run Make_E2B_USB_Drive.cmd what is on the drive?
Has it been formatted? Is it empty? Can you copy files to it?
If you do a Drive Info - 0 what does it report?

Product ID: 0x1234
Vendor ID: 0xabcd
Looks very suspicious! Not a proper ID!!!

Hi again Steve.

Regarding this True Hide feature you are working on, I would like to suggest the following implementation on a future E2B update: a menu option under \_ISO\UTILITIES folder that would scan detected physical storage devices connected to system for True Hidden partitions, which would be listed, and then the user would be allowed to choose which one(s) to unhide (if any). Found partitions hidden in the conventional way could also be listed, and offered to unhide as well.

As for VMwareWks11 (I've not tested previous versions) + E2B removable USB drive. I've been using VBox+VMUSBBoot for my E2B tests, but had to try VMware because it supports UEFI boot to Windows OSes. However according to your articles there was the USB boot limited support (read only via Plop, USB 2.0 boot speed because of no Plop xHCI driver).

Well WMwareWks offers native USB 3.0 boot support in *UEFI* mode, by powering the VM up to firmware and choosing boot device accordingly. Well, that's the VMware claim. What they don't say is that USB storage connected to USB 3.0 ports are supported only for certain USB 3.0 controllers (my Etron is not one of them).

Anyway I've found a way to get both BIOS and UEFI USB 3.0 boot support, read *and* write on VMwareWks11 by applying the same approach as VMUSBBoot does for VBox.

1. Ensure that VMware USB Arbitration service is running. Sidenote: this is the only "VMware" service that needs to be running unless you require network access from your installed guest OSes or being able to run your VMs from a remote computer (o_0).
2. Connect your E2B drive to USB 3.0 port on host computer.
3. Start VMware, select your VM of choice and open its settings window.
3. Under Hardware tab, click Add and select New HDD. Follow the wizard. The key choices are using "SCSI type" (using "SATA type" throws an error at the end of the process, and I've not tested "IDE type") *and* using a Physical disk instead of creating a virtual drive. You need to select the "physicaldrive" from a list. You can find the one that belongs to your E2B drive by running CMD->diskpart->list disk. Finally you will be asked to create (I don't know why) a virtual disk (.vmdk file). Create it wherever you want, it will stay at 1 kB in size, so don't worry.
4. After finishing the Add HDD wizard, a new SCSI HDD will be listed on your VM hardware. Select it and click on Advanced button on the right. Ensure the disk is "Independent" and changes are "applied inmmediately". Not sure if this step is required, but I think this will be the fastest and more straightforward way to go.
5. Depending on your needs, enable or disable the EFI firmware for your VM.
6. Power on your VM *to the firmware* (important). Be sure your boot priority is set to the E2B "SCSI HDD". After that initial config you can simply power on the VM.

That's it. Feels even faster than VBox. The downside is VMware is a lot more system invasive than VBox. I had to spend some time disabling uneeded services, network connections and network protocols after installation.

Hi
VBox will boot Windows via UEFI - just make sure you have lots of graphics memory allocated (65MB+) or you get just a black screen. I use it all the time.
I don't use VMWare but I had heard that now it supports USB booting but never tried it. Thanks for the info.
re. Hide/Unhide - it would require a grub4dos batch file - you could base it on the Mark 2 version I have just posted on reboot.pro or Tutorial 130 (just changed to mk2 version too).

Oh :(

I have 256 MB for graphics and I can't UEFI boot to W7 from rEFInd on E2B under VBox (after several tries VBox crashes). First try on VMware.

I installed UEFI W7 x64 with WinNTSetup in both cases using GPT disk with EFI partition(fat32)+OS partition(ntfs). I only installed UEFI boot files (WinNTSetup option). I can even use EFI Kon-Boot from rEFInd on the VMware guest.

I'll try again without E2B at all on VBox to be sure...

Ok, no need to try again, last 3 comments (as of this post's date) here: www.virtualbox.org/ticket/7702

I've only tested W7 x64, which is still unsupported. I guess you are UEFI booting to 8.1.

Thanks for the new hide feature. I could manage to code the suggested utility based on your examples, except I'm not sure on the correct way to detect the total number of attached storage drives + total partitions on each with grub4dos commands. After that all and each partition would be tested a per your unhide/true unhide code to offer a list of candidates to unhide.

Yes, I tested UEFI Win8/8.1 with VBox.
re. hiding
You could try the find command in a batch file

e.g.

!BAT
find > (md)0x300+1
cat --locate=\x0a --replace=\x20 (md)0x300+1
cat (md)0x300+1 | call :g
goto :eof


:g
if "%1"=="" goto :eof
echo Now we test %1
# code here!
shift
goto :g

Thank you Steve.

Hello,
I'm starting to cry, i follow each steps on this website to ophcrack live working. I try 3.4 and 3.6 with the mnu or by extracting the tables to tables folder at the root, ophcrack never find tables ..
Do you know if it still working with Ophcrack 3.6 live ?
I download iso with vista table inclued, i create a folder "tables" at the root of my key and i put the folder vista_proba_free with his content.
My iso of ophcrack is in linux directory (G:\_ISO\LINUX)
What i am doing wrong ? :/
Thank you !

Hi
I tested 3.6 on a FAT32 E2B v1.62 USB HDD
\tables\vista_free\(files here - e.g. table0.ind)
\_ISO\MAIN\MENU\ophcrack-notables-livecd-3.6.0.iso
works fine!
If not work for you, please describe your USB drive type and folder structure.

My folder structure is exactly the same, after your reply I tried with the same version and the same table as you.
I am running E2B v1.60 but usb my USB key is running NTFS as HDD.
It can be the problem, ntfs vs fat32.
I haven't other idea.

No - works fine from E2B NTFS 2TB WD Passport USB 3.0 drive under VBox.
Note: Tables NOT found if using exFAT E2B drive though.
Did you try booting under QEMU or VBOX or real system?

P.S. Are you using a USB 3 port? maybe ophcrack does not have USB 3 drivers? Use a USB 2.0 port.
P.S. Yep - just checked - USB 3.0 ports do not work but USB 2.0 ports do. Slitaz does not detect USB 3.0 devices connected to USB 3.0 ports (unless under VBox)!

Thank for your time.

My usb key is 3.0 but i am only trying on usb 2.0 port.

I have updated my E2B to v1.61 and i am using exactly the same structure as you.

For my test, i use first qemu, when i start ophcrack under qemu, my tables are found, so i was happy !
I try to reboot my system and this time my table is not detected.
I don't understand the difference Qemu and my desktop boot

When linux runs, it uses drivers to detect various devices in the system
I would guess that Slitaz does not have the drivers for the USB 2.0 controller for your system.
Try a shell command like
sudo fdisk
sudo blkid
sudo mount

to try to find your USB drive - or use a different machine.

Hi Steve!

Your recent sample mnu file "Parted_Magic_isoboot_Persistent.mnu" suggests an interesting approach to boot ISO files from a second partition:

iftitle [if exist (hd0,1)$HOME$/BIG.iso] BIG ISO file\n This is stored on my 2nd partition.
set ISOC=(hd0,1)$HOME$/BIG.iso
/%grub%/isoboot.g4b
boot

which means that I could stop using "PTN2_Menu.mnu" to list and boot the ISO files on my 2nd NTFS partition by just adding a mnu file like the previous one to corresponding folder on my 1st FAT32 (E2B files) partition. I would have to mirror E2B folder structure on 2nd partition because of the %HOME% usage, but that's even better.

However I also have imgPTN files in my 2nd partition. I guess QRUN.g4b should be called instead, but I'm not sure about the proper way to pass the imgPTN to it.

Thanks in advance.

PS: Your MAKE_THIS_DRIVE_ CONTIGUOUS.cmd seems to always use WinContig 32-bit no matter if there is WinContig64.exe in WINCONTIG folder. I'm using this slightly modified batch using the MS recommended approach to check for OS-bitness:

===BATCH START===
@echo off
if "%~d0"=="C:" echo ERROR: Drive C: specified! & pause & goto :EOF

set WC=
set _Bitness=64
if /i "%PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE%" == "x86" (
if not defined PROCESSOR_ARCHITEW6432 set _Bitness=32
)

if exist .\WINCONTIG_new\WinContig64.exe set WC=.\WINCONTIG_new\WinContig64.exe
if exist .\WINCONTIG_new\WinContig.exe (
if %_Bitness% equ 32 set WC=.\WINCONTIG_new\WinContig.exe
)
if "%WC%"=="" echo ERROR: Cannot find WinContig %_Bitness%-bit tool on this E2B drive! & pause & goto :EOF

echo Making all files on %~d0 contiguous - please wait...
echo %WC% "%~d0\" /DEFRAG /CLOSEIFOK /NOGUI /CLEAN:0 /LANG:Auto /NOINI
%WC% "%~d0\" /DEFRAG /CLOSEIFOK /NOGUI /CLEAN:0 /LANG:Auto /NOINI
===BATCH END===

I've harcoded it so cmd must be exec from \_ISO\docs\ (a root cmd looks sorta "hostile" to me). \WINCONTIG_new there contains latest release (1.3.5.04), with both 32 and 64-bit executables.

I've been quickly inspecting isoboot.g4b and could be a similar problem. Ie: latest SystemRescueCd 4.4.1 ISO includes both 32 and 64-bit kernels. According to current (1.62b7) isoboot.g4b, which kernel would be launched? It seems that it would be always the 32-bit version.

What problem does using a 32-bit program cause you?
See https://easy2boot.com/configuring-e2b/about-mnu-files/ for qrun examples.

I missed that article. Exactly what I needed, thank you Steve.

Of course, no problem with using the 32-bit WinContig (been using it for months from RMPrepUSB before all my tests). I just checked your defrag CMD and realised that a 64-bit version existed. By just adding it to WINCONTIG it didn't work, I had to remove the 32-bit version for the 64-bit to be used. But I wanted to use both version according to OS architecture. I offered the modified cmd here should you or any other user liked it.

Regarding isoboot.g4b, I can always rename SysRes iso to get its boot menu again (I think you noted this in your WIP article about booting non-contiguous ISOs IIRC).

Keep the excelent work Steve.

If I used both 32-bit and 64-bit apps, then I would increase the download size and the disk space usage. There is no benefit in using a 64-bit app unless you need lots of memory.
The only benefit in using a 64-bit app would be if you were running WinPE 64-bit and it had no SysWoW support. Running 32-bit apps on 64-bit Windows may show a small performance decrease due to SysWow, but for these sort of apps it would not be noticeable.
For the isoboot - yes, I use 32-bit version just because it will run on all platforms. 64-bit versions often require more memory too.

Understood ;)

And thanks a lot for fixing the QRUN.g4b line swap bug that was forcing processing of contiguous ISOs via isoboot.g4b. Now I don't need to rename SysResc ISO to get back its boot menu as long as it is a contiguous file (I remove CONTIG.iso, so I was experiencing the bug when posted above about my SysResc bitness concerns).