E2B Users Forum

Hey, Would it be possible to disable Wimboot, as in, I'd like it that if I choose the windows 10 install ISO, it would start the installation like if it would boot straight into a windows install disk. as in I wouldn't need to press any keys until it'll prompt me into the windows installer.

I'm asking it because I would like to not have any key files or anythings as this is for a commercial use, I would like to have my windows install as clean as possible, whilst still be able to multi boot to different tools on the drive.

Thank you!

Hi
I am assuming that you don't really mean that you don't want to run WIMBOOT...
If you dont want the XML choice, then as soon as you see the message to press ENTER quickly to run Repair\Setup then just press ENTER quickly.
The alternative is to copy the Windows Install ISO to some other folder (e.g. \_ISO\WIN).
The keys used are general purpose installation-only keys. They are perfectly 'legal' because they cannot be activated. They are for installation of Windows only and are actually made public by Microsoft for that purpose.

Hello! I've been trying to boot Linux ISOs (Xubuntu 16.04.3 i386 and KDE Neon amd64 in particular) with persistence, but i get an error message that says that the persistence file was not found.

I'm running the latest E2B release, 1.A9 and using an edited ubuntu-13.04-desktop-i386_Persistent.mnu file from the sample mnu files folder where i changed the ISO and persistence file paths accordingly.

I created a 1024 MB persistence file using Make_Ext.exe at the root of my flash drive, named it "neon-rw" for KDE Neon but while trying to boot it says the neon-rw persistence file was not found. I even tryed moving the neon-rw file inside the MNU folder and changing the set PF line to set PF=$HOME$/neon-rw, but it still said persistence file was not found.

The ISO files are detected fine, before showing the error message, it says the file system is joliet. Also, both ISO files boot fine without persistence. My flash drive is formatted NTFS.

Can you post here the exact line that you used for the PER line in the menu?
Also check that the file exists by booting from the E2B drive and use the utilities menu to list the root directory files.
Also test the menu using the test_using_qemu CMD file under Windows.

I've put the KDE Neon ISO, edited MNU file and neon-rw file inside /Linux/MNU folder. Using the ls dir command from the utilities menu lists the 3 files correctly.
The lines i used for the MNU files are the following:
"set ISO=$HOME$/xubuntu-16.04.3-i386.iso"
and
"set PF=$HOME$/neon-rw"
Both without quotation marks.

see below...

P.S. You said that you were using ubuntu-13.04-desktop-i386_Persistent.mnu
Well that mnu file uses PER not PF!!!
...
set ISO=$HOME$/ubuntu-13.04-desktop-i386.iso
set PER=/ubuntu1304-rw

I've built a new PC.
I want to be able to Dual-Boot by installing W7 & W10,
preferably by installing each of them into their own GPT partition on one HDD.
So can I install each of these OS from their original install DVD's ?
And what should my BIOS settings be ?
I seem to getting issues, so could you provide a detailed guide as to how to do this?
Hoping you can help,
Many thanks.

Hi
First convert each ISO to a .imgPTN file and add the two files to the E2B drive.
Then UEFI-boot from the Win7 x64 .imgPTN file (after switching it in) and install Win7.
Then reduce the OS partition to make room for the Win10 OS.
Then boot to the Win10 .imgPTN file (after switching it in) and install Win10.
Note that to make the Win7 imgPTN bootable you will need to add the bootx64.efi file - see https://easy2boot.com/add-payload-files/win7-uefi/
Also note that Win7 is very old and does not contain drivers for USB 3 - so you may have problems installing Win7 from a USB drive!
or you could always read my eBook... ;-)

Hi Steve,
Many thanks for your reply, seems like a great website!
I'm new to these problems, so I have a few queries & questions:
Q1: Firstly, I was told that installing W7 & W10 with UEFI enabled in my BIOS
would 'Cause Problems' because W7 was developed B4 UEFI ?
Q2: Also, Do I need UEFI enabled in my BIOS ?
Q3: What exactly do I need to 'SET' in my BIOS ?
And in your reply you said...
First convert each ISO to a .imgPTN file
(Q4: How do I do that? *)
...and add the two files to the E2B drive.
Then UEFI-boot from the Win7 x64 .imgPTN file (after switching it in)
(Q5: * after switching it in * So how do I do that ?)
...and install Win7.
...Also note that Win7 is very old and does not contain drivers for USB 3 -
so you may have problems installing Win7 from a USB drive!
(Q6: * Win7 does not contain USB 3 drivers * So can I use USB2 ?)
...or you could always read my eBook... ;-)
(Q7: Does that explain everything in more detail ? If so where's the link ? )
Many thanks

I also forgot to ask:
Q8: What preparation do I need to make to my HDD before I use easy"boot to install the Os's ?
Q9: Eg BIOS settings / Formatting HDD to GPT etc ?
Thanks

Q1. If you have 2TB or larger disks, then you need GPT partitions. If you need GPT partitions then you need UEFI. If your disk is smaller than 2TB there is no need for GPT and no need for UEFI. Win7 64-bit works OK with UEFI+GPT.
Q2. See Q1 above.
Q3. For BIOS - just do not disable UEFI. preferably also enable CSM.
Q4. - Q9. Please use the Site Map or Google for your answers. This is an E2B forum, not a 'How do I install Windows' forum.
Read https://easy2boot.com/useful-things-to-know/

I am trying to install XP on a MSI MS-6570 XP wipes out the boot record of the E2B flash. I am using the boot menu (F8) with the same issue. I am using a SIL3114 SATA card and a Kingston 240GB SSD.

I can tell this because after the initial dos screen where XP copies the basic files and reboots, this error comes up "Windows could not start because of a computer disk hardware configuration problem.
Could not read from the selected boot disk. Check boot path and disk hardware.
Please check the windows documentation about hardware disk configuration and your hardware reference manuals for additional information.
When I remove all disks except the E2B flash this error comes up. anyway else and I get the standard "No boot disk found" error. "BOOT DISK FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER"

When I remove the E2B USB drive and insert it into the PC that I built the drive with, and press with "TEST with QEMU I see the same "Windows could not start" error

After removing all drives from BIOS, i have stopped XP from wiping out the boot record on the flash drive but the second step for the xp install only copies the image to ram disk and then reboots to the E2B menu.

It sounds like the first hard disk in the system is not the disk you are installing XP onto? It needs to be the first hard disk (if you boot to E2B - Utilities and use List BIOS Disks - it should list hd1 as the SSD drive).
Do you have both an internal IDE controller enabled in the BIOS and the SATA card? If so disable all controllers and disks except for the SATA card and SSD.
Step 2 assumes that you have installed the boot code to Disk 0.
When you run Step 2 - you should see a message like
'Mapping (hd0) to (hd1) and (hd1) to (hd0)
SPACEBAR=Pause, ENTER=Start now - STARTING IN 5 SECONDS...'

When you see the last message - quickly press the C key and then press ENTER key to get to the command line. Then type

find
ls (hd0,0)/
ls (hd1,0)/
ls (hd2,0)/

now if one of these lists the file /ntldr on the XP hard disk, type the following (assuming that (hd1,0) has the XP files...

root (hd1,0)
chainloader +1
boot

Hi Steve, Yes I do have an IDE controller enabled. It has a optical drive attached. I will do as you suggested and get back to you. I saw your response after giving up. The file copy takes such a LOOOOOOONNNNNGGGG time. Its easily 40 minutes for each try.

Steve: >It sounds like the first hard disk in the system is not the disk you are installing XP onto? It needs to be the first hard disk (if you boot to E2B - Utilities and use List BIOS Disks - it should list hd1 as the SSD drive).
Do you have both an internal IDE controller enabled in the BIOS and the SATA card? If so disable all controllers and disks except for the SATA card and SSD."

Yes I did have the IDE controller enabled. As of this posting it is Disabled (both controllers)

I ran List Bios disks and here is what came out:
(fd3): Volume name is "(unsupported)".
Filesstem type is fat12, using whole disk
(hd0,0): Volume name is "E2B"
File System type is ntfs, partition type 0x07
(hd0,1): Volume name is "PTN2"
file system type is fat12 partition type is 0x21
=================hd0===============
drive 0x80(LBA): C/H/S=1885/255/63. sector count/size=30282525/512
Partition num: 0, active, filesystem type is ntfs, partition type 0x07
Partition num: 1, filesystem type is fat12, partition type 0x21

Contents of (hd0,0) E2B
{looks like it lists some files}
Contents of (hd0,1) PTN2
System\ Volume\ Information
==========
Press a key for current drive map...
floppies_orig=1, Harddrives_orig=2, floppies_curr=0, harddrives_curr=2
Number of atapi CD-ROMs: 0
ram_drive=0x7f, rd_base=0x3FFAF000, rd_size=0x13000
Fr To Hm Sm To_c _H _S Start_Sector Sector _Count DHR
03 ff 00 88 8882 FE 3F 00000000001FFE40 0000000000000140 M=R
After waiting for 10 minutes, I pressed a key and it returned to the utilities menu.

ok. After running the find command it returned the following:

(0xff)
(hd0,0)
(hd0,1)
(fd0)
(fd1)

ls (hd0,0)/ returned files that appeared to be on the e2b flash drive. I see "MAKE_E2B_USB_DRIVE (run\ as\ admin).cmd etc
ls (hd1,0)/ returned the same files. (yes I don't understand it but there it is.)
ls (hd2,0)/ returned Error 21: (http://grup4dos.chenall.net/e/21) The selected disk does not exist.
It seems your environment is not seeing the SSD drive.
I will hold off installing the XP OS from CD rom (as I know this does work) and work with you on this. If you want to take this to email let me know.
Sincerely,
Harold Robinson

Hi
You obviously need to enable the external SATA controller in the BIOS so the SSD can be seen by the BIOS (and XP).
If E2B warns you that no HDD was detected, then it is never going to boot from the SSD.
Ensure the first boot device in the BIOS settings is set to the SSD drive.
If the SSD is not visible in the BIOS settings, then it obviously can't boot from the SSD.
If XP Setup is trying to write the boot code to the USB drive, then there will be no boot code on the SSD so it will not boot in Step 2. You must configure the BIOS so the SSD is the first drive in the system and keep the E2B drive connected so that you can tell if it has corrupted it or not after Step 1. If the boot code has been written to the USB drive, then there is no point trying Step 2.
If any more problems - use the online Chat facility on this website (enable pop-ups if using FireFox) or Contact Me page.

There is no BIOS setting to make the external SATA visable. I went into the SATA cards bios and there is no option in there either only menu selections dealing with creating a array, deleting an array, repairing an array, and an exit option. I am not seeing an error that tells me that there is no drive or hard disk present. I do see that when I run under QEMU when testing to make sure it will boot. The computers BIOS is set as follows:
Advanced BIOS Features
1st boot device [HDD-0]
2nd boot device [Disabled]
3rd boot device [Disabled]
Boot Other Device [Disabled]
I can list other BIOS settings if you wish.

Ignore QEMU - it is a virtual system and has nothing to do with your real system.
If the 1st boot device [HDD-0] is set - then what exactly is that HDD-0 device (with no USB drive or other storage device connected). Surely it must be the SSD if that is the only device connected?
If E2B does not give you a warning on boot, then it must see an internal BIOS HDD in the system.
Can you boot to E2B and go to the Utilities Menu and run the List BIOS devices option? hd0 should be the USB drive and hd1 should be the SSD.

I can confirm that if I slipstream the SIL drivers into my ISO and burn that to a CD, XP will install successfully. So Your Easy2Boot drive is selecting the correct drivers. during XP's first stage installer (the text part) It does see the drive, it formats it and (that is when the USB key boot record is wiped out). the USB key is listed as Drive 0 and the SSD is listed as Drive 1, which is were we are having our problem.

So does the E2B Utilities - List BIOS disks menu option list hd0 as the USB drive and hd1 as the SSD?

The issue here is that the BIOS must see the SSD.
Of course XP Setup can see the SSD because it loads the driver for it. But in order to boot from the SSD, the BIOS must be able to see it.

The boot code is transferred to the internal hard disk at the end of the copy files stage. So pulling out the USB drive just means that it cannot write the boot code and files to the USB drive (if it was going to). XP Setup will want to update the boot code on the 'boot' drive and E2B takes steps to ensure this happens by changing hdd0 to be the internal hdd instead of hd1.
For instance, if you run Step 1 and then allow it to reboot from the SSD, it should boot OK (it will fail later with an 'asms not found' error - but at least it will boot).
So your 'objective' is to run Step 1, when it starts the 10 second timer to reboot at the end - pull out the USB drive and allow it to boot to the SSD. If it does not boot - then Setup has gone wrong.
Once it does boot from the SSD, you can reboot and run Step 2 (which should then also work) and complete the install.
P.S. Make sure you use the F8 boot selection pop-up menu when booting to E2B - do NOT set the USB drive as the first boot device in the BIOS Settings menu.
If you do spoil your E2B drive, you should be able to fix it by running RMPrepUSB - Install grub4dos twice, once for MBR and once for PBR.

Steve:> "So does the E2B Utilities - List BIOS disks menu option list hd0 as the USB drive and hd1 as the SSD?"
Harold: No I just checked again and it only lists the USB drive as HDD0
Steve:>"The issue here is that the BIOS must see the SSD. Of course XP Setup can see the SSD because it loads the driver for it. But in order to boot from the SSD, the BIOS must be able to see it."
Harold: "After the computer BIOS has completed its post stage, I then see:
Sil 3114 SataRaid BIOS Version 5.4.03
Copyright (C) 1997-2006 Silicon Image, Inc.
Press or F4 to enter RAID utility
0 KINGSTON SV300S37A24 223 GB"

My BIOS does not support SATA drives, hence I am using the SATA card. I don't even have an option in BIOS (I don't think) to see the drive because the BIOS of the SATA card had not been initialized yet.
If you want I can run freedos to see if I can see the drive. but under grub4dos (E2B) I am not seeing it. I am guessing you are using grub4dos.

Thanks for the clarification. So if E2B does not list the SSD SATA drive as a BIOS drive then installing XP from the E2B drive is not going to work.
BUT I don't understand why E2B does not warn you that it cannot see an internal hard disk when you boot to E2B??? If E2B does not detect an hd1 (the first internal hard disk) you should see that coloured warning text???

What should happen is that after switch-on, POST should run, it should add its Option ROM code into the BIOS and detect SATA drive, then it should allow you to boot from USB or from the SATA drive or go into the BIOS and see the SATA drive listed.
According to the SIL website, if you are not using RAID, you should update the firmware on the SIL card to use the 'IDE' base 'b' version of the firmware. Maybe this will help? http://www.latticesemi.com/en/Support/AnswerDatabase/4/7/8/4784
Do you still say that you can install XP from CD (with the only drive being the SSD drive) and it boots to XP OK? I am not quite sure how it could do that!
P.S. Update firmware+manual is here https://1drv.ms/u/s!AqlrQcdsFA-KsQhnt96X0lkfYfFs
Extract the files to the root of your E2B drive, boot to E2B and run DOS menu - boot to FreeDOS - choose default NTFS option to get to C: prompt. Now you can type UpdFlash and load the b5403.bin file (r is for RAID version).
Here is an excellent post from someone who seems to know where his towel is...
https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=49471#p734172

Please try v1.B0c Beta
http://tiny.cc/i4nr3y
If you try it before you update the SIL3114 firmware, it should give you plenty of warnings.
If you try it after updating the SIL3114 firmware, hopefully it will work :-). I have not changed E2B XP install functions though - it won't fix your issue (unless you update the SIL3114 firmware).

I just found this buried in the manual. It seems you can use the RAID firmware!

Creating a JBOD Configuration
The BIOS RAID utility does not report non-RAID drives to the system BIOS. If a non-RAID boot drive or data drive is desired, create a JBOD so the BIOS RAID utility will report the drive to the system BIOS.
1. Select 'Create RAID set' from the Main Menu section of the RAID Configuration Utility screen.
2. Select 'JBOD' and press Enter.
3. Select 'JBOD drive' from the Physical Drive list and press Enter.
4. Select the size of the JBOD drive with the ↑ and ↓ keys and press Enter.
5. When the 'Are You Sure?' confirmation prompt appears, respond 'Y' to complete the JBOD configuration.

The hard disk should now be listed in the BIOS menu as a 'JBOD' device.
Obvious, isn't it! To add a non-RAID single disk, you use the Create RAID set option!!!

I have given up on this for now. I have been at this for 12 hours. I can not get the second stage of XP to start. In order to get the first stage to successfully run. I would wait until the XP files were copied to RAM disk. then before the XP install started, pull the USB drive to prevent XP from overwriting the boot record.
the first stage install would run successfully and reboot. After the 2nd stage completed its copy it was suppose to boot off the hard disk, and this would not happen. I could not get the second stage of XP to work properly. I am going to use old school, stream line a set of drivers and do it this way. I will continue to monitor this thread for possible solutions.

Hi. How to Proper Boot Passcape?. I tried once boot it but my keyboard and mouse did not work. tnx, easy 2 boot :)

Passcape Reset Password is based on WinPE. It may not have the drivers required for your (modern?) PC. Try using a USB 2 port for the kbd and mouse. Since it is a commercial program, contact Passcape. The latest trial version seems to have drivers which were added on Jan 2019 - so it seems up to date and should work. Is your ISO too old?
Also, try converting the ISO to a FAT32 .imgPTN file and see if UEFI-booting works?

I've been using Grub4dos for a long time and I've set up my menu with all the things i use the most at the top of the screen (HDSentinel for dos and then a space) and then after the space i have Cloning Software clumped together like Acronis,Paragon etc..These arent in sub menu's, they are launched directly from the main menu.
Then I have another space and after that i have partitioning tools, once again Acronis,Paragon etc.
Then another space and after that portable OS's , Hirens Windows 7,Gandalfs Windows 8 & 10 etc.
Then another space and finally under that i have submenus of the things i don't use as often.
Its just there is sooooo much information I'm having trouble coming to grips if i can move out the default menu's completely, Insert my top options and add a line in between the different genres of programs.
I took some quick pictures of what I'm trying to achieve but there's nowhere to post them unfortunately.
Is there anywhere i can download peoples e2b config files or even whole iso images of usb sticks that i can go through and see how they've done it...Thats originally how i learnt on grub4dos...pulling apart somebody else's work, making changes and seeing what it did, seeing what changed.
Is there a place you use to host a couple of pictures to show you what i mean ?

I added a couple of pictures to Imgur
https://imgur.com/a/1mPXU6b

Hi
The first entry you have is Hard Disk Sentinel for DOS. So copy the ISO to the \_ISO\MAINMENU and boot to E2B and try it. It will appear in the Main Menu is 'hdsdos' but you can change the file name to 'Hard Disk Sentinel (DOS).iso if you like. If you want it in the Utilities menu, then just copy the ISO to \_ISO\UTILITIES.
If you want it to be listed as the first entry, name it aaa_hdsdos.iso. Entries are listed alphabetically by file name.
Now to change the entry text and also add the lines of help text under the menu when you select it, create a aaa_hdsdos.txt file using \_ISO\Txt_Maker.exe.
The next item you have is a blank line, so copy "\_ISO\docs\Sample mnu files\E2B Menus\A_BlankMenuEntry.mnu"
to \_ISO\MAINMENU folder and rename it as aab_blank.mnu.
The next item you have is Acronis True Image 2018. So copy the .ISO file to \_ISO\MAINMENU and name it aba_Acronis2018.iso. Then make a aba_Acronis2018.txt file for it.
Rinse and repeat...
For some of the other items, e.g. Antivirus, backup, Windows Install, just copy the ISOs to the correct E2B menu folders.

The other alternative is to simply use your current menu.lst file. Copy your menu to \_ISO\MAINMENU and name it 'Batfink Menu.mnu'. Edit it to remove the initial grub4dos lines so it starts with 'title xxxx' and all the following entries. Copy your ISOs to the correct folders on the E2B drive as expected by your menu.

You can always start a chat session with me if you have any problems. There should be a chat icon pop-up on this page.

Thank you so much for your reply, it put me on the right path so to speak.
Hahaha however I think this menu is going to drive me to drink.
Is the sorting Alphanumeric, When i first started with just HDsentinel and the cloning software i could have sworn they were in the correct order.
Then I added a space and added partitioning software, Removed the backdrop,set it to 1024..I know it looks like a dogs breakfast, I was going to ask and read a bit more about removing help menu's and highlighting menu items etc..eventually.
However, This is driving me bonkers ..as you can see from the explorer picture all my files are in perfect alphanumeric order and yet in the second picture you can actually see them detecting in the wrong order as the USB stick boots, and finally in the last picture you can see them in the wrong order (or the same order they detected in)
https://imgur.com/a/7g5agy5
Am i insane, is it my numbering system, is it something to do with me not having a backdrop or turning off the extra menu's.

Whoops! You have found a bug! Though I did tell you to use aaa not 000 ;-)
It is because grub4dos is treating 002f as a number and is discarding the non-numbers, so 002a is smaller than 002g (g=GB so 002g=2GB whereas 003d = 3 and 002f=2). grub4dos treats k,m,g and t as multipliers and so the list is not sorted correctly. You can use a non-number as the first character and it should work correctly - e.g. @002f-
or download the latest E2B v1.A9j Beta from the Alternate Download Areas on GDrive or OneDrive.
https://easy2boot.com/download/alternate-download-sites/
if you try the latest version, please let me know if it works or not.

See also
https://easy2boot.com/configuring-e2b/mainmenuonly/
and use the E2B_Editor.exe to make your menu (load a 1024x768 bitmap so the editor switches to 1024 mode - you can remove the bitmap later if you wish).

Hahaha I found a bug.
Goddammit, yes you did say to use aaa but I thought I'd be a smarty-pants and use numbers to give myself more options to expand if needed be.. Lots more numbers than letters in the alphabet etc etc.
I'll try the beta first before I do anything else because now I'm curious to see what happens.
Ah OK, I thought the editor only supported up to 800..I'll give that a try. At least I know I'm not freaking insane.

Actually there are more letters! a-z is 26 whereas 0-9 is 10. so aaa-zzz gives far wider scope than 000-999 ;-)

You're hurting my brain ;)
Your beta worked perfectly, I upgraded it directly over the USB stick.
I'm actually pretty bland when it comes to this stuff, I don't need a backdrop at all, or a logo..just a surrounding box is good enough...It's a tool, not a Picasso :)
I don't even need a help menu, Its for me, I know what everything does since I made it, The more i can fit on the screen the better.
That being said, I do like a menu thats easy to see, Easy to tell whats selected so i have a couple of questions.
1. In the Imgur pictures i posted you'll notice the text is white unless selected and then a large white selection over it highlites it and makes the text under it black..nice and easy to see...Can that be done ?
2. Also the RETURN TO PREVIOUS MENU (F8), is that location set in stone, can it be moved to the top of the sub menu's and be the default item selected and set apart with a space so if you're looking for something and went to the wrong menu you can just press enter to go back.
3.Is there a way to actually completely remove the help ...I did move it down totally off the screen but for the built in items (MENU REFRESH) like shown in the picture it still shows up in the default place.
4.Can i move the wwww.easy2boot.com to maybe the top of the main menu where it shows the version number.
Hahaha, So many questions, so little time..I'm appreciative of all the help you've given me so far.
After this I'm going to used my applied knowledge to try and make a UEFI one, I'm sorely in need of one of those. https://imgur.com/a/MqcQ5uu

1. As in the Sample_MyE2B.cfg and on the https://easy2boot.com/configuring-e2b/ page,
the selection text can be highlighted by defining a highlight colour - e.g. color highlight=0xFFFFFF00000000
2. Any menu can be removed using one of the NOFxxx variables in your MyE2B.cfg file. Any new menu can be added by adding in a .mnu file (see v1.A9k Sample mnu Files\E2B Menus for example .mnu files). A menu space can be added as already explained by adding a .mnu file. https://easy2boot.com/configuring-e2b/mainmenuonly/
3. Help can be removed using set NOF1=1 in your MyE2B.cfg file - https://easy2boot.com/configuring-e2b/f1-help-menu/
4. The FOOTER help text can be removed by setting its position to just after the last line of the menu - or moved - using HBTM. The Main Menu heading is determined by the HEADING variable. As already explained, the E2B_Editor.exe GUI will help you and it already has an Options list for suppressing F1 and F8, etc.
You may find it useful to define Global Hotkeys - https://easy2boot.com/configuring-e2b/global-hotkeys/
and look at the Sample_MyE2B.cfg file which contains a load of example settings. Use the SITE MAP!
P.S. grub4dos does not UEFI-boot. You will need to use grub (grub2) for a UEFI menu system or the new syslinux for UEFI.

I am very impressed with this product, but also the support is amazing. I had an issue (turned out was my windows 10 machine) but the help was far better than any other support forum.

I wish there were more products like this out there and more companies that run with this service level.

I can totally agree with this. Seriously, look at my question right below this. I couldn't tell one company I BOUGHT something from that has such a fast + straight forward support.

Hello, I'm trying to boot a 7GB windows 7 based WIM file. I get the following error: There isn't enough memory to create a ramdisk device

Any idea what i'm doing wrong?

wim files are loaded into RAM. So does your system have at least 8GB of RAM?
Why didn't you use a VHD instead?

Hi Steve, Thanks for your answer.
I'll check that asap. It's a weird customer request and we don't have people with experience to set it up, im left with google. Is that always the case for wim files from USB? Would that problem be solved with a server or using MDT to make a bootable USB?

boot.wim files (the WinPE that is initially booted to from an ISO or MDT, etc. when deploying an image) are typically 300-800MB in size. They typically run Setup.exe which is used to deploy a second much larger install.wim file to a target system.
The large install.wim is not usually bootable and contains a copy of the OS files that you want to install onto the target device.
All bootable .wim files are always loaded into memory as the X: drive. You cannot boot the install.wim type of file with E2B or MDT or Microsoft bootmgr+BCD because it is not intended to be bootable.

So far the only thing I didn't accomplish, using E2B is, to switch back to the regular Legacy Boot menu after booting a payload via an imgPTN file. (I know, this is not the right place for support, but as I hope I am only to stupid / blind to find the hint and you can help me with one link I didnt find so far, I ask it here:
I boot a payload via ImgPTN, but not in UEFI but in CSM Mode.
1. I boot in the regular E2B menu, chose the .imgPTN payload and the MBR gets overwritten (-> the partitions switched)
2. I boot the payload (also in CSM Mode) and use it, so far it works like you describe in the corresponding instruction.
3. How do I flip the partitions back now (to get back to the regular E2B menu) without the need to boot a windows and use the .exe ? In your article about the use of imgPTN files you write, that after I booted the stick in UEFI-Mode to boot the payload I will get an simple menu with the option to switch back the partitions if I boot the stick in legacy / csm mode again. This doesn't work for me since I boot the payload again immediately when I boot the stick in csm / legacy mode. That is logically because the Bios / UEFI only sees this one partition after the partition swap. Does this mean, its impossible to switch back the partition table without a working windows-pc or am I just to stupid to understand, how it works ?

However, I can totally live with this limitation since I mostly use payloads that doesn't need the imgPTN trick to work, I just wondered if I've missed the trick of switching back.

If you UEFI-boot to Windows\WinPE then you can use one of the utilities in the \e2b folder to restore the E2B partition.
If you UEFI-boot to linux, then you can use the \e2b\Restore_E2B.sh bash script to restore the E2B partition (it will be in MPI v0.090 and later versions).
Otherwise you must find some other way to MBR-boot or boot to a linux or Windows\WinPE system in order to switch back in the E2B partition.
If you want to try a variety of linux payloads from a single UEFI menu, try the E2B grub2 menu system - see Site Index for the page (but it has it's own set of drawbacks).

In fact the only tool I would want to use on daily basis would be rescatux (by the creator[s]) of the SuperGrubDisk. Since that is based on a linux live system, the bash file should work. I will try that.
I've read the page about using grub2 instead of grub4dos, but because of the drawbacks (and because of the fact that I wouldnt consider myself as an "expert" in terms of booting) I didnt try it so far.
Thank you for the fast response.
Also I tried to boot the switch-back-menu again on a much older laptop - and it works. It seems to be a problem with my current device (Acer Travelmate x349). Do you have any other advice considering the UEFI-Settings except Secure-Boot=Off, Fastboot=Off, Legacy-Boot/CSM=On that might help me to use the switch-back-menu on my laptop ?

You have found the exact reason why E2B uses the .imgPTN scheme! Some BIOSes will ONLY UEFI boot from a UEFI-enabled USB drive even though you have enabled CSM mode. Many BIOSes have this bug. It means such solutions as SARDU or WinSetupFromUSB or YUMI will only be able to UEFI-boot on your system and it will never boot to the MBR menu so you cannot run any MBR payloads on those systems (unless you delete\rename the \EFI folder).

I see. Thank you. I thought of E2B being the problem because it does neither work on my current laptop nor on my tower-pc, but as it looks, both seem to have this bios / UEFI-bug, as it does work on my old laptop.

BTW I recommend your tool to everyone I think it would be usefull for and I know that min. 3 people also started using it. I realy dont know how I missed this for long.

Either you have not set the BIOS options correctly OR your systems have this BIOS bug.
To check, select one of the .imgPTN images which show the problem and confirm that it will not boot to the CSM MBR menu. Then rename the \EFI folder to \EFIxx and try again. If it now boots to the CSM menu then your BIOS has a bug or it is set to boot from UEFI first. If it still does not boot to the CSM menu then you have not set up the BIOS settings correctly.
Always use the F8/F12 or whatever function key to get the BIOS Boot Selection Menu pop-up - do NOT set the boot order in the BIOS Settings menu to boot from USB first.

I checked my BIOS settings again. My Bios has only 2 options (concerning boot style): Legacy (only) and UEFI (only). So I dont have any option on how to boot the stick in the boot menu (like UEFI USB Stick: SanDisk... / USB Stick: SanDisk...) And since my local OS is MBR-installed, Legacy (only) is the choosen setting.
If I switch to an imgPTN Partition, the first time I boot I get the CSM menu. After I have booted the imgPTN-Payload once (Legacy-Mode, ofc.), my Notebook boots the payload immediately. This doesn't happen if I rename or delete the EFI folder. If I do that, it always boots to the CSM menu. I guess that means: buggy bios confirmed.
So I can't use the imgPTN-trick for uefi-booting (and switching back easily) with my notebook, but that's not realy a problem since I can totally live with Legacy-only booting. The only payload I wanna use on a daily basis that isn't bootable as a simple ISO is also fully functional when booted in Legacy-mode, so I will just delete its EFI-folder and use it this way.

Thanks again for the really fast and qualified help.

I still have one question: You wrote that I shouldn't set USB boot as the default option, but use the boot-menu-hotkey instead. Is there any technical difference between this two options ? If yes, what exactly ?

So what options do you actually see in the BIOS Boot selection pop-up menu? Does the BIOS Settings menu system show anything in 'Boot devices' or anything under + Hard disk?
You should not set the USB device as the first boot device in the BIOS settings because many BIOSes have a bug and they can tell an OS that the USB is the 'boot device' of your system. The result is if you then install an OS to your internal hard disk (XP, linux, etc.) you may find that the boot code and files have been installed onto your USB drive because that is the system 'boot device'.
Now the boot code on the USB drive is trashed and you can only boot to the internal hard disk if you first boot to your USB drive! This can often happen when using a USB HDD to install an OS from.
This issue can still happen when booting from the pop-up menu too, but E2B tries to fix it by swapping over the BIOS hd0 (USB drive) with hd1 (first internal HDD).

Okay, possibly I was describing it a little bit misunderstandable.
If I choose the way to boot in the BIOS / UEFI, I have only two options:
1. Legacy
2. UEFI
https://ibb.co/wdnPgyd
(Screenshot of my BIOS settings)
I know about other PCs (at my workplace, for example) which have a third option, like "UEFI and Legacy" (or with a similar name). Take the following BIOS-Screenshot for example (not my BIOS):
https://browse.startpage.com/do/show_picture.pl?l=english&rais=1&oiu=https%3A%2F%2Fi1.wp.com%2Fneosmart.net%2Fwiki%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F5%2F2014%2F05%2FASUS-Boot-Device-Control.jpg%3Fssl%3D1&sp=93d3a0226b9295113b636263aaf675d2&rl=to&t=default

At that place I can only choose between UEFI or Legacy. At the PCs with the "both" option, I can choose at the boot menu wether I want to boot the device in UEFI or in Legacy mode, it looks like at this screenshot:
https://browse.startpage.com/do/show_picture.pl?l=english&rais=1&oiu=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FMHOP3VY4qZM%2Fmaxresdefault.jpg&sp=046dea4b255f12c3c9fb7bd8eba93bee&rl=to&t=default

And Since I can not choose the "both" option, I have no choise in the pop-up-boot-menu.
https://ibb.co/9b59NC0

Thanks for the information about the default boot option. Luckily didn't encounter this problem so far, but good to know for the future.

OK, thanks. So your BIOS is like this one:
https://youtu.be/BA4Zhh2zU4c
Just a thought... did you try setting a BIOS Supervisor password? Sometimes you get more options when you do this.

Yes, my BIOS is 90 to 95% like the one in the YT Video. Not really surprising since it is an Acer, too.

About the Supervisor PW: Yes. I knew it so I did it, but the only additional setting which was availible after that, was a toggle for Secure Boot (and the corresponding settings at the security tab).

OK - if the BIOS allows it, you can try setting Secure Boot = enabled + Legacy boot. Then if the EFI boot files are not signed (secure) it may boot in Legacy mode. Some payloads may have signed EFI boot files however, in which case this trick won't work!

Good Idea. I tried that. When I switch back to legacy-boot, the secure-boot switch gets hidden. It also makes no difference, if secure boot is on or off before I switch back to legacy.
Thank you very much for supporting me at this question.

In the version history page it say "v1.A8 2018-01-15" should that not be "v1.A8 2019-01-15"
[SS]It is called a typo!

Hello,

I would like to ask if it is known that there is a problem with the Virtual Machine USB Boot 1.72 x64 and VirtualBox 6.0. If I want to start my USB-Stick I get an error message:

"--startvm ist eine Option für die VirtualBox VM-Ausführungs-Anwendung (VirtualBoxVM), nicht den VirtualBox Manager". Buttons under the error message: or .

The error message ist from a German VBox Installation.

Maybe there is a fix around for this.

https://github.com/DavidBrenner3/VMUB/issues

Workaround for VBox v6:
VMUB - Options - VirtualBox - Exe Path = C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VirtualBoxVM.exe

Thanks SteveSi, works like a charm. Thank you for all of the great work. Excellent support.

http://rmprepusb.blogspot.com/2019/01/fix-issues-with-virtualbox-v6-and-vmub.html
Basically, it is best to use VBox v5 until DavidB releases a fix or someone else can fix.

Hello again. I've set up another E2B stick. No background image issues this time!

But what is giving me a hard time is the ISO contiguous thing. For testing and demonstrations I made a 16GB Lexar USB3 stick with several flavors of Linux, like Fedora, Xubuntu, Manjaro etc.
After I loaded the ISOs I ran the make contiguous file and got an error there was not enough free space to make several files discontiguous. At this point there was about 2GB free. I started deleting some ISOs but the error would persist.

Finally, I removed all but one ISO, then could make that contiguous. Then I added ISOs one by one, each time running the make contiguous process.

I have about 5GB left and thinking about what would fit the idea of the stick I downloaded openSuse first to a harddisk. This image is 3.9GB large and I fear it can not be made contiguous if I copy it to the stick, and I would have wasted 4GB of the lifetime of the stick.

I do not exactly understand the purpose of the making contiguous process. I learned, fragmentation is no issue on flash memory, and even to be avoided.

When I write a single ISO to a single stick, there is never a problem with dis-contiguousness.

The file is required to be contiguous because E2B uses it as a partition and actually writes the start address of the file to the USB stick's partition table. Linux will then see the ISO as a partition and so can easily access the files inside the ISO. Partitions cannot be fragmented - they start at sector X and finish at sector Y in one contiguous block. So the ISO must be contiguous.
See https://easy2boot.com/not-contiguous-error/ for more info.
You need to realise that WinContig needs a contiguous block of free space in order to move the ISO and make it contiguous. I use Defraggler to consolidate the free space on the drive if the free space starts to get fragmented.
P.S. As I say on this site, 16GB is really the minimum size for a multiboot drive - because you need at least 4GB of consolidated free space to make a 4GB file contiguous. So Use the Action - Advanced - Defrag Freespace option in Defraggler and then copy on your last file.
P.S. NEVER download files DIRECTLY to your USB drive from your browser - it usually makes the file fragmented, even if there was enough contiguous free space on the USB drive, because it opens up several 'streams' when downloading the file.

Thanks for explaining and thanks for the recommendations!

After defraggling free space I copied the openSuse ISO and booted the E2B stick. A message appeared that Suse was discontiguous. I tried it anyway. I had to walk away for a minute and when I returned an installer had started: the Suse ISO wasn't a liveCD as I had intended! I'll remove it from the stick and find something else.

Hello, and thanks for this great tool!

What I want to do is this: add three or four Linux ISOs and make an Easy2Boot USB drive, make an ISO of the whole thing using RMPrepUsb, and then burn it to DVD. I have added two regular downloaded-from-the-website *buntu ISOs, and a Remastered version of Lubuntu (made using Pinguy Builder) in which I have added LibreOffice. This Remastered Lubuntu ISO alone boots in VirtualBox and directly on the computer, but when I add it to E2B and make an ISO of the E2B USB (to burn to DVD) and try to boot the Remastered Lubuntu by testing it in VirtualBox, I get a Kernel Panic.

E2B first tries to ISOBOOT the Remastered Lubuntu using ISO Cheat Codes, fails saying "Error: No initrd file found!", asks to "Press a key to boot..." to which I press the down arrow, a whole lot of text goes by as it tries to boot and then finally stops with the message: "---[ end Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block (0,0)". This same Remastered Lubuntu boots otherwise, only not in E2B.

Please help. I'm a noob in such matters.

Hi
So your only problem is the remastered ISO - the other two ISOs work fine?
You can test ISOBOOT from an E2B drive by holding down the SHIFT key before you press ENTER to run the ISO from the menu.
It is probably easier to start a Chat session with me on the website if the ISOBOOT web page does not help you.
https://easy2boot.com/faq-/isoboot/
If the ISO contains a casper-rw file, you will probably need to extract it to the root of the E2B USB drive.
If the initrd file cannot be found, then ISOBOOT is probably looking for the wrong file. Look at the isolinux.cfg or grub.cfg file inside your remastered ISO file to see what cheat code parameters it is using. Then make a new ISOBOOT.g4b file as described on the isoboot web page above. If the iso is using initrd.gz then you will need to add the 'try' lines into the :.isoubu code section.

I have been looking at an ISO built with PinguyBuilder and it does not seem to support any cheat code parameter to specify the name of the ISO file. This means that the only way to boot it as you want to do from an E2B DVD is to extract the contents of the ISO to root of the E2B drive. If it works, you could then remove those folders from the remastered ISO.
However, if you are booting other ubuntu-based ISOs, they may find the \casper folder on the root of the DVD instead of the \casper folder inside the mounted ubuntu ISO, and so they would all boot to your remastered files instead of the files inside the ISO.
I suggest making a special .mnu file, extracting all the files from the remastered ISO (so the .iso file is not needed):

title Start PinguyOS 18.04.1 Full LTS
kernel /casper/vmlinuz file=/preseed/custom.seed boot=casper quiet splash --
initrd /casper/initrd.gz
boot

This works, but if the \casper folder is renamed and the menu adjusted, it no longer boots and so the other ubuntu ISOs may get 'confused' still! See https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=35567 for how to modify it to boot from a different folder.

Thanks for the reply. Yes, only the Remastered Lubuntu doesn't boot, the other ISOs work fine.

Actually I don't understand all this stuff about casper and initrd and stuff, I'm a noob, and I am still learning. So I'll keep learning and tinkering, and maybe after I've gained some amount of knowledge about how the Linux booting works, and still have a doubt, I'll ask you again then. Thanks again!

Sorry to bug you again, and maybe I am just typing what I typed earlier, but the problem I face is that the Remastered ISO only boots if the media is not write-protected. If I add the Remastered Lubuntu to a USB drive, reboot, and try to boot the Remastered Lubuntu normally, the regular way Easy2Boot boots it, it works fine. If however, I press the Shift key when selecting the ISO, it is not able to boot it.

If I try to boot it with the Shift key, first E2B asks whether to change the extension, then gives a screen with a huge list of options one of which has to be typed, and if I select the first option to just boot it, a lot of text goes by and finally it ends in kernel panic - "Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block (0,0)". But if at the E2B options screen where it asks how to boot the ISO, I select the option to load the entire ISO to RAM, then it loads the ISO to RAM and boots fine.

The problem I think is because of the media being write-protected. Is there any simple workaround for this?

If it works when you load the ISO into memory, then simply change the file extension to the one that works (e.g. .isomem).

But I already told you how to get it to work.
1. Extract all the files from the ISO onto the root of the E2B USB drive.
2. Add a .mnu file (as detailed earlier) to the \_ISO\MAINMENU folder.

Or just convert the ISO to a FAT32 .imgPTN file.

Hello again steve, i have a question about the partition restrictions when using e2b scripts to build a menu and load images. I know you stated we can have either ONLY 2 primary partitions or ONE primary and any number of logical partitions. I am using fbinst hidden partition to boot e2b, is that hidden fbinst partition counted as a primary partition? If so would e2b still run fine if i changed the partition it resides on to a logical partition?

Use RMPrepUSB - Drive Info - 0
to examine the partition table.
It will show you the four table entries and how they are used.

The file MyCSM.cfg says:
"#set the language (uses \e2b\LANG\%LANG%.txt file)"
But there is no such folder. And according to the file too.
PS. How to set the Russian language for the CSM menu (NOT FOR MAINMENU)

Sorry, only English and German are currently available. All details are on this website, use the Site Map. You must have latest version of MPI.
https://easy2boot.com/configuring-e2b/csm-menu-changes/

I always have the latest version
PS. Is it possible to translate (I can do it)?

Yes, please send me a translated ENG.txt file when you have it working. Save in UTF-8 format using Notepad.

Hello everybody, today i was messing around with a few bootable usb's i had laying around. I decided to create a FBINST usb drive and attempt to load e2b from it....im not having much luck. Is e2b compatible with fbinst boot partition (ud)? I got it to boot up by using the --set-root command but i noticed a few errors pop up with e2b, likely due to fbinst being mapped to (bd)

https://www.rmprepusb.com/tutorials/usbutils
You put grldr in the hidden Primary area but all other files in the 'normal' area using Windows Explorer.
You can format the normal area first to NTFS using Windows Format.
It is not really suitable for E2B because it is not compatible with .imgPTN files.

Thanks steve, i'll give it another try.

Hello everybody
I came across the Easy2Boot a few days ago and I am very excited about it. First a great praise to the developers.
Now to my question:
It is indeed the file "SUB_MENU_MAKER" to create menu items. How can I do it that I get menu sub items? As an example: There is indeed the Linux folder. I would now like to create subfolders in this folder, such as "Ubuntu" or Debian. "This is how it should be visible in the menu, first as" Linux "and then follow the subfolders, but always with the" SUB_MENU_MAKER " only menu items in the main menu.
Can you tell me how I have to implement that, because I seem to be really stupid for it.
Greetings Marcel

All menu folders must be directly under \_ISO.
To do what you want, just make a new folder called \_ISO\LINUX_Ubuntu and drag-and-drop this folder onto the Sub_Menu_Maker.cmd file. This will make a .mnu file in \_ISO\MAINMENU folder.
Then simply move the new .mnu file to \_ISO\LINUX folder. see
https://easy2boot.com/configuring-e2b/add-a-new-menu-folder/
'Example for Linux - Ubuntu sub-sub-menu'

When I drop an iso onto the MPI_xx desktop icons, everything goes just fine, but just before it all wraps up I see a series of comments regarding the imgPTN file (below) is this anything I should follow up on? Do I need to make these changes within the resulting image file?

INFORMATION: LABEL occurs in .LST files
INFORMATION: 'boot=' occurs in .CFG files

UUID should use 74AAC0F4AAC0B3C0
CDLABEL should be LABEL
LABEL should use EASY2BOOT
'media=cdrom' should be 'media=usb'

If it matters, the ISO is Kaspersky Rescue Disk 2018.
Thank you by the way, the software is great, but your support is amazing.
-James

It is for information only, no action is needed. MPI will adjust these for you.

Good morning, I am able to install the framework on empty pen drive, fill in desired ISOs and multiboot on MBR computer, but the drive is ignored on GPT computer even though it takes highest priority in boot sequence order, so I suppose it's not compatible.

Is there a trick or workaround that would make the E2B bootloader compatible with both MBR and GPT BIOSes?

You cannot UEFI-boot to the E2B menu system.

If you want to UEFI-boot from the E2B USB drive, you must make a UEFI-compatible .imgPTN file using the MPI Tool Kit and then select the .imgPTN file from the E2B menu system (MBR-boot) or use \_ISO\SWITCH_E2B.exe to select the .imgPTN file.
Once the .imgPTN file has been 'switched in', you can then UEFI-boot or MBR-boot from the E2B drive.
See https://easy2boot.com/add-payload-files/e2b-uefi/

OK, is there a different known multiboot framework that once installed out of the box will boot as with UEFI as with MBR BIOSes?

I understand it as that I need different image for MBR and different for UEFI? I'd prefer rather to share one image for all platforms.

You can MBR or UEFI boot from the same .imgPTN file - the ISO is not required if you use .imgPTN files.

The problem with other multiboot solutions is that some systems (Fujitsu LifeBook, Samsung, Acer and probably others too) refuse to MBR boot if an EFI boot file is present on a FAT partition. This means, that on these systems, they will not boot via MBR to MBR payloads such as Hirens, many linux OS's, DOS, Mini XP, etc. because they will *always* UEFI boot instead.
UEFI requires a FAT partition to be on the drive and many other products just use a FAT32 USB drive which limits the file size to 4GB per file.
You can try the E2B grub2 menu system, or other products such as YUMI UEFI Beta version, SARDU, WinSetupFromUSB (for Windows UEFI) or multisystem. https://easy2boot.com/uefi-grub2-ptn2/
I am afraid there is no good universal solution because of these 'buggy' BIOSes.
That is why E2B uses the .imgPTN scheme - so that you can boot on 99% of all systems including those with this annoying bug.
Also, the E2B .imgPTN scheme means you can Secure Boot and boot from a wide variety of payloads (linux, Windows, KonBoot, memtest, etc.) all from the one USB drive.
If you want to spend some money, try the IODD USB HDD enclosure https://rmprepusb.blogspot.com/2016/09/using-e2b-with-zalmaniodd-disk-drive.html

Hi.
It seems that this manual don´t work with new submenu folders created with SUB_MENU_Maker.cmd.
I can´t set a personal background to this folders. I copy it to _ISO folder with the same name that the folder and don´t work. It seems that .g4b files don´t work too.
The normal folders works OK, but created don´t.

Sorry, it's a bug in the SubMenu Maker script.
Ensure that there is no space character at the end of the set MFOLDER= line in the .mnu file.
I will fix in 1.A2 v. soon!

Working great in E2B v1.A2a Beta. Thanks for your work.

If you have tried the grub2 menu system, and could not get any ISOs to be listed in the menu, this issue should now be fixed with the new Beta9 version.

Buenas noches, he probado E2B en USB 32Gb y funciona de lo mejor,sin embargo trate de hacer lo mismo en SSD 120Gb pero no funciona correctamente, por ejemplo cuando voy a formatear win7 no encuentra los controladores del HDD que se va a formatear, o cuando booting HirenBoot15CD no funciona todas las opciones, espero puedan ayudarme, Gracias!

Good evening, I tested E2B on USB 32Gb and it works best, however try to do the same in SSD 120Gb but it does not work properly, for example when I go to format win7 it does not find the drivers of the HDD that is going to be formatted, or when booting HirenBoot15CD does not work all the options, I hope you can help me, Thanks!

https://easy2boot.com/make-an-easy2boot-usb-drive/how-to-make-a-helper-usb-flash-drive/
https://easy2boot.com/add-payload-files/hirens-isos/

The default password of "easy2boot" does not work. I have tried adding "set psw=" to my MyE2B.cfg. Problem is if I set the password to whatever, it doesn't work...same for an md5 hash. Simply states Failed and restarts the menu. Now if I leave the "set psw=" blank to remove the password, it works and I am able to access the grub console. Any help is appreciated. Thanks