Create a multi boot rescue USB flash drive

[aircave]

this sounds interesting... so I am wondering if it would be possible to boot into an OS (BartPE/DSL etc.) and load any .ISO of choice (AV live rescue-cd) from within the OS... all running from a USB... the way mobalivecd does it in windows...?

[Panacik]

this sounds interesting... so I am wondering if it would be possible to boot into an OS (BartPE/DSL etc.) and load any .ISO of choice (AV live rescue-cd) from within the OS... all running from a USB... the way mobalivecd does it in windows...?

So you mean running an OS within an OS?

Why would you do this? Just run the OS directly from the Grub menu?

[nawaites]

I'm new in this stuff and this guide works really well!

For WINPE 2.1, does anybody have any tips to install web browser and shell?

Also, I'm thinking of putting UBCD4win (I believe every tools included there is legal...). Can anybody guide me through the steps?

Sorry for being so greedy but what other useful tools can be added to my rescue usb??

[Shasoosh]

Thanks

[BlackSteyrAug]

Could this be used on an external hdd rather than a USB drive? It's all I got.

[Si Veteran]

I don't see why not, although you will be limited to 32GB for your FAT32 partition size.

[FutureCCE]

Hmmm, strange. I see my drives on my machine regardless.

Im not much of a Linux guru, only a starter really. Hopefully someone else more Linux knowledged will see this and be able to assist further, but i have exhausted all my ideas.

Ill let people know about this thread for you though mate.

Sorry i couldnt help more (Y)

I am having the same problem, ntpasswd only finds the WinPE install on my Flash Drive and not the HDDs. I even tried extracting the ntpasswd image from the website and dumping it into /ntpasswd. Has a solution been found for this problem?

Thanks!

[Si Veteran]

I just wanted to add an update to this - if you are running the Windows 7 beta it is possible to use the beta of Windows PE 3.0 with this guide in place of 2.0 or 2.1.

Simply download the Windows 7 WAIK beta from here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...;DisplayLang=en

Then follow the usual instructions.

PE 3.0 even has the fancy new boot screen :D

[vtc_sanosuke]

I'm new in this stuff and this guide works really well!

For WINPE 2.1, does anybody have any tips to install web browser and shell?

Also, I'm thinking of putting UBCD4win (I believe every tools included there is legal...). Can anybody guide me through the steps?

Sorry for being so greedy but what other useful tools can be added to my rescue usb??

Hi, 1st of all thx for this great guide.

I tried to add UBCD to my USB drive making this steps:

a) make UBCD ISO

b) copy this stuff to my USB hard drive:

BCDW (folder)

CMDC (folder)

I386 (folder)

images (folder)

isolinux (folder)

PROGRAMS (folder)

syslinux (folder)

minint (folder)

winbom.ini

BOOTSECT.BIN

ntdetect.com

ntldr

WIN51IP

WIN51IP.SP2

autorun.inf

3) I added this lines to menu.lst

title UBCD

root (hd0,0)

find --set-root (hd0,0)/ntldr

chainloader (hd0,0)/ntldr

... but when I try to boot UBCD option it stops with a message like "can't disable A20 gate" press any hey and boot halts.

Any help would be much apreciated.

Thx

[Shasoosh]

is it possible to use ntfs instead of fat32?

I want to try this guide but i still need my usb to transfer big files (over 4 gigs).

[Si Veteran]

is it possible to use ntfs instead of fat32?

I want to try this guide but i still need my usb to transfer big files (over 4 gigs).

I don't think it is possible, from the sysreccd faq:

step-02: Format the USB-stick as FAT

First, format the device. You can just right-click on the USB-device in the Explorer, and then select "Format...", and choose a FAT filesystem (it won't work with NTFS).

http://www.sysresccd.org/Sysresccd-manual-...SB-stick_as_FAT

[Shasoosh]

^ thanks. I finished the guide successfully (using fat32) but i think i did something wrong. im getting grub> instead of the menu. here is my files layout.

Edited January 22, 2009 by Shasoosh

[Panacik]

When you say Grub, what is it you are actually seeing?

Grub is what is loading the menu.lst file, so that is correct, however if you are not seeing the menu, im guessing you MIGHT have configred the menu file incorrectly.

[Shasoosh]

its like a command line waiting for commands.

grub>

if i press tab i get all sort of options.

i can get a print screen if it will clear things up.

[Panacik]

its like a command line waiting for commands.

grub>

if i press tab i get all sort of options.

i can get a print screen if it will clear things up.

Can you post a copy of your Menu.lst file so we can check out that the params are correct please.

[Shasoosh]

thanks rich, after checking my Menu.lst i found the problem. Every thing is working great now. btw, i thought Windows pe should have a gui ( My computer icon etc') isn't there something closer to an OS i can load from my USB?

Si , please update your guide, the Pe 2.1 link is broken.

[ups]

This is a great tutorial!

But i'm having some problems with grub.

My pen boots and grups starts spitting:

Launching GRUB...

About to reset the boot drive. Report but if the machine hangs here.

Return from int13/AH=0. The reset of the boot drive is Ok.

About to enable gate A20. Report bug if the machine hangs here.

Gate A20 is turned on successfully.

Check if the boot drive(0x80) is cd ..			   no

And then it hangs.. it seems to be expecting a cd and not a pen. How can I address this? I can't seem to find any information on this!

[Si Veteran]

Shasoosh - I have updated the link, thanks :)

ups - could your BIOS be set to boot from USB-CDROM instead of USB-HDD?

[ups]

Shasoosh - I have updated the link, thanks :)

ups - could your BIOS be set to boot from USB-CDROM instead of USB-HDD?

Is an Asus and it has no such option.

From the Boot Menu I can just choose the Hard Drive, the DVD and the USB Pen.

I'll keep testing.

[ups]

Cannot edit the previous post, so here is the update:

I used other version of grubinst (newest?) and it worked.

Since I was at it, I also installed in the pen Hirens BootCD as it has a few useful apps.

My next goal is to tweak the WinPe install with some stuff to make it a bit more... user friendly.

[Panacik]

Cannot edit the previous post, so here is the update:

I used other version of grubinst (newest?) and it worked.

Since I was at it, I also installed in the pen Hirens BootCD as it has a few useful apps.

My next goal is to tweak the WinPe install with some stuff to make it a bit more... user friendly.

Thats great mate, glad it worked for you.

Note that talking about Hirens is not allowed here as its classed as warez...

[silvertorch]

Thanks for the Windows PE 3 beta, I gotta take a look at that.

Also I have found a nice portable distribution of linux.

Its calle Slax.

http://www.slax.org/

I am able to boot from and run it from a 2gig usb drive. Dont need to mount anything, it finds all of th hardware by its self.

Took me some time to figure it out, but here is how to make it boot from GRUB.

title Slax
kernel /boot/vmlinuz ramdisk_size=6666 root=/dev/ram0 rw autoexec=xconf ; telinit~4 changes=/slax/
initrd /boot/initrd.gz
boot

Only works when the slax directory is on the root of the USB stick.

[Panacik]

Thanks for the Windows PE 3 beta, I gotta take a look at that.

Also I have found a nice portable distribution of linux.

Its calle Slax.

http://www.slax.org/

I am able to boot from and run it from a 2gig usb drive. Dont need to mount anything, it finds all of th hardware by its self.

Took me some time to figure it out, but here is how to make it boot from GRUB.

title Slax
kernel /boot/vmlinuz ramdisk_size=6666 root=/dev/ram0 rw autoexec=xconf ; telinit~4 changes=/slax/
initrd /boot/initrd.gz
boot

Only works when the slax directory is on the root of the USB stick.

Welldone for working it out mate. I could have helped you with that... I have Knopix, Knopix STD and Helix running from mine, along with the applications stated in this thread.

You do need to have the folders at the root though, which can be messy, however, playing around with grub4dos, you will find it is capable of booting directly from some .ISO's, although it can be a pain to configure correctly.

[+Warwagon MVC]

Does the USB have to be writable for the different things to boot off it. meaning if mine has a write protection switch, can I install all the stuff on it, then set it to read only and stuff have the stick boot like it should?.

[Panacik]

Does the USB have to be writable for the different things to boot off it. meaning if mine has a write protection switch, can I install all the stuff on it, then set it to read only and stuff have the stick boot like it should?.

Im only guessing, but i would say it needs write protection off. This is because when the OS and other software talks to the hardware, it needs to read+write.

GIve it a go though. Would be interesting to know if it does work or not.