Sunday 27 September 2015

Add FreeDOS USB disk .img files to Easy2Boot

You can 'build' your own bootable FreeDos USB drive using RMPrepUSB, add any files you like, get it all working, and then use the MPI_FAT32 tool to make a .imgPTN file from USB stick.

However, some ready-made USB image files containing FreeDOS can be downloaded from here.

These are intended to be either PXE booted or directly written to a USB drive as an image using dd or some direct-write utility (e.g. RMPrepUSB - File>Drive). However, we can boot directly from them using the .mnu file below in Easy2Boot:

Friday 25 September 2015

Add a full Arch Linux OS to Easy2Boot



Here are the steps to add a full install of Arch Linux to an Easy2Boot USB drive.

We will create an empty partition file (ARCH) and then use Virtual Box + DavidB's VMUB to install to the partition file.

Use the latest MPI Tool Pack (v.0.054 2015-08-21 or later). This includes CSM menu support for grub2/syslinux installations on the 3rd partition.

I used archlinux-2015.09.01-dual.iso for the test below.

Friday 18 September 2015

Install ProxMox from E2B

I have updated the ProxMox instructions in a previous blog because the instructions only appear to work from a FAT32 USB drive.

To add ProxMox to an NTFS E2B USB drive, we need to create a FAT32 .imgPTN file.

The ammended blog post is here.

Saturday 12 September 2015

How to stop scam phone calls!

Nearly every day this week, at around 1pm, I get a call from a 'TalkTalk ISP help desk' scammer who says that I have a problem with my computer and she asks me to install and run TeamViewer so they can take over my computer and 'fix' the problem. They promised me £200 compensation too! I know this is a common scam - see here and here. I also get calls from the 'Microsoft Windows department' for the same 'problem'.

Sunday 6 September 2015

Add a DOS-based BIOS update program to E2B

Some older BIOS update programs such as AWDFLASH.exe are DOS-based and you need to boot to MS-DOS or FreeDOS to run them.


How can we do this from E2B?

Saturday 5 September 2015

Easy2Boot v1.72 now available

I have just uploaded v1.72
    New plain background! Smaller file size and loads faster too!

Tuesday 1 September 2015

Windows Black Belt troubleshooting videos

Want to learn some neat tricks on how to gain full Admin access to a Windows system and be able to work with full user rights?

Watch Win 8.1 TechEd video.
  • Use Intel vPro for remote control.
  • Boot from a Win8.1 Install DVD to hack repair a system by replacing \Windows\System32\sethc.exe.
  • Use robocopy to copy system files that Windows won't even allow an Admin account user to copy due to ACL problems (time @0:41:0)
  • Use Sysinternals psexes -sid cmd.exe to get full access rights (@0:42:0)
  • Debug problems by looking at threads not processes using Sysinternals Process Explorer (procexp)  (@0:45:0)
  • Use TAKEOWN.exe or robocopy /B to access 'difficult' files (@0:54:0)
  • Use iCacls /SetIntegrityLevel
  • Check your admin level using whoami /groups (@0:55:30)
  • Info on using Windows RE (recovery environment) (@1:0:0)
  • How to use MSconfig.exe,  Sysinternals Autoruns.exe, 
  • Turn on highly detailed error messages (@1:06:00)
  • Logon without logging on! (@1:08:0)
There is also a Windows 10 Black Belt session.

Sunday 30 August 2015

Add a Debian Live ISO with persistence to Easy2Boot

You can download the latest Debian Live ISOs from here.

I used debian-live-8.1.0-amd64-mate-desktop.iso and added persistence by using a .mnu file.

The new .mnu file will be added to the E2B v1.72 Sample mnu files folder , but can be downloaded from the Alternate Download (Google Drive and One Drive) areas (look under 'mnu files').
OneDrive download area
Google Drive download area

The .mnu file should work for most Debian Live ISOs if you change the name of the ISO inside the .mnu file (occurs twice).

Clean install of Windows 10 without needing to first do an Upgrade install

I found the instructions on ghacks.net today.

Note: In later versions of Win10, these instructions are not required. Just install a fresh copy of Win10 and enter the original Win7/8 product key and it should activate!

You can also just boot from a USB drive to WindowsToGo and pre-activate any system for Windows 10 - see here.

I have not tried it but it looks useful!

Quote from ghacks.net shown below in case it disappears.

Tip: Before you run this operation, make sure to backup the existing Windows installation so that you can restore it should things go wrong.
Here is what you need to do to clean install Windows 10 on a computer system, without needing to run the Win10 Upgrade first and then wipe and re-install.
  1. You need a Windows 10 DVD or ISO image. If you don't have one get it from here. Download the tool from Microsoft's website to create the ISO image. Make sure you pick the right architecture and version.
  2. Burn the ISO, mount it or extract it.
  3. Navigate to the folder \Windows\x64\sources or \Windows\x32\sources and drag&drop the file gatherosstate.exe to the desktop.
  4. Run the file from the Desktop. It creates GenuineTicket.xml on the desktop. This file is needed, so copy it to a USB drive or other location.
  5. Run a clean install of Windows 10 afterwards on the system using the ISO. Make sure you skip the product key.
  6. Once you are done and in Windows 10, copy the file GenuineTicket.xml to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\ClipSVC\GenuineTicket. The folder is hidden by default. If you cannot see it, select File > Options > View > Show hidden files, folders and drives in File Explorer.
  7. Reboot the PC.
The next time you boot into Windows 10 it should be fully activated. You can verify that easily with a tap on Windows-Pause. This opens the System Control panel and the system's activation status at the bottom of the page.

Tip: Copy the gatherosstate.exe file to your E2B USB drive and add these instructions into a .txt file on the E2B USB drive. Then you can use this process on any Win7/8 system.

Wednesday 26 August 2015

Easy2Boot v1.72BetaL2 available


This version checks the version of bootmgr when you boot from a VHD file to check it is not the Windows 10 version + a new grldr grub4dos version.

It also has a new E2B default background wallpaper which should load a lot faster than the old one. Let me know if you like it by ticking the 'funny' reactions checkbox, as it is rather different from previous E2B wallpapers (or tick 'Interesting' if you prefer the old wallpaper)!

Alternate Download Areas:
OneDrive download area      Google Drive download area