Jump to content


* * * * * 5 votes

RMPrepUSB - Bootable USB format utility


  • Please log in to reply
595 replies to this topic

#576 MedEvil

MedEvil

    Platinum Member

  • .script developer
  • 7,017 posts
  • 425 topics
  • Time Online: 239d 10h 8m 44s

Posted 29 January 2012 - 02:52 PM

Actually, the smaller the files, the less chance they fragment. Not the other way around.

:cheers:
NaughtyPE - The Multimedia PE!
Requirements: WinBuilder080, XPSP2/W2k3SP1 source, Pentium CPU, 128MB RAM (256MB to use video players)

#577 Wonko the Sane

Wonko the Sane

    The Finder

  • Advanced user
  • 6,895 posts
  • 84 topics
  • Location:The Outside of the Asylum
  •  
    Italy
  • Time Online: 213d 5h 18m 49s

Posted 29 January 2012 - 06:03 PM

View PostMedEvil, on 29 January 2012 - 02:52 PM, said:

Actually, the smaller the files, the less chance they fragment. Not the other way around.
More than that :whistling:, being contiguous is a requirement ONLY for those images that you are going to map directly (without the --mem option) in grub4dos, so the intended target is ALREADY RAW images, .VHD's or .ISO's, etc.

:cheers:
Wonko

#578 sambul61

sambul61

    Gold Member

  • Advanced user
  • 1,568 posts
  • 52 topics
  •  
    American Samoa
  • Time Online: 125d 17h 39m 40s

Posted 29 January 2012 - 06:08 PM

I didn't try mapping to memory a Win7 VHD - but may be you will, given your extensive RAM resources. :devil:
Create Native Boot VHDs , Boot VHD on Bare Metal PC , Install and Boot Unsupported OS from VHD , Test new OS Releases on VHD. All sambul61 Tutorials are Copyright reposted from his Blog. No reproduction or modification allowed.

#579 Wonko the Sane

Wonko the Sane

    The Finder

  • Advanced user
  • 6,895 posts
  • 84 topics
  • Location:The Outside of the Asylum
  •  
    Italy
  • Time Online: 213d 5h 18m 49s

Posted 29 January 2012 - 06:51 PM

View Postsambul61, on 29 January 2012 - 06:08 PM, said:

I didn't try mapping to memory a Win7 VHD
Why not?

View Postsambul61, on 29 January 2012 - 06:08 PM, said:

- but may be you will, given your extensive RAM resources. :devil:
Why should I do such a foolish thing?

And NO, I doubt I would do it, even if I had the needed resources.

:cheers:
Wonko

#580 bmcclurg

bmcclurg

    Newbie

  • Members
  • 17 posts
  • 5 topics
  •  
    United States
  • Time Online: 8d 2h 10m 46s

Posted 03 February 2012 - 06:51 AM

Hi Steve- There are times I'd like the speed increase that comes from installing PloP, especially when loading large ISO's like Win7PE. But because Plop removes USB keyboards in G4D (and most newer PC only have USB keyboards), I was wondering if it's possible when I select a G4D menu item like Win7PE to add the 'check for and load PloP' commands and then directly load the ISO after PloP returns to the G4D menu. I hope this makes sense...

Anyway, one other little thing- your CMD file to modify BMP files so they can be used as G4D splash screens (grub_consplash_xpmgz.cmd) has a problem in the last line. Needs to have the (x86) removed so it works on 32-bit machines.

And many thanks for making all your work available so beginners like myself can learn.

#581 steve6375

steve6375

    Gold Member

  • Developer
  • 2,189 posts
  • 44 topics
  • Location:UK
  • Interests:computers (!), programming (masm,vb6,C,vbs), OSes, photography,TV,films,guitars
  •  
    United Kingdom
  • Time Online: 68d 3h 6m 19s

Posted 03 February 2012 - 09:54 AM

For Plop Q - see Tutorial #60 end of page - just use the default option.
Sorry about the typo in the grub_consplash_xpmgz.cmd file - thanks for letting me know - now fixed!
Steve
Visit my website at RMPrepUSB.com for partitioning, formatting, testing, imaging and making bootable your USB Drive under Windows (supports FAT16/FAT32/NTFS/ext2 file volumes, MSDOS/FreeDOS/XP/Vista/Win7/Server2008, boot as Hard disk or floppy disk). Over 70 Tutorials on how to use RMPrepUSB and grub4dos and YouTube Videos too! Includes how to have a multi-install bootable USB flash drive containing all Windows Install ISO files (XP and Vista, WIn7, SVR2K8) on one bootable USB drive (see tutorials #30 and #43). Why not try PXE booting to WinPE3 or Hirens XP over Ethernet from your Windows 7 PC or install Windows onto any networked PC via PXE - see Tutorial #45 for details). Boot Windows 8 from USB.

#582 bmcclurg

bmcclurg

    Newbie

  • Members
  • 17 posts
  • 5 topics
  •  
    United States
  • Time Online: 8d 2h 10m 46s

Posted 04 February 2012 - 04:15 AM

Sorry I somehow missed all the info you had written about how to do this. I tried the default option and it worked to accomplish what I desired.

But... there had to be a 'but'... after using the default option it automatically goes to the previously selected section every time I reboot off the flash drive and runs it after the timeout period. So I tried setting the default to the menu number for reloading the menu by putting in a savedefault statement after the Plop checking and loading lines and just before loading the actual ISO (I used 'savedefault 0' to make the default the first menu item after rebooting the machine). It kept coming back with an error about savedefault and then it dawned on me that when using Plop you can't write to the USB device until you're into Windows and using it's drivers. I thought about copying a 'virgin' default file over the modified one but that would be a hassle if I could even get it to work, or editing the default file by removing the first couple of digits. I tried editing it manually and it works, but I'd like it to automatically reset to a 'no default' condition if possible. The difference in load times is so substantial that I'll live with having to quickly move to another menu choice; without Plop Win7PE takes 14 min to load but with Plop it takes 1:40. I've since read all the guides and tutorials about G4D that I could find and understand and I suspect I'm going to have to live with the situation as it is now, but if you have an idea of what might work or even a driection I should research I'd be grateful

Again thanks for all you've already done!

#583 steve6375

steve6375

    Gold Member

  • Developer
  • 2,189 posts
  • 44 topics
  • Location:UK
  • Interests:computers (!), programming (masm,vb6,C,vbs), OSes, photography,TV,films,guitars
  •  
    United Kingdom
  • Time Online: 68d 3h 6m 19s

Posted 09 February 2012 - 10:23 AM

v2.1.638 now includes WinContig (thanks to Marco for adding some command line params for me and allowing me to include it) - press ALT+F2 and it will 'WinContig the selected drive (it firsts 'contigs' all ISO, IMA and IMG files and then 'contigs' all files on the whole drive). Very quick to run if all files are already contiguous.
Also can overwrite MBR with standard Win7 MBR code (ALT+CTRL+F2). See here
Steve
Visit my website at RMPrepUSB.com for partitioning, formatting, testing, imaging and making bootable your USB Drive under Windows (supports FAT16/FAT32/NTFS/ext2 file volumes, MSDOS/FreeDOS/XP/Vista/Win7/Server2008, boot as Hard disk or floppy disk). Over 70 Tutorials on how to use RMPrepUSB and grub4dos and YouTube Videos too! Includes how to have a multi-install bootable USB flash drive containing all Windows Install ISO files (XP and Vista, WIn7, SVR2K8) on one bootable USB drive (see tutorials #30 and #43). Why not try PXE booting to WinPE3 or Hirens XP over Ethernet from your Windows 7 PC or install Windows onto any networked PC via PXE - see Tutorial #45 for details). Boot Windows 8 from USB.

#584 steve6375

steve6375

    Gold Member

  • Developer
  • 2,189 posts
  • 44 topics
  • Location:UK
  • Interests:computers (!), programming (masm,vb6,C,vbs), OSes, photography,TV,films,guitars
  •  
    United Kingdom
  • Time Online: 68d 3h 6m 19s

Posted 26 February 2012 - 12:27 PM

v2.1.640 Beta now available.
  • Menu bar added. Only English menu text will be available and the help box is not updated when hovering over a menu item. This will not be fixed as font support for menus in vb6 seems limited.
  • Menu bar can be hidden using a setting in rmprepusb.ini config file if you don't want the user to see it.
  • Change Disk Signature function added.
  • BPB params displayed with Drive Info.
  • Drive Type detection bug fixed (reported card reader as fixed disk).
  • QEMU version changed.
  • Drives >128GB not displayed in drive list (unless setting changed)
Several other tweaks added.
Please try and let me know what you think. There are probably still a few small kinks to find!.
Posted Image
Steve
Visit my website at RMPrepUSB.com for partitioning, formatting, testing, imaging and making bootable your USB Drive under Windows (supports FAT16/FAT32/NTFS/ext2 file volumes, MSDOS/FreeDOS/XP/Vista/Win7/Server2008, boot as Hard disk or floppy disk). Over 70 Tutorials on how to use RMPrepUSB and grub4dos and YouTube Videos too! Includes how to have a multi-install bootable USB flash drive containing all Windows Install ISO files (XP and Vista, WIn7, SVR2K8) on one bootable USB drive (see tutorials #30 and #43). Why not try PXE booting to WinPE3 or Hirens XP over Ethernet from your Windows 7 PC or install Windows onto any networked PC via PXE - see Tutorial #45 for details). Boot Windows 8 from USB.

#585 sambul61

sambul61

    Gold Member

  • Advanced user
  • 1,568 posts
  • 52 topics
  •  
    American Samoa
  • Time Online: 125d 17h 39m 40s

Posted 26 February 2012 - 03:20 PM

A small note. WinContig at times can't defrag a fragmented image, in most cases it happens when there is not enough free space on the disk. I always miss a hint why it failed, and the image keeps reported fragmented. Is there a way to provide such hint to a user, may be outside of WinContig functionality?
Create Native Boot VHDs , Boot VHD on Bare Metal PC , Install and Boot Unsupported OS from VHD , Test new OS Releases on VHD. All sambul61 Tutorials are Copyright reposted from his Blog. No reproduction or modification allowed.

#586 steve6375

steve6375

    Gold Member

  • Developer
  • 2,189 posts
  • 44 topics
  • Location:UK
  • Interests:computers (!), programming (masm,vb6,C,vbs), OSes, photography,TV,films,guitars
  •  
    United Kingdom
  • Time Online: 68d 3h 6m 19s

Posted 26 February 2012 - 03:33 PM

It's because there is not enough free space on the disk. This is why RMPrepUSB is designed to partition, format and copy files in sequence - that way the files will be contiguous. I will add an extra message to the status display area if this fails in next version. Thanks!
Steve
Visit my website at RMPrepUSB.com for partitioning, formatting, testing, imaging and making bootable your USB Drive under Windows (supports FAT16/FAT32/NTFS/ext2 file volumes, MSDOS/FreeDOS/XP/Vista/Win7/Server2008, boot as Hard disk or floppy disk). Over 70 Tutorials on how to use RMPrepUSB and grub4dos and YouTube Videos too! Includes how to have a multi-install bootable USB flash drive containing all Windows Install ISO files (XP and Vista, WIn7, SVR2K8) on one bootable USB drive (see tutorials #30 and #43). Why not try PXE booting to WinPE3 or Hirens XP over Ethernet from your Windows 7 PC or install Windows onto any networked PC via PXE - see Tutorial #45 for details). Boot Windows 8 from USB.

#587 i

i

    Frequent Member

  • Advanced user
  • 437 posts
  • 32 topics
  •  
    United States
  • Time Online: 3d 12h 24m 36s

Posted 26 February 2012 - 07:38 PM

Hey i like the menus :)

#588 steve6375

steve6375

    Gold Member

  • Developer
  • 2,189 posts
  • 44 topics
  • Location:UK
  • Interests:computers (!), programming (masm,vb6,C,vbs), OSes, photography,TV,films,guitars
  •  
    United Kingdom
  • Time Online: 68d 3h 6m 19s

Posted 18 March 2012 - 09:22 AM

New version 2.1.644 Please try!
Also some new tutorials and Easy2Boot mnu files added.
Steve
Visit my website at RMPrepUSB.com for partitioning, formatting, testing, imaging and making bootable your USB Drive under Windows (supports FAT16/FAT32/NTFS/ext2 file volumes, MSDOS/FreeDOS/XP/Vista/Win7/Server2008, boot as Hard disk or floppy disk). Over 70 Tutorials on how to use RMPrepUSB and grub4dos and YouTube Videos too! Includes how to have a multi-install bootable USB flash drive containing all Windows Install ISO files (XP and Vista, WIn7, SVR2K8) on one bootable USB drive (see tutorials #30 and #43). Why not try PXE booting to WinPE3 or Hirens XP over Ethernet from your Windows 7 PC or install Windows onto any networked PC via PXE - see Tutorial #45 for details). Boot Windows 8 from USB.

#589 pscEx

pscEx

    Platinum Member

  • Team Reboot
  • 11,179 posts
  • 707 topics
  • Location:Korschenbroich
  • Interests:What somebody else cannot do.
  •  
    Germany
  • Time Online: 28d 16h 21m 45s

Posted 18 March 2012 - 10:31 AM

View Poststeve6375, on 18 March 2012 - 09:22 AM, said:

New version 2.1.644 Please try!
Also some new tutorials and Easy2Boot mnu files added.
:clap:

multiPE uses RMPartUSB to create bootable USB PEs.

Is there a new RMPartUSB included in RMPrepUSB?

Peter

#590 steve6375

steve6375

    Gold Member

  • Developer
  • 2,189 posts
  • 44 topics
  • Location:UK
  • Interests:computers (!), programming (masm,vb6,C,vbs), OSes, photography,TV,films,guitars
  •  
    United Kingdom
  • Time Online: 68d 3h 6m 19s

Posted 18 March 2012 - 10:37 AM

There is a later version of RMPartUSB included, v2.1.640.
Steve
Visit my website at RMPrepUSB.com for partitioning, formatting, testing, imaging and making bootable your USB Drive under Windows (supports FAT16/FAT32/NTFS/ext2 file volumes, MSDOS/FreeDOS/XP/Vista/Win7/Server2008, boot as Hard disk or floppy disk). Over 70 Tutorials on how to use RMPrepUSB and grub4dos and YouTube Videos too! Includes how to have a multi-install bootable USB flash drive containing all Windows Install ISO files (XP and Vista, WIn7, SVR2K8) on one bootable USB drive (see tutorials #30 and #43). Why not try PXE booting to WinPE3 or Hirens XP over Ethernet from your Windows 7 PC or install Windows onto any networked PC via PXE - see Tutorial #45 for details). Boot Windows 8 from USB.

#591 pscEx

pscEx

    Platinum Member

  • Team Reboot
  • 11,179 posts
  • 707 topics
  • Location:Korschenbroich
  • Interests:What somebody else cannot do.
  •  
    Germany
  • Time Online: 28d 16h 21m 45s

Posted 18 March 2012 - 10:38 AM

Thanks, I'll try

Peter

#592 pscEx

pscEx

    Platinum Member

  • Team Reboot
  • 11,179 posts
  • 707 topics
  • Location:Korschenbroich
  • Interests:What somebody else cannot do.
  •  
    Germany
  • Time Online: 28d 16h 21m 45s

Posted 18 March 2012 - 03:02 PM

I tested the new RMPartUSB in multiPE. Runs well. :clap:
Will be included in next release.

Peter

#593 breaker

breaker

    Frequent Member

  • Advanced user
  • 107 posts
  • 15 topics
  •  
    United States
  • Time Online: 1d 1h 55m 58s

Posted 2 weeks ago

Is there a way with this awesome tool to just format without adding any bootloader code or files? You know, in case I need a good USB format utility, but I plan to add my own boot code using other means. RMPrePUSB has been a lot of help making life easier under windows for creating the bootable UFDs though, thanks! I like the tutorial page also.

:cheers:

breaker

#594 steve6375

steve6375

    Gold Member

  • Developer
  • 2,189 posts
  • 44 topics
  • Location:UK
  • Interests:computers (!), programming (masm,vb6,C,vbs), OSes, photography,TV,films,guitars
  •  
    United Kingdom
  • Time Online: 68d 3h 6m 19s

Posted 2 weeks ago

To make it non-bootable just tick the 'set partition as non-bootable' checkbox.
RMPrepUSB does not put any files on the disk when you use the Prepare button and do not specify syslinux or a Copy Folder/Files spec.
Don't quite understand why you would not want bootloader code - if you use your own boot code then it will just overwrite what is already on it anyway?
Can you explain why you want to have no boot code but an active partition?
Steve
Visit my website at RMPrepUSB.com for partitioning, formatting, testing, imaging and making bootable your USB Drive under Windows (supports FAT16/FAT32/NTFS/ext2 file volumes, MSDOS/FreeDOS/XP/Vista/Win7/Server2008, boot as Hard disk or floppy disk). Over 70 Tutorials on how to use RMPrepUSB and grub4dos and YouTube Videos too! Includes how to have a multi-install bootable USB flash drive containing all Windows Install ISO files (XP and Vista, WIn7, SVR2K8) on one bootable USB drive (see tutorials #30 and #43). Why not try PXE booting to WinPE3 or Hirens XP over Ethernet from your Windows 7 PC or install Windows onto any networked PC via PXE - see Tutorial #45 for details). Boot Windows 8 from USB.

#595 breaker

breaker

    Frequent Member

  • Advanced user
  • 107 posts
  • 15 topics
  •  
    United States
  • Time Online: 1d 1h 55m 58s

Posted 2 weeks ago

Not an active partition. I guess then, I can choose "boot as FDD" along with "set partition as non-bootable". If that works, then I'm set. I guess what threw me off was the radio buttons, it made it seem there were always files copied.

I suppose that sometimes I just want a data superfloppy, that won't boot, but I'd rather not use the Windows format. However, I guess it doesn't really matter :)

Unless the Windows format is perfectly fine for those purposes (in XP)? What was the big deal with using the old HP utility originally to make PE sticks (instead of Windows)? When I started out with BartPE a few years back, some guide said to use the HP utility because the Windows format was no good, but it didn't say why.

Oh, and I do of course know if I say installed GRUB2 to the MBR that the existing code is overwritten.

breaker

#596 steve6375

steve6375

    Gold Member

  • Developer
  • 2,189 posts
  • 44 topics
  • Location:UK
  • Interests:computers (!), programming (masm,vb6,C,vbs), OSes, photography,TV,films,guitars
  •  
    United Kingdom
  • Time Online: 68d 3h 6m 19s

Posted 2 weeks ago

The HP Format utility had some geometry problems (the partition table was slightly odd). Some systems would not boot from a Flash drive formatted with the HP utility and the boot code needed patching. You could not choose which bootfile you wanted to boot (IO.sys, kernel.sys, ntldr, bootmgr). It did not have the ability to create a 2nd small hidden partition which you need to boot as a hard disk from a USB flash drive on some systems.
Steve
Visit my website at RMPrepUSB.com for partitioning, formatting, testing, imaging and making bootable your USB Drive under Windows (supports FAT16/FAT32/NTFS/ext2 file volumes, MSDOS/FreeDOS/XP/Vista/Win7/Server2008, boot as Hard disk or floppy disk). Over 70 Tutorials on how to use RMPrepUSB and grub4dos and YouTube Videos too! Includes how to have a multi-install bootable USB flash drive containing all Windows Install ISO files (XP and Vista, WIn7, SVR2K8) on one bootable USB drive (see tutorials #30 and #43). Why not try PXE booting to WinPE3 or Hirens XP over Ethernet from your Windows 7 PC or install Windows onto any networked PC via PXE - see Tutorial #45 for details). Boot Windows 8 from USB.




16 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 16 guests, 0 anonymous users