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UEFI MULTI - Make Multi-Boot USB-Drive

aio boot linux vhdx windows 10 wim ssd uefi usb multiboot

Best Answer wimb , 11 May 2020 - 12:18 PM

Update USB_FORMAT-51 and UEFI_MULTI-51

 

Download:  from wimb GitHub  -   USB_FORMAT-51 and UEFI_MULTI-51  and  VHD_WIMBOOT-41 and Win_Reduce_Trusted-40

 

Download File E = Encrypted Password = bootwimb

 

Manual:  VHD_WIMBOOT.pdf  and  Win10_Install.pdf  to make Mini 7/8/10 x64 in VHD with UsedSize about 2 GB

 

At MSFN there is topic USB Format Tool and UEFI_MULTI

 

All my projects are now available for Download as Releases at wimb GitHub

 

Download:  USB_FORMAT  and   UEFI_MULTI  and  VHD_WIMBOOT  and WOF_Compress and  System_Info  and  MBR_Backup

 

More Info:  VHD_WIMBOOT Mini 7/8/10 x64  and   Grub4dos for UEFI  and USB_FORMAT Tool and UEFI_MULTI

 

:cheers:

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#26 ktp

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Posted 03 July 2013 - 05:01 PM

Are you really sure-sure they could/can not? :dubbio:

AFAICR it is just a matter of USB 3.x drivers :unsure:

 

:cheers:

Wonko

Well, I had bad experience with Win7 PE before.

 

First, there are many USB 3.0 controller, not the Intel which is later much supported using NUSB3. One of my system uses Fresco Logic Controller, I have integrated this driver inside Win7PE using Make_PE3.

 

- Once booted on USB 2.0, the USB 3.0 port can be used as USB 3.0.

- On my 'old' system, there is no option (as on newer machine) to set in BIOS to support xHCI for program requiring it at boot time (so no way to benefit from USB 3.0 boot).

- The USB 3.0 port does not show up at boot time (when an external USB HDD 2.0/3.0 is plugged).

- On newer machine, where USB 3.0 is supported in BIOS and presented for HDD boot selection, with Win7PE I got the classical BSOD 0x7B. No time to investigate it (probably to change the startup type of driver?).

 

With Win8-32/64 full VHD, now no problem direct booting with USB 3;0, no more BSOD 0x7B (or equivalent screen), no tweak required! No problem of SxS, missing .Net framework, not functioning 32-bit portable applicatons... Ubuntu got this function long time before Windows: installation to USB HDD, boot anywhere.



#27 Wonko the Sane

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Posted 03 July 2013 - 06:36 PM

No time to investigate it (probably to change the startup type of driver?).

And/or CriticalDeviceDataBase or Load Order. :unsure:

http://www.911cd.net...showtopic=23637

http://www.911cd.net...showtopic=24566

http://www.911cd.net...showtopic=25100

http://reboot.pro/to...30-expresscard/

 

http://reboot.pro/to...69-usb3-issues/

http://reboot.pro/to...ssues/?p=153457

and following...

 

 

:cheers:

Wonko



#28 ktp

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Posted 04 July 2013 - 10:34 AM

@Wonko the Sane

You are right. I just checked again booting Win7PE-x86 made with make_PE3 through a machine with BIOS supported USB 3.0. It works! It looks like wimb has included all drivers and tweaks to make this happen.



#29 ktp

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Posted 08 July 2013 - 02:37 PM

@wimb

For your information.
First UEFI boot of Win7-64 VHD : Status 0xc0000221
Info: The header checksum for this file doesn't match the computed checksum.

Later boots are OK, no more problem (second boot has a transient patch application). I used Win7-64 Ultimate.
 

/>

 

May be can you try if Win7-x64.vhd can be used to boot in UEFI mode.

For me it was refused always ....



#30 wimb

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Posted 08 July 2013 - 05:12 PM

First UEFI boot of Win7-64 VHD : Status 0xc0000221
Info: The header checksum for this file doesn't match the computed checksum.

Later boots are OK, no more problem (second boot has a transient patch application). I used Win7-64 Ultimate.

 

Thanks for testing. Good to know that it can work.

For me Win7x64 VHD does NOT boot yet after reboot in UEFI-mode from USB .....

 

:cheers:



#31 ktp

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Posted 09 July 2013 - 03:39 PM

Hello,

It have real surprise by measuring boot time for my VHDs. They are not fragmented (1 or 2 fragments max).
All VHD have System restore Off, UAC off, no pagefile, Windows Defender disabled, fresh install.
With USB 3.0 hard disk on port USB 2.0, VHD located on USB hard disk :
- Win8-32 VHD: 1'03"
- Win8-64 VHD: 1'03"

With USB 3.0 key on port USB 2.0, VHD located on USB key :
- Win8-32 VHD: 30"
 

For comparision, booting time for:

- mini XP: 40"
- Win7PE-32: 1'15"

 

So the surprise is very fast boot time with USB key. I will measure boot time with USB 3.0 port too. Even Win7PE (which is not a full Win7-32) takes longer time that booting full Win8 VHD.

 

 

Note: boot time = time after that the user gets the desktop and can run any other programs or activities.



#32 ktp

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Posted 18 September 2013 - 03:00 PM

In fact the method seems to work also for removable USB key (stick), and not only for hard disk.

One can use appropriate paritioning tool (e.g. bootice version 0.78) to partition the USB key into two partitions, a small one in FAT32, and another one in NTFS for data. By using either wimb's USB_part_flip utility or Pauly's bootice version 0.78 (this version precisely), it is very easy to make the desired partition visible to Windows (remember: only the first partition entry of USB key MBR is visible to Windows).

 

So now we could have a handy, light USB key that is UEFI Multiboot capable, without requiring changing BIOS/UEFI settings to enable legacy/CSM module and disable Secureboot.


  • wimb and devdevadev like this

#33 Wonko the Sane

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Posted 18 September 2013 - 04:17 PM

In fact the method seems to work also for removable USB key (stick), and not only for hard disk.

USB 3.0 sticks (at least the "high end" ones) are NOT anymore "flash sticks" :w00t:

They are actually a USB 3.0 to SATA bridge + a SSD.

 

No particular surprise ;) to find out that they are as fast as or faster than a "conventional" hard disk, as a matter of fact their speed should be compared to that of a "normal" SSD inside an external USB 3.0 case.

 

If you prefer on a "conventional" stick the bottleneck is the Flash speed (and not the USB 2.0 bus), whilst with hard disk (on USB 2.0 bus) the bottleneck is the bus itself.

A typical "old" stick is around (very roughly) 20 Mb/sec, while USB 2.0 hard disks are around the 40 Mb/sec mark.

A SSD being actually faster than a hard disk, will be (on USB 2.0) as fast as the bottleneck, i.e. around 40 Mb/sec, i.e. twice the speed of a Flash stick, and thus taking roughly half the time in booting.

 

JFYI:

http://www.thessdrev...h-drive-review/

http://www.eteknix.c...rce-controller/

 

:cheers:

Wonko



#34 ktp

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Posted 18 September 2013 - 04:41 PM

@Wonko the Sane

Thank you for the links. These products are attractive, but still expensive. The Kingston key 250 MB/s is guaranted only 2 years (vs. lifetime with Sandisk Cruzer Extreme USB 3.0 190 MB/s). And of course from users review there are heat problem. And the announced performance is only for big files, not for small one.

 

Maybe I have to wait few more years, with the future arrival of planned USB 3.1? :-)



#35 Wonko the Sane

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Posted 18 September 2013 - 04:58 PM

....  is guaranted only 2 years (vs. lifetime with Sandisk Cruzer Extreme USB 3.0 190 MB/s). ...

 

Yep :), but that far exceeds the average life of a USB stick (according to my personal experience and graphs with completely faked data :w00t: ;):

http://reboot.pro/to...ss/#entry175178

http://reboot.pro/to...al-pe/?p=166593

 

And in the meantime you will probably be running Windows 11.9 SP1¾, with a BOOTMGR and \boot\BCD (or equivalent) needing all the Gb's of your current stick..... :ph34r:

 

:cheers:

Wonko



#36 wimb

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Posted 01 November 2013 - 07:31 AM

For my computer configured in UEFI Secure boot mode,  I found a way to boot it from USB-stick with Grub4dos Menu  :)

 

For this purpose I make use of key F12 that is normally used for PXE boot from Network.

 

I have now the following sequence:

 

UEFI Secure boot > press F12 at first beep > UEFI firmware reboots > second beep and booting into BIOS compatible mode from next device e.g. my USB-Stick with Grub4dos Menu

 

When I press again F12 at the second beep then I get PXE Boot ROM and can boot from Network or press Esc to boot Next device e.g. USB-Stick with Grub4dos Menu.

Next device booting in BIOS compatible mode can be USB-Stick or portable USB-Harddisk or second internal Harddisk depending on BIOS Boot sequence settings.

When pressing F8 at second beep then I get BIOS Boot Menu that allows me to select next device for booting into BIOS mode.

 

In this way I can for my computer configured for UEFI Secure Boot:

- boot XP or Grub4dos from second internal harddisk

- boot Grub4dos Menu on USB-Stick or portable USB-harddisk

More Info on computer hardware used is here http://reboot.pro/to...sk/#entry164379

 

The reboot of UEFI Firmware by pressing F12 is warm and almost not noticeable and simply allows to boot next device in BIOS compatible mode   :clap:   :clap:   :clap:

 

UEFI > F12 > BIOS > auto next device e.g. USB-Stick with Grub4dos Menu or XP

UEFI > F12 > BIOS > F8 ==> Bios Boot Menu select next device

UEFI > F12 > BIOS > F12 ==> PXE Boot from Network

UEFI > F8 ==> UEFI Boot Menu

 

 

:cheers:



#37 wimb

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Posted 01 November 2013 - 03:19 PM

-
*** Update UEFI_MULTI Version 7.9  ***
 
- Make Multi-Boot USB-Stick or USB-Harddisk
- Add Boot Image files of type VHD IMG ISO or WIM to Target USB or HDD
- UEFI + BIOS Support for Windows 8 Recovery Or 7/8 WinPE boot.wim files booting from RAMDISK
- Add WIM and VHD Boot Image files to Boot Manager Menu and make Grub4dos Menu for ISO or VHD
- ImDisk file imdiskinst.exe version 1.7.6
- Portable Apps - UEFI_MULTI.exe and BOOT_IMG.exe - latest version is 7.9
 
Download  - UEFI_MULTI_79
 
:cheers:


#38 wimb

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Posted 13 November 2013 - 09:06 AM

-
*** Update UEFI_MULTI Version 8.0  ***
 
- Make Multi-Boot USB-Stick or USB-Harddisk booting on BIOS or UEFI computer
  XP/7/8 VHD 2 GB located on FAT32 USB-Stick is loaded in 3 min in RAMDISK for very fast Mini OS
- Added UFD_FORMAT - Tool to format USB-stick for Booting with Boot Manager Menu on BIOS or UEFI computer
- Added USB_Part_Flip - to Exchange Partition Table Entries in MBR of USB-Stick -
  allows to change which primary partition of the USB-stick is visible in Windows
- Add VHD to Boot Manager Menu improved in case of Win8x64 OS
 
Download  - UEFI_MULTI_80
 
:cheers:
 
FAT32 USB-Stick - Booting with ISO or VHD or WIM loaded into RAMDISK
 
Mini Win 8 x32 VHD == WinPE 4.0 boot.wim ==
 
W8x32-RAM.png == PE4-W8Rec.png


#39 wimb

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Posted 19 November 2013 - 06:49 AM

When unsigned driver like FiraDisk is present in VHD, then UEFI Secure Boot of Win8x64 VHD requires 
in Boot Manager menu press F8 to use Advanced Boot Options - Disable Driver Signature Enforcement.

 

W8_BM_294.jpg ==> W8_Fira_295.jpg ==> W8_Adv_296.jpg

 

Testsigning Yes in BCD Menu is NOT enough, but need to be confirmed in this way.

 

:cheers:



#40 wimb

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Posted 05 December 2013 - 02:47 PM

YouTube Video on How to use UEFI_MULTI to Make Multi-Boot USB-Drive

 

 

:cheers:



#41 wimb

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Posted 10 December 2013 - 05:39 AM

-
*** Update UEFI_MULTI Version 8.1  ***
 
 
Added UFD_FORMAT 8.1
 
UFD_FORMAT.exe - Tool to format USB-stick for Booting with Boot Manager Menu on BIOS or UEFI computer and
Tool to make USB-Stick having two partitions - FAT32 Boot partition for WIM or ISO and NTFS System partition for VHD.
Option to Install Grub4dos in MBR BootCode, which allows BIOS computer to boot directly from USB with Grub4dos Menu.
Option to make Boot Manager and Grub4dos Menu on UFD to boot UEFI + BIOS directly from USB with Boot Manager Menu.
Windows 7/8 or 7PE is needed to make Boot Manager Menu and Win8 x64 is needed to make UEFI Boot Manager Menu.
 
:cheers:


#42 wimb

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Posted 07 February 2014 - 01:15 PM

-
*** Update UEFI_MULTI Version 8.2  ***
 
- Improvement in detection of Overflow on Target Drives
- In all cases set {bootmgr} nointegritychecks yes
 
Download  - UEFI_MULTI_82
 
Run UEFI_MULTI_82.exe and Extract to simple path
 
:cheers:


#43 Southerner

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Posted 13 February 2014 - 06:45 PM


 
Section 1. - Prepare USB-Harddisk to have MBR and 3 Primary partitions
 
Preferred is to use Portable USB-harddisk e.g. Western Digital 500GB Elements SE 2.5" Or Samsung Portable S2
 
Prepare USB-Harddisk to have MBR and 3 Primary partitions
- Boot   partition - Primary with FAT32 Format and Size e.g. 20 GB - Set Active   
- System partition - Primary with NTFS  Format and Size e.g. 50 GB                
- Data   partition - Primary with NTFS  Format and Size e.g. rest of USB-harddisk 
 
Use of the 3 partitions will be
- Boot   FAT32 - for Boot files and Win8 Recovery boot.wim file in folder sources and with folder images for ISO and other small Boot Image files
- System NTFS  - for Windows 8 System and for Portable XP VHD and Win7 VHD Image files running Life from USB 
- Data   NTFS  - for PStart folder with Portable Apps and for all Windows Setup ISO files used by WinNTSetup2 to Install Windows on local harddisk
 
================================================================================
 
Why is the system partition so large?  Does it actually need to be 50gb?
 
 

 



#44 wimb

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 06:38 AM

Why is the system partition so large?  Does it actually need to be 50gb?

 

 

You can use smaller size if it is enough for your needs.

In my case I would like to have enough space for XP/7/8_x86/x64 VHD plus space for 7 or 8 x64 installed to partition.

In that case 50 GB is really needed and I have enough space available on portable USB harddisk.

May be 30 GB will do when you locate the VHD's on the DATA partition (primary NTFS).

 

Frequently in testing I need more space than is available ..........

 

:cheers:



#45 oliverjia

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Posted 17 February 2014 - 07:29 PM

Thanks wimb.

Does this support secure boot?



#46 wimb

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Posted 18 February 2014 - 03:27 PM

Thanks wimb.

Does this support secure boot?

 

UEFI Secrure boot is supported e.g. in case of Win 8x64 VHD 

http://reboot.pro/to...ct-make-mini-8/

 

W81x64_I5.png == Mini81x64_I5_VHD.png

 

Or 8x64 boot.wim made with Win8.1SE

http://www.msfn.org/...170546-win81se/

http://www.msfn.org/...-5#entry1069090

 

81SE_x64.png

 

Also Win8 x64 Recovery drive and Fedora 18 can be added to UEFI Secure Multi-Boot USB-drives

http://www.911cd.net...showtopic=25269

 

In any case It requires to use UEFI_MULTI.exe in Win8 x64 OS

 

:cheers:


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#47 oliverjia

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Posted 19 February 2014 - 12:09 AM

Many thanks wimb!



#48 wimb

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Posted 20 February 2014 - 01:49 PM

-
*** Update UEFI_MULTI Version 8.3  ***
 
 
Boot Manager Menu for adding boot.wim improved to allow booting of Win8.1SE
Added ComboBox to select Grub2 Or REFIND as optional EFI Boot Manager
 
Download  - UEFI_MULTI_83
 
Run UEFI_MULTI_83.exe and Extract to simple path
 
:cheers:


#49 Franz Ferdinand II.

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Posted 24 April 2014 - 05:25 AM

Hi, I have a basic question, can I use this tool to setup a multiboot partition on GPT dirve? (If not, is there a chance to make partition on GPT drive multiboot?)

I already have reserved space on such drive, hard to convert to MBR due drive's size is >2TB.

Can I get some hint about required partitions layout?

I mainly intend this to multiboot into Windows 8 installation media together with several bootable ISOs I pick.



#50 wimb

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Posted 24 April 2014 - 06:32 AM

Hi, I have a basic question, can I use this tool to setup a multiboot partition on GPT dirve? (If not, is there a chance to make partition on GPT drive multiboot?)

I already have reserved space on such drive, hard to convert to MBR due drive's size is >2TB.

Can I get some hint about required partitions layout?

I mainly intend this to multiboot into Windows 8 installation media together with several bootable ISOs I pick.

 

I expect that UEFI_MULTI.exe can be used with GPT drive, but have not tested GPT yet.

In any case you need a FAT32 Set Active Boot partition, that is visible as Drive and can be selected in UEFI_MULTI.exe as Target USB Boot Drive.

 

Run UEFI_MULTI.exe in 7/8 x64 OS environment (preferred is Win 8.1 x64 or boot with Win8.1SE x64 boot.wim)

 

 
Prepare USB-Harddisk to have 3 Primary partitions
- Boot   partition - Primary with FAT32 Format and Size e.g. 20 GB - Set Active   
- System partition - Primary with NTFS  Format and Size e.g. 50 GB                
- Data   partition - Primary with NTFS  Format and Size e.g. rest of USB-harddisk 
 
Use of the 3 partitions will be
- Boot   FAT32 - for Boot files and Win8.1SE x64 boot.wim file and with folder images for ISO and other small Boot Image files
- System NTFS  - for Win 7/8 VHD Image files and for Windows 8 x64 System and for Portable XP VHD running Life from USB 
- Data   NTFS  - for PStart folder with Portable Apps and for all Windows Setup ISO files used by WinNTSetup3 to Install Windows on local harddisk
 

 

 

Download WinNTSetup3 from http://www.msfn.org/...v33-v34-beta-1/

 

:cheers:







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