116 replies to this topic

[Zug]

Thanks again FMS,

I am still waiting for my 1TB to show up.. i was doing some reading, and one of the sites I read (think pazzie posted above about the experimental HDD thing) it said something about possibly being read as a floppy and wont boot right.. so possibly 1 solution to check and see if that HDD of yours is booting to a hd.0 or fd.0 (or something like that) ..

the other thing is what kind of 1TB was it? if it is a WD, then you might need to see about formating/installing new firmware from WD as theirs comes needing to boot with that smartware software out of the box iirc.. only other thing i can think of..

I currently have a 16gb and a 32gb thumb as well.. if the 1TB wont work.. i might just make the MIUSB with one of those (maybe the 16) and then just partition the 1tb to do my backups and virtual copy on it..

What you think bout that?

Zug

[fms]

Hi Zug
I have been able to boot and make a MIUSB of my 1 TB Western Digital (my passport) external HDD. No problem with the WD Smartware or with the foramtting (you can format, partition etc). Please read the thread Boot From External 1TB HDD (specially post 12). The problem was lying elsewhere

[Pazzie]

Hi fms,

You're welcome. Good to hear that you also managed to boot from an external HDD.

Maybe I know why Backtrack 3 doesn't boot from your USB / external HDD.

Copied boot folder into (inside) BT3 folder. Copied BT3 folder to the root of the USB. It is not working. Just get a blank screen.

You probably have to copy the boot folder to the root of your USB, together with the BT3 folder instead of copying the boot folder into the BT3 folder.

Can you tell me how you are trying to boot Kaspersky?

[fms]

Hi Pazzie
Thank you for taking interest in my problem (Backtrack 3 and Kaspersky).

It had occured to me too about whether to put the boot folder in the root of the USB but than i thought the MIUSB manual precisely was saying to copy it to inside BT3 and than copy BT3 to the root of USB, so i didnt try this option thinking there already is a boot folder.

What happens is that there is a boot folder (the one from Backtrack 4). The Bactrack 3 and Backtrack 4 boot folders have files in common like initrd.gz (1908KB for BT3) and initrd.gz(8356KB for BT4). Also vmlinuz for BT3 and BT4 the sizes are different. So if i copy the boot folder of BT3 to the root of USB these above files and maybe something else will be replaced from BT4 to BT3 and than BT4 will not work.

Also OPHCrack boot folder is copied to the root of USB and this boot folder has files and folders common to BT3 boot folder. Same folders (isolinux & syslinux) in both BT3 and OPHCrack. There are some files inside these two folders which are common. Also a vesamenu.c32 file inside boot folder which is common to both BT3 and OPHCrack.

If there was a Code that could be used inside menu.lst in which i could use to boot bt3.iso without extracting the files and folders to the root, maybe than it would work for me. Like a clean boot from an iso just like ubcd, linux mint, ubuntu etc., the same way you provided for me in the case of Bitdefender iso. There the manual suggested to copy the contents to the root of the USB and to copy the iso itself to the root of the USB. But from your advice i copied only the bitdefender iso of the new bitdefender to the root and with the code you so kindly provided for the menu.lst file , it worked fine.

In case of Kaspersky i downloaded the iso from this site First Site (189.47mb file size dated 21/6/10) and as it was not working , so i downloaded another iso from this site Second Site (189.36mb file size dated 7/7/10), but this too was not working.
In both the cases the MIUSB manual says to copy the contents of the iso after extracting to the root of the USB. Wish there was another way to do this. Incase of Kaspersky what happens is that the first menu comes up and when it tries to load the files,
Reaches upto this stage : Unpacking Firmware Stage and than doesnt do anything else. Sorry couldn't get a clearer JPEG snapshot, my monitor is not so good.
Is there anything else i could do?

[Zug]

Thanks FMS, was a good read..

My Toshiva 1TB just came in.. so gonna have some fun.. the thing I am wondering is, should i use my 1TB to do this? I have a 16gb and 32gb thumb that I can use as well.. The idea for the 1TB is to use it for my backups and a virtual copy of my windows for sure... but what I am wondering is if I leave it plugged in, will it constantly boot to it over my windows if it is plugged in? I want to leave it plugged in so can do the backups etc.. or do you think I am better off using my 32GB for the MIUSB?

another issue.. I started to play with the tutorial as i got my copy of winxp in and when i start part1, the program is not recognizing my 16 or my 32gb thumb... i even tried using the HP Format tool thing and formated the 32 to both fat32 and ntfs and neither way is being recognized.. i noticed it said it had to be partitioned with a MBR on it, how do I go about doing this??

also, after being so dang tired, i accidently formated my 2TB with all my movies so mad last night.. i got my EASUS running partition recovery now.. it found all the files and I am having it put back on the 2TB as the movie folder alone was over 1TB and I dont have a drive big enough.. the program said its recommended not to put it right back on the same drive as it could lower the success rate.. any know if it will fail for sure?? have over 20hrs till its done copying it all back.. praying it works ;(

So.. what you think.. use my 32gb thumb (and if so, could use help to get it working) or use my 1TB and partition it down some.. maybe do like you did with a 50gb and then I would do the 2 400ish partitions.. 1 for backups and other for virtual..

Thanks again,
Zug

[fms]

Hi Zug
Just my opinion, if i had a 32 GB pendrive i would use that one for MIUSB, not the 1TB hardrive. In my case i have have only a 8GB pendrive so i had to juggle with the iso files (which ones to put and which ones to leave out). But now that i have been able to boot from the 1TB WD HDD i will be using the 1 TB. Personally i feel you could use the 32GB as it has lots of place for iso's as well as for portable applications as in tutorial 3 and also to use it as a virtual hardisk (as in tutorial 5). In my case my virtual hardisk comes to around 10gb, and i think the rest 22GB (from your 32gb pendrive) will be enough for yours iso's and portable applications. Let us say 2GB of portable applications( I have around 450 applications of about 2gb). So that leaves us with 20GB of space where you can install your Winxp & Win 7 setup files and all the iso's . This is just my opinion.

The idea for the 1TB is to use it for my backups and a virtual copy of my windows for sure... but what I am wondering is if I leave it plugged in, will it constantly boot to it over my windows if it is plugged in?

I am not sure if i understood this correctly, but if you are having a virtual copy of windows inside your 1 TB toshiba, that virtual copy of windows will not boot when you start your computer. As the virtual copy of windows (like the one i have, i am using Virtualbox application) which i have is only a file "WIN XP PRO SP3.vdi " .It's a file like any other file(lets say like a *.doc file). So this virtual copy cannot boot by itself. You can start the virtual copy of windows by staring first the virtual application (like virtualbox, VMWare, Virtual PC, Paragon Go Virtual, etc). You first need to start one of these applications and only than you can start the virtual Windows copy. For this i start my Virtual Windows when i am already inside my host OS(the main OS/real OS which is installed inside my internal hardisk). In other words you start one windows xp inside another windows xp/windows 7 etc.
So end result it will not boot from your 1TB virtual windows if it is left plugged. I don't know for sure, but personally i don't like the idea of keeping an USB plugged in continuously as everytime you start ur PC, it gets a surge of electricity which which for some reason i don't fancy much. Once you make a backup and it is finished you could disconnect it. But again this is just my personal opinion. There are those who keep it plugged.

another issue.. I started to play with the tutorial as i got my copy of winxp in and when i start part1, the program is not recognizing my 16 or my 32gb thumb... i even tried using the HP Format tool thing and formated the 32 to both fat32 and ntfs and neither way is being recognized

Which program is not recognising your 32gb thumbdrive, are you talkg about 'WinSetupFromUSB_0-2-3.exe " You have to click refresh in the "USB Disk Selection" and than see that "Forced target Disk Type:Removable", "Disk Nr : 0 ", Partition Nr : 1 ", everything should be according to the manual. Just check carefully that all options are according to the manual. Also one more thing the manual says if you are trying this tutorial from inside a Vista or Win 7 than first you must first give it administration rights. Inside WinXP (which i am using) you do not have to do that (but anyhow i did it for WInXp too)

[Zug]

hey FMS,

With the 32gb.. it is that 'WinSetupFromUSB_0-2-3.exe " and I am using win7 64bit atm... I right click it and run it as administrator.. when it comes up, the 2nd line is where the usb thumb should be.. it says "No USB Disks detected or not properly formatted" and i hit the refresh and it still doesnt bring it up.. doesnt see my 16 or my 32..so that is the issue I am having with that.. not the RMprep part as I cant get it to detect my usb.. Currently using an Xpatrior 32gb

as for the 1tb beeing left it.. i meant if it would always boot straight to the MIUSB, not the virtual windows as i know I will have to run the virtual box first..i was also wanting to virtualize my win7.. in which case jamal recommended at least 120+ external hdd, as he said it would prolly be really slow on a 32gb thumb.. what think on that? i am going to virtualize my win7 64bit, so think i might need the space

Zug

[fms]

Hi Zug
When i used MIUSB on my 1 TB it wouldn't boot at all from the 1 TBThis is the thread where i asked about the booting of my 1 TB
For the last 3 mnths had been struggling to get 1Tb to boot, but as the 1TB was slow in powering on, it would not boot. Only after using a boot manager PLoP as Wonko The Sane provided i have been able to boot from 1TB. So in my case it would not boot at all. So you will have to try by making the 1 TB bootable and checking if it boots first or if your internal hardisk boots first. So basically you will have to test it. Incase you do not have the powering(timing problem) like i have and like Chaos_Cubed had, than your MIUSB may boot everytime you start your PC. But this also depends on your BIOS settings. Maybe you can change the boot order for your BIOS so that the internal hardisk boots first and than only USB boots. I do not have option of internal hardisk and external hardisk, I only have option of hardisk. It will depend on your specific BIOS settings. The best way to go about this is to make a MIUSB of your 1TB, boot and than see what happens. If ur 1Tb boots or if your internal HDD boots.
Yeah, it may slow down if you are thinking of virtualizing Win7 from thumbdrive. And for win7 u will need much more space than Win Xp which i am using. So maybe than you could try and use the 1TB instead of the 32GB thumbdrive.
About the drive not getting recognised in the 64 bit Win 7, i do not know why. Maybe somebody else can help you in that. But in meantime, if i wanted to get it working, i would have made a separate partiton on my internal hardrive and installed WinXP and tried to make the MIUSB from WinXP, becos it maybe that there is some conflicting issue since you are trying from a Win 7 64bit . Better would be to try from a WinXP environment. Again this is just my opinion. But somebody else maybe able to enlighten you better on this issue.

[Zug]

Well. i decided to try soemthing and i went ahead and clicked on the RMPrepUSB and once that came up, it saw all my USB drives.. so i selected my 32gb one and ran through the steps.. once it completed, the WinSetupUSB program then saw the 32gb as the rmprep got it prepared.. so, once that program saw it, i went through the steps just 1 more time to "follow" the tutorial.. atm, it is doing the winxp install from my cd now..

So, hopefully this is working.. wife is gonna send me my win7 cd this weekend as it wasnt in my cd case like i thought

after the winxp is done, gonna go to step 3 and add all the portable apps.. im still missing a bunch of the large DL's from part2 to do that part..


as a side note, think worth adding the portable apps part to my 1tb ? this way not only would i have a virtual win7 on it, but also portable apps to use when i go to friends pcs or my others as well?? just a thought

Zug

[fms]

Good to know that your 32 GB has been recognised.
It should work now, only check that you do not get any error. Try only with WInXP inside MIUSB and boot and see if it works. That way you will know that your USB boots. Than the rest you can do later. Yes it would be a good thing to have your portable applications on your 1TB. Infact i have copied mine inside the virtual windows, so that i can work from within the virtual windows itself with the portable applications.

[Zug]

hmm good idea, in order for that, would i need to install them all into my current win7 and then virtualize it? or can you copy from the usb while u are running the virutalbox and put them in then? havent ran virtual yet, so that stuff is still new to me.. gonna let this xp copy over.. had to restart it.. noticed i got the same grub error u did when you first started, so installed it like you and re ran with no error message..

anyway.. time for some sleep. .will check it in mornin.. thanks again

Zug

[fms]

I am using portable VirtualBox application and the virtual windows is Win XP Pro. So using VirtualBox it is possible to copy the portable applications. I copied it from my internal HDD (portable applications were lying there) into the virtual WinXP Pro.

[fms]

Was just wondering if it is possible to cut/paste everything (full instalation setup, isos etc) from MIUSB to someplace (say another hardisk), than format the MIUSB, and after formatting the MIUSB, cut/paste everything (full instalation setup, isos etc) back into MIUSB.
Will the MIUSB work after this formatting,cut/paste. Or do we have to use grub4dos MBR again.
The reason i am asking is that, now that i have managed to get the MIUSB working from my 1 TB HDD, i am again facing problems with some of the setups like UBCD, HBCD, DBAN.
UBCD gives some error like flushing write error.
HBCD starts to load in 100MB RAM R: and gets stuck there with a blinking cursor.
DBAN gives write error.
Once had already managed almost everything on pendrive and now having these problems on 1TBHDD
Any advice.....

[Wonko the Sane]

Once had already managed almost everything on pendrive and now having these problems on 1TBHDD
Any advice.....

The usual one :
use some "common sense" (one of the most UNcommon senses around )

Make the first partition of your hard disk smaller that 137,4 Gb, and see if anything changes.
http://www.48bitlba.com/
http://www.pcguide.c...d/bios/size.htm

...it's a big step between a bunch of Gb of the typical USB stick and 930 Gb....


Wonko

[fms]

Hi Wonko The Sane
The problems with the errors on Hiren and UBCD are because of PLoP.
As i was getting errors in 1 TB
UBCD Error: LBA Cache Flush: Write Error
Hiren Error: Creating 100 Mb Ram drive, and it gets stuck with a blinking cursor. It does nothing after that.
Finally found out that this was happening becos of PLoP, and not because of 1 TB/
I had still a pendrive (8GB) with MIUSB installed on it. So i started this MIUSB on pendrive before PLoP and everything worked fine. But when i started the MIUSB on pendrive after PLoP it gave the same errors for Hiren and UBCD as when i had used 1 TB. And as i have to use PLoP to be able to boot from 1 TB, the hiren and UBCD do not function in this condition.

Also reached to another conclusion (observation). Win 7 setup files when using MIUSB requires only one partition to be present from the source USB (in this case the 1 TB).
I reduced the size of 1 TB to 16GB only (the size as mentioned for MIUSB). When i make the 1 TB into 16GB(fat32) (rest as unallocated), the Win 7 setup files load properly. But If i keep the 16Gb as it is and make the remaining unallocated partition into a fat32 or ntfs partition, than the MIUSB from the 1 TB fails to load the Win 7 setup files. Conclusion is that on a 1 TB if i want to make the MIUSB i can make only one partition, the rest of the space goes waste as i cannot make another partition (bcos if i do that Win 7 setup files do not load).
All this i observed after trial and error.

PS:Also another inconsequential observation is that one cannot make a source installation partition of more than 20GB ( i reduced from 50gb-->32gb-->25-->22gb-->19.99gb , trial and error), bcos than also win 7 setup files fail to load. This was okay as i reduced it to 16GB(the size as specified while making the MIUSB). But making only one partition on a 1 TB and the rest going waste is a futile operation. Really hit a roadblock with this.

[Zug]

i guess it is nice that i decided not to use my 1tb for this and just stick with my 32gb... so far loaded the winxp setup files.. just need to restart machine to test it.. but waiting on the partition recovery to be done on hour 45 and i still got another 10hrs or so to go before it is finished.. well at least with this part.. the nice thing is that i was able to see some of the movies and so far it is working so glad that it is.. /love EASUS program now hehe..

but i loaded that and the portable apps.. got that working.. only issue i ran into with that part was that if you try to use one of the liberkey apps, it kept telling me i had to have liberkey's portabalizer installed wiht it. so i took a chance and copied that over into the apps folder and now I am able to use all the LK ones as well.. so that seems to be working.. once I get all this going, will install them all on my 1tb as well..

for my 1tb,.. what do you think would be the best way to partition.. should i do a 50gb partition to use for the portable apps and then split the other part in 2 and have 1 for backups and 1 for virtual pc? wondering how much space i should alot for the backup... my internal drive on this is 500.. but i was thinking that when i got home, i might use the 1tb to back up my other PC/PC's as well.. so maybe just give 200gb for virtual and then rest for backups?

Zug

[SuPaNooB]

hey, new to the board and i saw this post and wanted to try it, so i used the tutorial on my 110gb external hard drive and managed to get everything running, just having a few probs with OPHcrack and bitdefender---but ill figure some stuff out, everything else works and i managed to ADDON Avira and F-secure. I just played with the code and it worked so if i added something that wasnt needed then feel free to tell me, but right now both programs are working fine.

Avira
http://dlpro.antivir...m-common-en.iso

1. add iso to the the thumb drive or external and name it avira.iso.
2. Extract Antivir, Avupdate, initrd.gz, and vmlinuz to the drive.
3. open menu.lst on the drive and add this code in the antivirus section:

title Avira Rescue CD\nTHe latest Avira bootable antivirus.
find --set-root /avira.iso
map /avira.iso (0xff)
map --hook
kernel /vmlinuz
chainloader (0xff)


for F-Secure....
http://www.f-secure....-3.11.23804.zip

1. Add iso to the drive and name it f-secure.iso
2. Open f-secure.iso and extract the Knoppix folder to the drive and expand the boot folder tree from f-secure.iso, expand isolinux, and copy: fsecure, f2, f3, linux and paste it to boot\isolinux on the thumb drive or external drive.
3. Add the following to the menu.lst:

title F-Secure Rescue CD\nThe latest F-Secure bootable antivirus.
find --set-root /f-secure.iso
map /f-secure.iso (0xff)
map --hook
KERNEL fsecure/linux
APPEND ramdisk_size=100000 lang=en vt.default_utf8=0 apm=power-off vga=0x311 initrd=fsecure/minirt.gz nomce quiet loglevel=1 nolapic_timer nosound console=tty10 video=noblank
chainloader (0xff)

[fms]

@SuPaNooB

i used the tutorial on my 110gb external hard drive

The 110gb external hardrive, is it a single partition of 110gb or is it into more than one partition. Also is the partition in ntfs (the one where you have Mission impossible ISO's) or is it in FAT32. What is the size of the partition where you have your installation ISOes
Also is your hardisk externally powered or usb connected. Is your external hardisk recognised at boot time meaning it will first boot from external hardisk and than go to your internal hardisk.
Because i have been having some of these issues and it would help to get info.

[SuPaNooB]

@SuPaNooB

The 110gb external hardrive, is it a single partition of 110gb or is it into more than one partition. Also is the partition in ntfs (the one where you have Mission impossible ISO's) or is it in FAT32. What is the size of the partition where you have your installation ISOes
Also is your hardisk externally powered or usb connected. Is your external hardisk recognised at boot time meaning it will first boot from external hardisk and than go to your internal hardisk.
Because i have been having some of these issues and it would help to get info.

My hard drive was formatted Fat32 completely. Everything on the hard drive is all together on one single partition, it's all powered through usb. Its a Western Digital 110gb 5400rpm sata laptop drive that was pulled from a broken laptop whose motherboard got fried... this is the enclosure i used on it. http://www.newegg.co...3-057-_-Product

and while its hooked up to my tower, i just press my ESC for "boot options" and i choose boot from hard drive, then i select my external that shows up instead of my regular hard drive. ive had no issues with the tutorial other than bitdefender and OPHcrack but i did modify bitdefender to the fix that was posted but still no work.. imma be looking into adding more antiviruses on it btw in the next day or two.

[fms]

Hi
I too managed to format and increase the partition to 60GB(fat32) inside Windows XP and it's working also as a MIUSB. So it's okay with the partitioning/foramtting (FAT32)
Try this for Bitdefender

CODE
title BitDefender Rescue CD
find --set-root /BitDefender-Rescue-CD.iso
map /BitDefender-Rescue-CD.iso (0xff)
map --hook
root (0xff)
kernel /casper/vmlinuz boot=casper persistent iso-scan/filename=/BitDefender-Rescue-CD.iso splash
initrd /casper/initrd.gz

Bitdefender Download Link. Put BitDefender-Rescue-CD.iso in the root of your USB.

OPHCrack XP or Vista
Try this if the manual procedure is not working bcos by this method you would be adding extra 1 GB to your USB space. But as you have a 110gb hardisk it should not be a problem with regarding to space usage.
OPHCrack XP & Vista Download Link
Put these ISOes in the root of your USB.
Download OPH Tables For XP & Vista and unzip them to the root of your USB. In the USB root there should be a folder called tables inside which you should have a folder called xp_free_small & a folder called vista_free. You can download any tables you want to.

Code
title OphCrack XP 2.3.1 (XP Password Cracker)
find --set-root /ophcrack-xp-livecd-2.3.1.iso
map /ophcrack-xp-livecd-2.3.1.iso (0xff)
map --hook
root (0xff)
kernel /boot/bzImage rw root=/dev/null vga=normal lang=C kmap=us screen=1024x768x16 autologin
initrd /boot/rootfs.gz

Code
title OphCrack Vista 2.3.1 (Vista Password Cracker)
find --set-root /ophcrack-vista-livecd-2.3.1.iso
map /ophcrack-vista-livecd-2.3.1.iso (0xff)
map --hook
root (0xff)
kernel /boot/bzImage rw root=/dev/null vga=normal lang=C kmap=us screen=1024x768x16 autologin
initrd /boot/rootfs.gz

All the codes to be put inside the menu.lst

PS: For me the MISUB pdf manual procedure has worked incase of OPHCrack. Though this one too i tried and it had worked.
Let me know any other ISOes which you have come across which are not from here.
And which have worked for you.

[fms]

Hello Wonko The Sane
I finally managed to find out that F4 was the key which took me to the boot menu option , not the bios settings) . Boot menu options (like in your case it was F12). Here the DVD-Rom, Internal Hardisk and my 1TB WD USB external HDD were present. The boot menu recognises the 1 TB HDD. So like you had said before i remained on that screen for 3mins giving sufficient time for the 1TB to power on. The light of the 1 TB was blinking and it was powered on. So chose the option to boot from there. But alas , it was of no use. Even after choosing the boot option as the 1TB WD USB hdd, it still takes me to the Windows Boot Menu. From this it looks like it is not a timing(powering problem). In other words it looks like the 1TB Western Digital HDD does not like to boot, but has to be forced to boot via PLoP.

[SuPaNooB]

Update: Managed to get both OPHcrack and Bitdefender to work. Thanks fms. but i did manage to ADD two more ISOs to the package.

Panda SafeCD
http://www.pandasecu...ools/SafeCD.iso

1. Download and rename iso to Panda.iso
2. Extract "live" folder from the iso onto the drive and copy the iso to the drive.
3. copy this to the menu.lst

title Panda SafeCD 4.4.3.0

find --set-root /panda.iso

map /panda.iso (0xff)

map --hook

kernel /live/vmlinuz1

append initrd=/live/initrd1.img boot=live union=aufs 

chainloader (0xff)

G-data Rescue Disk
https://www.gdatasof....php?docID=7793

1. Download and rename to Gdata.iso
2. copy Gdata.iso to drive and extract dbase and Gdata folder to drive. copy linux26 and minirt26.gz from inside boot folder in Gdata.iso and paste it into the boot folder on drive.
3. Copy to menu.lst

title G-Data BootCD 2011

find --set-root /gdata.iso

map /gdata.iso (0xff)

map --hook

KERNEL /boot/linux26

APPEND quiet ramdisk_size=100000 init=/linuxrc apm=power-off vga=791 initrd=/boot/minirt26.gz nomce lang=en_GB.UTF-8

chainloader (0xff)

[fms]

Thanxs SuPaNooB for the Panda SafeCD, G-data Rescue Disk, F-Secure, will download and give a try.

Is Avira Rescue CD which you have provided the link in english. I downloaded a Avira Rescue CD from some other place (the file name looks the same as this one), and it turns out to be in German the menu, the whole GUI, after the installation).

[fms]

Hello
Couldn't get Backtrack 3 to work. Copied boot folder into BT3 folder and copied BT3 folder to root of usb. Just doesnt work........

And Kaspersky goes on upto the point where it is unpacking firmware and than the monitor goes in standby mode.

[SuPaNooB]

Thanxs SuPaNooB for the Panda SafeCD, G-data Rescue Disk, F-Secure, will download and give a try.

Is Avira Rescue CD which you have provided the link in english. I downloaded a Avira Rescue CD from some other place (the file name looks the same as this one), and it turns out to be in German the menu, the whole GUI, after the installation).

The avira rescue cd is in german but if you boot into it and look at the bottom left, you'll see the german flag and the british flag, just click on the british flag and the whole GUI will turn to english. the panda, g-data, f-secure, and avira all work on my external hard drive with no problems...if anything, i want to learn how to save the updates whenever i boot into those antiviruses and update them. Only kaspersky and avg save their updates on the hard drive.