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UEFI Windows 8 + BIOS Grub4dos = MultiBoot USB-Harddisk

uefi win8 linux bios grub4dos vhd win7 xp multiboot usb

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#26 wimb

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Posted 17 December 2012 - 06:54 AM

The FAT32 partition is of type 0x0C

 

Type 0xEF indicates an EFI System Partition that is used in GPT partitioned harddisk.

 

In my case I don't use an EFI System partition, but just a Standard MBR and FAT32 partition formatted with Win8 tools and then the type 0x0C is OK.

 

There is a more recent version of the UEFI Secification UEFI_2_3_1_Errata_B.pdf from April 10, 2012

 

The version from 2006 is outdated.

 

:cheers:



#27 Sha0

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Posted 17 December 2012 - 07:50 AM

The FAT32 partition is of type 0x0C
Why not use 0xEF? When you use 0xEF, the partition is recognized as a system partition and can be used for booting. If 0x0C is working for you, doesn't that seem lucky, given the quotes from my previous post?

Type 0xEF indicates an EFI System Partition that is used in GPT partitioned harddisk.
I think you're mistaken. You will never see 0xEF on a GPT disk, because a GPT disk must have only one "partition" in the Protective MBR that has type 0xEE. (See your UEFI 2.3.1's 5.2.3, table 14.)

In my case I don't use an EFI System partition, but just a Standard MBR and FAT32 partition formatted with Win8 tools and then the type 0x0C is OK.
12.3.4 Media Formats -> 12.3.4.3 Hard Drive:
...Images that are to be booted must be stored under the EFI subdirectory as defined in Section 12.3.1 and Section 12.3.2.
12.3.1 System Partition. 12.3.2 Partition Discovery.

There is a more recent version of the UEFI Secification UEFI_2_3_1_Errata_B.pdf from April 10, 2012
 
The version from 2006 is outdated.
I had actually typed the timestamp into each quote of the last post, but the bulletin board software stripped it out. The UEFI 2.3 that I usually use is from May, 2009. It's nice to have 2.3.1, but why would you use it as a reference for real systems? The older, the better, don't you think?

#28 wimb

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Posted 17 December 2012 - 08:58 AM

Type 0xEF would require to use GPT partition table, that I don't use.

 

UEFI is booting fine with Standard MBR and FAT32 partition of type 0x0C made by win 8 format tool.

 

The FAT32 boot partition contains the EFI folder.

Windows 8 is located on NTFS System partition.

 

Latest UEFI specification will be improved and better than earlier versions.

 

Did you try to boot MBR USB-harddisks on UEFI computers ?

Can you give some experimental results ?



#29 steve6375

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Posted 17 December 2012 - 09:26 AM

You can run a small exe to see if you are in Legacy mode or UEFI mode once you have booted to WinPE/Windows.
Just to make sure that the system really has booted via UEFI...


#30 Sha0

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Posted 17 December 2012 - 10:10 AM

Type 0xEF would require to use GPT partition table, that I don't use.
I just pointed you to the references that explain that you are mistaken.
You will never see 0xEF on a GPT disk, because a GPT disk must have only one "partition" in the Protective MBR that has type 0xEE. (See your UEFI 2.3.1's 5.2.3, table 14.)


Beyond that, please review your UEFI 2.3.1's section 5.2.1 Legacy Master Boot Record (MBR). I quoted it before, but here's the relevant portion again:
...
If an MBR partition has an OSType field of 0xEF (i.e., UEFI System Partition), then the firmware must add the UEFI System Partition GUID to the handle for the MBR partition using InstallProtocolInterface(). This allows drivers and applications, including OS loaders, to easily search for handles that represent UEFI System Partitions. ...
One could argue that 12.4 Simple File System Protocol's inclusion of:
...
The firmware automatically creates handles for any block device that supports the following file system formats:
  • FAT12
  • FAT16
  • FAT32


suggests that you are experiencing more than just "luck," but unless type 0x0C appears in the UEFI Specification, then why use it? (The "Note" under 5.2.2 in your UEFI 2.3.1 does not appear under Appendix Q.) It seems to me like it's a better idea to use 0xEF, especially since it guarantees that the partition is recognized as a UEFI System Partition, which is used for booting.

UEFI is booting fine with Standard MBR and FAT32 partition of type 0x0C made by win 8 format tool.
I'm glad that it's working for you, and might even work for some other people and some other systems. But can you offer a good reason not to use 0xEF instead of 0x0C?

Latest UEFI specification will be improved and better than earlier versions.

Did you try to boot MBR USB-harddisks on UEFI computers ?
Can you give some experimental results ?
Yes and no.

It might be that the Intel EDK2's [open] source code has some relevance to real UEFI implementations in the world (consider what source code might be used for reference or actual inclusion, in the world). In that case, you could have a look at its MdePkg/Include/IndustryStandard/Mbr.h file and MdeModulePkg/Universal/Disk/PartitionDxe/Mbr.c file, then search for EFI_PARTITION in both.

But I give up, because the experimental evidence that has accumulated in this thread so far supports what's currently working for you. :thumbsup: Maybe I shouldn't criticize without a ready counter-example. ;)

#31 wimb

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Posted 17 December 2012 - 12:49 PM

I'm glad that it's working for you, and might even work for some other people and some other systems. But can you offer a good reason not to use 0xEF instead of 0x0C?


Yes you are right,  GPT is not needed for type 0xEFand it works as well, but

1. The Win8 tools will make and keep it as 0x0C - FAT32 format win 8 followed by bcdboot.exe M:\Windows /l nl-NL /s E: /f UEFI
2. It is working OK and made auto by win8 tools
3. Don't fix it if it ain't broke

4. When booting with Windows 8 from internal harddisk, then 0xEF type makes EFI FAT32 partition of USB invisible in Windows Explorer
so that you cannot modify easily the content of the FAT32 USB partition e.g. modify grub4dos menu.lst and adding Boot Image files.


:cheers:

Thanks steve6375 for the tool :)



#32 halikus

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Posted 17 December 2012 - 11:32 PM

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Some EFI thoughts and tricks i use and have tested thoroughly.

 

To boot EFI from USB, it must be on a fat32 partition.  I have a USB with an ntfs partition and a fat32 partition.  Windows can only read 1 at a time, but you can use bootice to set either one as active.  The ntfs partition is a "normal" setup and what i set active, and the fat32 partition has the bootmgr.efi, EFI dir and a sources\boot.wim (x64).  When my bios is set to efi boot, it defaults to the fat32 partition.  In my boot options, it lists the USB twice, with an mbr boot, and an efi boot.

 

 EFI\boot\bootx64.efi is only for USB boot, and then reads EFI\microsoft\boot\bcd.  An efi bios looks for this file ONLY.

For CD\DVD booting,  EFI\microsoft\boot\cdboot.efi is used, usually inside  EFI\microsoft\boot\efisys.bin and then reads EFI\microsoft\boot\bcd

 

bootia32.efi (Win8 x86) only works on Macs and a system with efi 2.3.  I have had zero success with this file.

 

A Win7 bootx64.efi will only boot Win7 in EFI, and a Win8 bootx64.efi will only boot Win8 in EFI

 

Win7 doesn't have a efi\boot\boot64.efi on the DVD, but you can rename and use \windows\boot\efi\bootmgfw.efi as efi\boot\boot64.efi.  I think the file inside \cdboot.efi works also.

 

Win 7 x86 doesn't support EFI, but does read GPT partitions.

 

XP doesn't support EFI, nor reads GPT partitions (im 99% sure)

 

Vista SP0 doesn't support EFI or GPT, but x64 SP2 and SP1 does.

 

You can use a grub2 grub.efi file to boot to a EFI shell and then load another EFI file.  I believe i took one from the newest Ubuntu.

 

You can use "refined" bootloader to boot to a small gui where you can reference alternate efi files to boot.  I renamed the refined.efi file boot64.efi in efi\boot.  My refind.conf file is like this :

 

menuentry "Windows 7 x64 EFI" {
    icon \efi\boot\icons\os_win.icns
    loader \efi\boot\7bootx64.efi
}
menuentry "Windows 8 x64 EFI" {
    icon \efi\boot\icons\os_win.icns
    loader \efi\boot\8bootx64.efi
}
menuentry "EFI Shell" {
    icon efi/boot/icons/os_linux.icns
    loader /efi/boot/shellx64.efi
}
menuentry "Grub2 EFI x64" {
    icon efi/boot/icons/os_linux.icns
    loader /efi/boot/Grubx64.efi
}
menuentry "Grub2 EFI x86" {
    icon efi/boot/icons/os_linux.icns
    loader /efi/boot/Grubx86.efi
}

 

You must also add entries in the EFI\microsoft\boot\bcd for the various boot.wims (if more than 1), booting winload.efi instead of winload.exe.  If you select the Win8 efi file in refined, you must select the Win8 wim from the bcd.

 

You CAN edit efisys.bin placing whatever boot64.efi file you desire, or else use a 4 meg grub.bin with the refined files and various boot64.efi files renamed.

 

bootmgr.efi in the root of the drive from a win8 source will boot a win7 or grub boot64.efi file.

 

The only difference between efisys.bin and efisys_noprompt.bin is booting asking you to press a key to continue.

 

You don't need the \boot directory to boot efi on usb, but you need \boot\etfsboot.com to author a dvd\cd with oscdimg.

 

Grub4dos grub4dos-0.4.6a-2012-10-02, and syslinux syslinux-4.06 boot from ntfs now.   From an ntfs MBR boot, using grub4dos you can load "EFI boot duet".  I use this in my menu.lst.

 

title    Tianocore UEFI UDK DUET x86_64 (fat32 USB)\n  Loads Tinacore Boot Duet so that you can force EFI loading on a pesky Bios.      Must be fat32 if USB.
find --set-root --ignore-floppies /boot/EXTRA/EFI_DUET.img.gz
kernel /boot/grub/memdisk raw
initrd /boot/EXTRA/EFI_DUET.img.gz

 

It WILL boot into EFI on an mbr system or mbr boot.  You will need a fat32 partition and the needed efi dir and files for it to work.


Edited by halikus, 18 December 2012 - 12:09 AM.

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#33 wimb

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Posted 18 December 2012 - 05:58 AM

Thanks for testing EFI booting from USB and giving detailed description.

 

In the text you use a few times boot64.efi but that must be a typo since the EFI bootfile has name bootx64.efi

 

Interesting that you can combine EFI booting of Win 7x64 and Win 8x64 by using "refined" bootloader.

 

:cheers:


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#34 halikus

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Posted 18 December 2012 - 06:15 AM

Yes, defiantly a typo.  The boot64.efi references should all be bootx64.efi.   I originally had to be very creative with my EFI experiments as i had one of the annoying Intel "Hybrid" EFI bios as i have a GA-Z678ap-d3 mobo.   They have since released a full efi bios.  Some bios have a built in EFI shell to choose the boot file, whereas mine doesn't.  Refined helps overcome this limitation and adds a nice gui for the sake of a few files and megabytes.   The "Tinacore boot duet" is also a nice addition if you tend to use grub4dos and have a stubborn mobo.  Also, in the refind config file, i believe the / and \ are dependent on a Windows file or linux based file.  Thats not a typo.

 

Another trick i forgot to mention is when testing in vmware you can add the the following line in the vmx file to make it boot EFI.

 

firmware= "efi"


Edited by halikus, 18 December 2012 - 06:19 AM.

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#35 wimb

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Posted 18 December 2012 - 08:29 AM

bootia32.efi (Win8 x86) only works on Macs and a system with efi 2.3.  I have had zero success with this file.

 

Do you expect that I can boot an iMac with my MBR USB-harddisk using EFI\Boot\bootx64.efi and Windows 8 x64 ?

 

:cheers:


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#36 Sha0

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Posted 18 December 2012 - 09:17 AM

Some EFI thoughts and tricks i use and have tested thoroughly.
Thanks for sharing. :)

To boot EFI from USB, it must be on a fat32 partition.
The UEFI Specification 2.3 has, in section 12.3.4.1 Removable Media:
Removable media may contain a standard FAT12, FAT16, or FAT32 file system. ...
If you are using legacy MBR, you can set the OSType field for the partition to 0xEF to identify it as a EFI System Partition, suitable for booting from. Are you already doing this?

... The ntfs partition is a "normal" setup and what i set active, and the fat32 partition has the bootmgr.efi, EFI dir and a sources\boot.wim (x64).
Did you mean BootMgFw.efi, or did you really mean BootMgr.efi?

... EFI\boot\bootx64.efi is only for USB boot, and then reads EFI\microsoft\boot\bcd. An efi bios looks for this file ONLY.
(I think you meant an AMD64, 64-bit UEFI firmware looks for that file. ;) )

For CD\DVD booting, EFI\microsoft\boot\cdboot.efi is used, usually inside EFI\microsoft\boot\efisys.bin and then reads EFI\microsoft\boot\bcd
I think that EFISys.bin is an El Torito EFI System Partition image and the efi\boot\bootx64.efi inside is the renamed cdboot.efi you mention.

bootia32.efi (Win8 x86) only works on Macs and a system with efi 2.3. I have had zero success with this file.
Have you tried using a non-AMD64-compatible, 32-bit system with (U)EFI firmware?

...
Win7 doesn't have a efi\boot\boot64.efi on the DVD, but you can rename and use \windows\boot\efi\bootmgfw.efi as efi\boot\boot64.efi. I think the file inside \cdboot.efi works also.
Did you mean the file inside efisys.bin? Or is there an embedded file inside cdboot.efi?

Win 7 x86 doesn't support EFI, but does read GPT partitions.
Did you mean that Microsoft Windows 7 doesn't have a 32-bit BootMgFw.efi nor a 32-bit cdboot.efi?

XP doesn't support EFI, nor reads GPT partitions (im 99% sure)
Maybe some day it will. ;)

Vista SP0 doesn't support EFI or GPT, but x64 SP2 and SP1 does.
Did you mean that there are no (U)EFI boot-loaders for Windows Vista?

...
bootmgr.efi in the root of the drive from a win8 source will boot a win7 or grub boot64.efi file.
Did you mean bootmgr.efi or bootmgfw.efi, there?

...
You don't need the \boot directory to boot efi on usb,
Do you mean if your (U)EFI firmware or GRUB EFI allows you to select a file? I thought your USB layout did have a boot\ directory...

...
Grub4dos grub4dos-0.4.6a-2012-10-02, and syslinux syslinux-4.06 boot from ntfs now. From an ntfs MBR boot, using grub4dos you can load "EFI boot duet".
You can also boot DUET's EFILdr directly from Syslinux with a patched chain.c32.

Another trick i forgot to mention is when testing in vmware you can add the the following line in the vmx file to make it boot EFI.

firmware= "efi"
Cool info, halikus!
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#37 halikus

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Posted 18 December 2012 - 02:51 PM

Do you expect that I can boot an iMac with my MBR USB-harddisk using EFI\Boot\bootx64.efi and Windows 8 x64 ?

 

:cheers:

I only run OSX in Vmware, and honestly kind of hate Mac, so i haven't ever tested any of this on a real Mac system.  I have read about it in theory alot in my travels, and all i know for sure is its possible.  A DVD may work better, but a USB should work if it has the option to boot to usb in the bios.  I have minor surgery in an hour, but afterwards ill round up some of my Mac notes.  Im curious about this myself, because if i ever get a second hand Mac it will have windows installed on it faster than you can say itunes.  :)

 

Ill also answer Sha0 questions, but to clarify my testing USB, I use (mainly) a 16 gig Centron USB stick that i formatted a 15 gig partition in NTFS, ran bootsect /nt60 DRIVE: /force /mbr to have the USB boot, and then formatted a second fat32 1 gig partition.  On my motherboard, with this setup, i have 2 options to boot from USB stick, "Normal" (MBR) or "Centron : EFI".  As far as i know, as long as it is fat32\16 and has \efi\boot\bootx64.efi it will find it and offer the option to boot to it.  On the fat32 partition i have  bootmgr.efi in the root (possibly unneeded), the efi dir and an x64 boot.wim in sources.  It will see and use the install.wim on the ntfs partition with this setup.  I use bootice to switch between the partitions in Windows to edit them (Windows only sees 1 partition on a USB stick at a time) and leave the ntfs partition set to active, even when booting EFI.  In bootice, i select the USB, choose "Parts manage", "Reformat USB", and under "USB-HDD mode (Multi partitions)" i choose a partition and click "Set accessible".


Edited by halikus, 18 December 2012 - 03:34 PM.


#38 cdob

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Posted 18 December 2012 - 11:17 PM

Similar approach as in USB Stick (removabe bit set)
http://reboot.pro/to...on/#entry160690


Given a USB hard disk (X25-V40) at a Asrock A75M-HVS, 'BIOS' 1.8
Hard disk prepared at Windows 7 default tools.
FAT32 first partiton - MBR offset +446 avtive Type 0B - 7GB - Windows 8 installation files
NTFS second partiton - MBR offset +462

Boot selection offers a USB MBR and a EFI USB device: file /efi/boot/bootx64.efi is found


Next Partition table entries swapped with a hex editro, files at hard disk not changed:
FAT32 partiton - MBR offset +462 active Type 0B - Windows 8 installation files
NTFS partiton - MBR offset +446
That's partition sorting is different to partition table sorting.


Boot selection offers a USB MBR device only: file /efi/boot/bootx64.efi is not found


Next Partition type changed: 0x0B to 0xEF
Boot selection offers a USB MBR device only: file /efi/boot/bootx64.efi is not found


Original partition table restored:
Boot selection offers a USB MBR and a EFI USB device: file /efi/boot/bootx64.efi is found


The partition type 0xEF is ignored, or partition is rejected.
Compare 5.2.1 Legacy Master Boot Record (MBR), can be disk layout.



New approach:
diskpart clean, first a NTFS partition and FAT32 partition next.
NTFS first partiton - MBR offset +446
FAT32 second partiton - MBR offset +462 avtive Type 0C - Windows 8 installation files
That's partition sorting is matches partition table sorting.
Boot selection offers a USB MBR and a EFI USB device: file /efi/boot/bootx64.efi is found



Conclusion:
The given firmware read all partition table entries. A partition can be recected nontheless.
And search for the magic file name at relating partitions.



#39 Sha0

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Posted 18 December 2012 - 11:41 PM

Next Partition type changed: 0x0B to 0xEF
Boot selection offers a USB MBR device only: file /efi/boot/bootx64.efi is not found
Why did you mix a test for the order of partitions with a test for using 0xEF? :) If the firmware has a bug regarding its processing of a legacy MBR partition table, I would not expect that any measure could "undo" that bug, short of fixing the cause for the bug... The order of the partitions. Unfortunately, someone reading your post might only remember "0xEF doesn't seem to matter." :chair:

:loleverybody:

EDIT: Alternatively, it mightn't be a bug at all... Post #25 quotes a portion of the specification which grants license to the implementation to ignore UEFI System Partitions. That is, it could be used by the vendor as an "excuse" for their bug. ;)

#40 wimb

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Posted 20 December 2012 - 06:31 AM

Conclusion:
The given firmware read all partition table entries. A partition can be recected nontheless.
And search for the magic file name at relating partitions.

 

Thanks for interesting results and confirming UEFI booting of Windows 8 on MBR USB-harddisks.

 

Did you try on UEFI computers booting from USB-harddisk with Grub4dos menu and selecting Boot Image files (VHD or ISO)  ?

 

:cheers:



#41 wimb

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Posted 28 December 2012 - 01:50 PM

Bring up the Windows 8 Shut down dialog box

 

While on your desktop (use Windows Key + D), click on Alt+F4 to bring up the shutdown dialog box.
This box will give you quick access to shutdown, restart, sleep, switch user and sign out from your Windows 8 computer.

 

 

Attached File  Shutdown-Win8.png   15.26KB   11 downloads

 

The easiest way to Shutdown your computer is to use the Sleep button on your Keyboard (Sleep with auto Shutoff after 1 hr).

Spacebar or mouseclick or Start computer wlll bring up direct the Desktop instead of the unwanted Metro Startscreen.

 

Back to DOS ? .......

 

More Shortcuts:

 

1. Windows Key + C: Displays Charms menu.

2. Windows Key + X: Brings up a menu of advanced system options, including Windows Control Panel, Command Prompt, Task Manager and File Explorer.

3. Windows Key + I: Displays the Settings menu for the current app. For example, if you’re in Internet Explorer 10, this key shows Internet options. If you’re on the Start menu, it shows general OS settings.

4. Windows Key + Q: Brings up the apps search menu that allows you to search your list of installed programs.

5. Windows Key + D: Activates desktop mode.

6. Windows Key + Tab: Brings up the Task Switcher and toggles between Windows 8-style apps.

7. Windows Key + H: Brings up Share menu for the current app. For example, hitting Windows Key + H in Bing Maps, lets you email or share map information on social networks.

8. Windows Key + M: Opens desktop mode and minimizes all windows.

9. Windows Key + W: Opens universal search menu and sets it to search settings.

10. Windows Key + F: Opens universal search menu and sets it to search files.

11. Windows Key + R: Opens Run menu where you can launch programs by typing in their executable file names.

12. Windows Key + E: Opens File Explorer to the “My Computer” view which shows all your drives.

13. Windows Key +Number Key (1-9): Switch to desktop mode and make the Nth application on the task bar active where N is the number key you hit and 1 is the furthest taskbar icon to the left.

14. Windows Key + . (period key): Docks the current Windows 8-style application to the right or left, depending on how many times you hit it.

15. Windows Key + Z: Brings up app menu, which shows contextual options for the active app.

 

Windows key: Switch between Metro Start screen and Normal Desktop with the last accessed application
 

 

http://blogs.msdn.co...-shortcuts.aspx

http://blog.laptopma...board-shortcuts

http://en.wikipedia....board_shortcuts

http://www.thewindow...start-windows-8

http://www.winvistaclub.com/t133.html

 

:cheers:



#42 Wonko the Sane

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Posted 28 December 2012 - 04:25 PM

Back to DOS ? .......

 

Naah good ol' dos needed not a fancy "DOS key" (and at least it was NOT targeted to keyboardless touchscreen computing ;))

 

By using all these keyboard shortcuts (BTW without documenting them properly) they managed to alienate all "serious" computer users, that as you might well know, use an IBM "M" keyboard (which of course has not that fancy "windows key", you know, the one you press by mistake when you want to press either Control or Alt).

JFYI:

http://www.msfn.org/...ari-xl-feeling/

 

Clickity, clickity, click.

 

:cheers:

Wonko



#43 wimb

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Posted 29 December 2012 - 07:07 AM

By using all these keyboard shortcuts (BTW without documenting them properly) they managed to alienate all "serious" computer users, that as you might well know, use an IBM "M" keyboard (which of course has not that fancy "windows key", you know, the one you press by mistake when you want to press either Control or Alt).

 

The Menu Key is missing also on IBM M-keyboard.

Fortunately we have nowadays also the mouse, where right-click will bring up the Context Menu.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menu_key

 

In Windows 8 when you right-click in the lower left corner,

then you get the handy System Menu that otherwise is available with Windows Key + X

 

Windows Key + X: Brings up a menu of advanced system options, including Windows Control Panel, Command Prompt, Task Manager and File Explorer

 

This shortcut is really an improvement and useful for admin's and hopefully Microsoft will add Shutdown to that menu.

 

For now Alt+F4 is the best and easiest option to have control over Shutdown options .... (and you don't need the Windows Key ;) )

 

Windows 8 is quite powerful (better than Windows 7) when booting from USB on a lot of different hardware.

Install on USB and Booting from USB is supported by default and Windows 8 easily adjusts to different hardware

and all drivers are auto installed for all tested hardware ....

In some cases e.g. ATI Radeon X1200 Integrated Graphics resolution is rather limited e.g. 1024 x 768

There is no suitable Windows 8 Graphics adapter available and in that case Microsoft Basic Display-adapter is used.

 

It is useful to change some file associations e.g. .jpg and .mp3 if you want to make use of

Windows Photo Viewer and Windows Media Player.

Otherwise the Metro Apps are used and that will be unwanted for a regular Desktop User.

 

Windows 8 is Universal for booting from USB :)

 

:cheers:



#44 machacks

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Posted 29 December 2012 - 09:58 PM

 i did quick scan threw this thread, i didn't see anything on these tools.  I figure it might help a few.  Excuse my post if it missed another post  with links or you already know of them.

 

 

GPT fdisk 

is a disk partitioning tool loosely modeled on Linux fdisk, but used for modifying GUID Partition Table (GPT) disks. The related FixParts utility fixes some common problems on Master Boot Record (MBR) disks.

 

FixParts

program is an offshoot of my GPT fdisk (gdisk, cgdisk, and sgdisk) software. FixParts is a text-mode tool for Linux, FreeBSD, Mac OS X, and Windows that's designed to correct some common problems with computer partition tables. The usual symptom of the problems FixParts is intended to fix is a disk that shows no partitions in GParted or similar tools, although you know the disk to contain partitions because they're visible to the Linux kernel or to other partitioning software. 

 

FixParts Tutorial

 

refind

is a boot manager, meaning that it presents a menu of options to the user when the computer first starts up, as shown below. rEFInd is not a boot loader, which is a program that loads an OS kernel and hands off control to it.


Edited by machacks, 29 December 2012 - 10:02 PM.

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#45 wimb

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Posted 30 December 2012 - 05:28 AM

GPT fdisk 
is a disk partitioning tool loosely modeled on Linux fdisk, but used for modifying GUID Partition Table (GPT) disks. The related FixParts utility fixes some common problems on Master Boot Record (MBR) disks.
 
Thanks for Links to interesting tools and sites with detailed Info.
 
There is a lot to learn since UEFI and GPT were completely unknown to me.
 
:cheers:

#46 Sha0

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Posted 30 December 2012 - 07:04 AM

 i did quick scan threw this thread, i didn't see anything on these tools.  I figure it might help a few.  Excuse my post if it missed another post  with links or you already know of them.

Welcome to the reboot.pro forums! :)  Long time, no type!  (2010 ;) )

 

---EDIT---

Oops!  machacks is not Mr. Rod Smith from www.rodsbooks.com

machacks: When you copied and pasted those descriptions, that included "my GPT fdisk", which is not yours! :eek:



#47 machacks

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Posted 31 December 2012 - 01:48 AM

Welcome to the reboot.pro forums! :)  Long time, no type!  (2010 ;) )

 

---EDIT---

Oops!  machacks is not Mr. Rod Smith from www.rodsbooks.com

machacks: When you copied and pasted those descriptions, that included "my GPT fdisk", which is not yours! :eek:

wimb...  I figure these might help few after scanning threw your thread.  gpt fdisk is awesome tool for multiboot systems .  

 

Sha0,  Oops, sorry about that.  I didn't notice it said that..   I did quick copy & paste of description without reading all of it.  

 

I do not have option to edit post today...!!!  Is there time frame for edits on reboots?

 

Can admin correct that for me?  It' post # 44, Change 1st line under FixParts too "program is an offshoot of GPT fdisk"

 

Thanks


Edited by machacks, 31 December 2012 - 02:02 AM.


#48 wimb

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Posted 02 January 2013 - 06:23 AM

Inspired by the UEFI MultiBoot results of halikus http://reboot.pro/to...e-2#entry164531
 
UEFI Multiboot USB - Windows 8 and Linux Parted Magic

UEFI Booting Linux Parted Magic involves two steps:
1. For UEFI Multiboot we use the refind EFI Boot Manager instead of the normal UEFI bootfile EFI\Boot\bootx64.efi
2. In EFI Boot Manager we use Grub2 and select Parted Magic from Grub2 Boot Menu

refind - EFI Boot Manager http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/

- download the latest binary zip file e.g. refind-bin-0.6.2.zip
- copy the content of refind folder to folder EFI\Boot of your USB FAT32 boot drive for Windows 8
- rename existng EFI\Boot\bootx64.efi as 8bootx64.efi for booting Windows 8
- copy file refind_x64.efi as file bootx64.efi  that is EFI Boot Manager in folder EFI\Boot
- add in folder EFI\Boot the supplied boot info files refind.conf and grub.cfg and Grub2 file grubx64.efi
- download latest Parted Magic ISO e.g. pmagic_2012_12_25.iso from http://partedmagic.c...hp?id=downloads
- copy the pmagic directory from the Parted Magic ISO to the root of your USB FAT32 Boot Partition
- menu entry for Parted Magic is in EFI\Boot\grub.cfg

Info see http://forums.parted....php?f=2&t=1960

Booting Parted Magic from USB goes like

- Boot and press Del to Enter BIOS - Disable SecureBoot - Save Settings with F10
- Reboot and just after beep press F8 or F12 to get BIOS Boot Menu
- UEFI USB > EFI Boot Manager file EFI\Boot\bootx64.efi > Grub2 EFI x64 file EFI\Boot\grubx64.efi > Grub2 Boot Menu

 Attached File  UEFI-Multiboot.7z   154.67KB   124 downloads

 

 

After booting with Windows 8 from USB you can run WinNTSetup2

and use R-mouse to mount Setup ISO and prepare drive for Install of Windows 7 or 8 or XP

 

http://www.msfn.org/...-winntsetup-v2/

http://www.911cd.net...showtopic=24424

 

 

 

In MultiBoot configurations Windows 8 quite often will set the NTFS dirty bit On for ALL local drives. :ph34r:

Next boot then chkdsk will run on ALL local drives.

 

Setting of the NTFS dirty bit can be prevented with this registry tweak to Disable Hiberboot

 

 

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

 

; Windows 8 Disable Hiberboot to prevent NTFS dirty bit in case of MultiBoot causing running of chkdsk

 

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Power]
"HiberbootEnabled"=dword:00000000

 

 

More Info here

 

http://www.trickday....t-in-windows-8/

http://www.msfn.org/...38#entry1016938

 

:cheers:


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#49 wimb

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Posted 21 January 2013 - 09:34 AM

In case Windows 8 is unbootable then booting with an USB-stick with Windows Recovery Environment can be used to launch System Restore
by using Advanced Options and then use a Restore Point (if present) to restore Windows 8 system to an earlier state.

 

Such USB-stick Recovery Drive can be made from Configuration > Recovery Menu
For USB-stick everything works fine, but don't apply this to an existing multi-partition USB-harddisk. :ph34r:  :ph34r:

 

**** WARNING **** :eek: :ph34r:
In case of USB-harddisk then creating the Recovery Drive will destroy the entire MBR
so that all other partitions are gone (the partition entries in the table are simply zeroed)
New MBR is created with one partition equal in size of the original first partition,
but with new alignment (Start Sector = 2048 instead of 63)

 

Fortunately I could repair my MBR of USB-harddisk to the original state by using TinyHexer and an earlier created MBR backup
so that my valuable DATA on the other partitions are accessible again, but the initial loss of the data partitions was quite a shock. :eek:

Microsoft has forgotten that simply Formatting the drive of the first partition and may be adjusting the MBR bootcode would have been sufficient,

but instead they decided to repartition the entire USB-harddisk by creating the New MBR that they liked to use .....

 

ERUNT cannot be used in Windows 8 to Backup the Registry files.

Instead I am using now a handy utility that allows Backup and Restore of Windows 8 Registry files (e.g. default sam security system and software in folder system32\config)

 

Registry Backup

Tweaking.com - Registry Backup is a free backup tool that will use the Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service to backup your system registry.

 

http://www.tweaking....try_backup.html

 

:cheers:

 

In Windows 8 use Configuration > Recovery to make Windows 8 Recovery USB-stick.

To save space and time you can Uncheck to Copy Recovery Partition (needed in case of Factory Restore)

 

It boots in UEFI Secure boot with Recovery Environment and with Advanced Options e.g. System Restore or Command prompt

 

Windows 8 Recovery ramdisk is as good (even better) than WinPE 4.0

 

In Recovery environment using command prompt, I can launch notepad and via File open get Explorer browser GUI

and can launch with R-mouse menu as administrator any 64-bits program e.g. WinNTSetup2_x64.exe to Install any Windows version ......

by mounting with R-mouse any Windows Setup ISO file. :1st:

 

I have made TBx64.exe AutoIt3 program and added to system32 in Win8 Recovery boot.wim

Remove winpeshl.ini and add modified startnet.cmd to launch TBx64.exe and Recovery Environment.

 

TBx64.exe will search for TBLauncher64.exe found e.g. in in root of USB-stick.

All Apps can be in root of USB-stick and launched from TBLauncher Menu.

 

On booting from USB-stick then Recovery environment appears auto with TBLauncher Menu.

One can launch e.g. WinNTSetup2_x64.exe and prepare drive for install of any Windows e.g. XP

 

Download TBx64.exe from http://www.mediafire.../#233dka636369k

 

http://reboot.pro/to...e-4#entry166946

 


More Info on Universal PE http://reboot.pro/to...pe/#entry166561


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#50 Wonko the Sane

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Posted 21 January 2013 - 01:14 PM

Are you hinting that maybe some (please read as most) MS engineers/programmers are headless chickens, BUT with the serious complication of being presumptuous and arrogant besides headless?

If - by any chance - you were not, I am doing it now ;)

 

How much would have costed them :ranting2: to check:

  1. Fixed/Removable bit of the device
  2. Existance of more than tone partition in the MBR partition table

 

:dubbio:

 

I wonder how much time it will take them to publish a KB to state how this senseless and potentially VERY dangerous :ph34r: feature is "by design" :unsure:

 

:cheers:

Wonko







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