Tips and tricks - You saw it first on TenForums!

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  1. Posts : 17,661
    Windows 10 Pro
    Thread Starter
       #21

    cereberus said:
    I think we should relax the Rules to "Tips not seen on Tenforums" - opinions anybody?
    Sorry, I very strongly disagree. The whole point of this thread is to collect tips and tricks found by our members, to see what we can come up with. It might keep the post count quite low, but that's the purpose of this thread.

    Any member is of course free to start a thread with good Windows tips found elsewhere or make a tutorial of them but that's not the point of this thread. This thread will exist to show stuff found out by Ten Forums members not previously published on other sites.

    Kari
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 15,426
    Windows10
       #22

    Kari said:
    Sorry, I very strongly disagree. The whole point of this thread is to collect tips and tricks found by our members, to see what we can come up with. It might keep the post count quite low, but that's the purpose of this thread.

    Any member is of course free to start a thread with good Windows tips found elsewhere or make a tutorial of them but that's not the point of this thread. This thread will exist to show stuff found out by Ten Forums members not previously published on other sites.

    Kari
    Fair enough provided a general tips thread is also given a "Sticky" status so it always remains prominent.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 4,201
    Windows 10 Pro x64 Latest RP
       #23

    Sticky Threads are limited so we will not be adding any more to general support at this time - Of course any thread that generates a lot of activity will automatically remain at the top of the current threads
      My Computers


  4. Posts : 15,426
    Windows10
       #24

    Create a full EUFI windows usb flash drive on a standard USB flash drive (no hard drive bit set)

    I have definitely not seen this elsewhere but one cool change in Windows 10 1703 is that it can now read (and create from diskpart) multiple partitions on a standard usb flash drive.

    I discovered this today and thought - that means I should be able to install Windows as UEFI now on a normal flash drive. Previously with any other version, you could only create a legacy bios install.

    So, I tried it and it works (I used wintousb software to do it).

    You need a decent speed usb3 really to get best performance.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 19
    Windows 10 Home x64 21H2 19044.1526
       #25

    @cereberus
    Is this the same thing by Brink on 12 Dec 2012?
    UEFI Bootable USB Flash Drive - Create in Windows
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 15,426
    Windows10
       #26

    tockx16jolt said:
    @cereberus
    Is this the same thing by Brink on 12 Dec 2012?
    UEFI Bootable USB Flash Drive - Create in Windows
    No that just creates a usb with Windows installation files on it. I am talking about a full version of windows that will execute from a flash drive. With 1703 it is now possible to do this with a uefi version on a standard flash drive (uefi requires two primary partitions, legacy bios only needed one).
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 16,325
    W10Prox64
       #27

    cereberus said:
    No that just creates a usb with Windows installation files on it. I am talking about a full version of windows that will execute from a flash drive. With 1703 it is now possible to do this with a uefi version on a standard flash drive (uefi requires two primary partitions, legacy bios only needed one).
    Sounds like a tut to me!
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 19
    Windows 10 Home x64 21H2 19044.1526
       #28

    @cereberus,
    Oh, thanks for the explanation. :)
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 15,426
    Windows10
       #29

    Mods - If it is felt this is in the wrong place or too long, please move it elsewhere. I put it here as I believe this is a technical first.

    How to create a bootable UEFI flash drive with multiple Winpe images on a standard flash drive. This is possible using version 1703 as it now handles multiple partitions on a standard removeable drive.

    So this post will show how you can put multiple winpe partitions on one flash drive in UEFI with a boot menu.

    This is a modified version of guide in Walkthrough: Boot Windows PE from a UEFI-based Hard Disk starting from step 2, and later uses a nodified version of method by Kyhi's tutorial to add additional boot entries for other OSs

    You can have say Macrium Reflect 6, Macrium Reflect 7, @Kyhi's Windows 10 recovery tool etc. all bootable on one standard flash drive.


    I believe this is truly a first. I developed this method based on MS information based on hard drives but had to modify it for a standard usb flash drive which was a bit of a challenge as some of the diskpart commands do not work on a removeable flash drive e.g. assigning drive letters.


    I apologise for length but I felt it was premature to call it a tutorial as this is "proof of concept" and better experts on me could probably polish this up.

    WARNING - you can create install Windows 10 installers but they do not work properly as they get confused due to presence of EFI on USB drive.

    DOUBLE WARNING - I cannot guarantee other Winpe isos will work as expected.

    TREBLE WARNING - So before you do anything - Make image backup of main OS drive first. I take no responsibility for any mishaps! This post is for adventurous persons who understand the potential risks. If you do not, DO NOT TRY IT.

    So let's start

    Step 1: Prepare USBInsert usb flash drive whilst running Windows 10 version 1703 and open an admin command prompt and run

    Warning: contents of flash drive are removed.


    diskpart
    list disk
    select disk n (n=usb drive number - be careful you select right drive)
    clean
    convert GPT
    create partition EFI size=200
    create partition primary size=2000 (adjust as appropriate)

    Install minitool partition wizard free if not already installed. m You need this as as you cannot assign drive letters for removeable drives in disk part but you can with MPW.

    Using MPW:

    Format EFI partition as FAT32 and give it a drive letter S
    Format Windows Partition as FAT32 and give it a drive letter TNote I use drive S for EFI and T for Windows partition - change as appropriate

    Step 2: Mount Iso

    In order to create the EFI, you need to mount a Windows 10 installation ioso - I used version 15063.

    Mount Windows PE Iso as a drive in Windows.
    This guide assumes the iso is mounted as drive D - change as appropriate

    Then mount iso you intend to have as a boot option as drive E.

    Step 3: Copy Windows PE files to the hard disk
    In this step, you copy Windows PE resource files to the hard drive from your bootable media. This example assumes the hard drive is blank.

    At a command prompt, copy the \EFI folder from your bootable media to the EFI folder of the EFI system partition on your hard drive, as in the following example:

    xcopy d:\EFI\* s:\EFI\* /cherkyfs

    where d is the letter of your bootable Windows PE media that contains a Windows 10 15063 image.

    Copy all of the files with an .efi extension from iso to the \EFI\Microsoft\Boot folder.

    If any ask for permission to overwrite, just select no.

    copy d:\efi\boot\*.efi s:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\*

    copy d:\*.efi s:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\*

    Copy the \Sources folder from your drive E image sources folder of the Windows PE partition on your hard drive, as in the following example:

    xcopy e:\sources\* t:\sources\* /cherkyfs

    Copy the \Boot\boot.sdi file from your bootable media to the \Sources folder of the Windows PE partition on your hard drive, as in the following example:

    copy e:\boot\boot.sdi t:\sources\

    Delete the boot configuration data (BCD) file that you copied from your bootable media.

    Note that you will create a new one in the next step, as in the following example,

    del s:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD /f

    Step 4: Configure the System Store
    In this step, you will create and configure a new system store by using the BCDEdit tool. The system store is a file named BCD that holds information required to load Windows or other boot applications. BCD replaces Boot.ini.

    BCDEdit is a command-line tool that is designed to manage system stores/Create a new system store, as in the following example:

    bcdedit -createstore S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD

    Create new entries in the system store for bootmgr, globalsettings, dbgsettings, ramdiskoptions, and Windows PE.

    bcdedit -store S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD -create {bootmgr} /d "Boot Manager"

    bcdedit -store S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD -create {globalsettings} /d "globalsettings"

    bcdedit -store S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD -create {dbgsettings} /d "debugsettings"

    bcdedit -store S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD -create {ramdiskoptions} /d "ramdiskoptions"

    bcdedit -store S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD -create /d "Windows PE" -application osloader

    You can put all above in a batch file if you like.

    Note: The last command returns a GUID value for Windows PE store. Cut and paste to a text file.

    Set the default entry that the boot manager selects when the timeout expires. Substitute <GUID> with the GUID value for the Windows PE store in the following example:

    bcdedit -store S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD /default <GUID from Windows PE store>

    Do not put above in a batch file as you need to use GUID from above.

    Run the following commands to configure bootmgr:

    You can put all of following in a second batch file if you like.

    bcdedit -store S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD -set {bootmgr} device partition=s:

    bcdedit -store S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD -set {bootmgr} path \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgr.efi

    bcdedit -store S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD -set {bootmgr} locale en-us

    bcdedit -store S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD -set {bootmgr} timeout 10Run the following commands to configure the boot loader:

    bcdedit -store S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD -set {Default} device ramdisk=[t:]\sources\boot.wim,{ramdiskoptions}

    bcdedit -store S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD -set {Default} path \windows\system32\winload.efi

    bcdedit -store S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD -set {Default} osdevice ramdisk=[t:]\sources\boot.wim,{ramdiskoptions}

    bcdedit -store S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD -set {Default} systemroot \windows

    bcdedit -store S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD -set {Default} winpe yes

    bcdedit -store S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD -set {Default} nx optinbcdedit -store S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD -set {Default} detecthal yes

    bcdedit -store S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD -displayorder {Default} -addfirst

    Run the following commands to configure dbgsettings:

    bcdedit -store S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD -set {dbgsettings} debugtype Serial

    bcdedit -store S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD -set {dbgsettings} debugport 1

    bcdedit -store S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD -set {dbgsettings} baudrate 115200

    Run the following commands to configure ramdiskoptions:

    bcdedit -store S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD -set {ramdiskoptions} ramdisksdidevice partition=t:
    bcdedit -store S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD -set {ramdiskoptions} ramdisksdipath \sources\boot.sdi

    Now check drive boots ok with initial winpe drive added.

    Set bios to boot from usb drive mode and ensure pc is in UEFI mode.

    Step 5: Add additional Winpse partitions

    Boot back to Windows 10 and create additional Winpse partitions as appropriate (format as ntfs) using MPW and add a drive letter eg U.

    Ignore error message saying Windows on recognises one partition.
    Mount new winpe iso as E drive and copy all files to new partition

    Step 6: Create boot addition entry batch file
    Now create an addiso.cmd file on say the root of C drive (anywhere will do) using following text copied from post #845 of @Kyhi's great tutorial.

    The only modification is I added "-store s:\efi\microsoft\boot\bcd" to every bcdedit command to point to usb bcd.

    Obviously change S as appropriate.

    In two places where it says "Win 10 PE", you can change it to whatever you like e.g. "Macrium V7"

    Change 3rd line from end to bcdedit /set {bootmgr} displaybootmenu False if you want a graphical menu

    Note some lines are continued over two lines. In .cmd file, thesw are one line.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    @echo off

    title WinPESE UEFI BOOT MENU OPTION v17.01.24

    rem ================================ YY.MM.DD

    color 17

    :start

    cls

    echo.

    echo ===============================================================================

    echo. YOU HAVE CHOOSEN TO ADD A WINPESE BOOTABLE PARTITION TO YOUR HOST

    echo ===============================================================================

    echo.

    set /p drvlttr= ^> ENTER THE DRIVE LETTER ASSIGNED TO THE WINPESE PARTITION:

    if [%drvlttr%]==[] echo.&echo Invalid User Input&echo.&echo The Partition Drive Letter Can Not Be Blank&echo.&pause&goto :start

    if not exist %drvlttr%:\sources\boot.wim echo.&echo Invalid User Input&echo.&echo The %drvlttr%:\sources\boot.wim Was Not Found&echo.&pause&goto :start

    cls

    echo.

    echo Configuring UEFI Boot Option for WinPESE Recovery Tools

    echo --------------------------------------------------------------------------

    for /f "tokens=2 delims={}" %%g in ('bcdedit.exe -store s:\efi\microsoft\boot\bcd /create /d "Win 10 PE" /Device') do (set deviceid={%%g})

    echo --------------------------------------------------------------------------

    echo DEVICE ID = %deviceid%

    echo --------------------------------------------------------------------------

    bcdedit -store s:\efi\microsoft\boot\bcd /set %deviceid% ramdisksdidevice partition=%drvlttr%:

    bcdedit -store s:\efi\microsoft\boot\bcd /set %deviceid% ramdisksdipath \boot\boot.sdi

    for /f "tokens=2 delims={}" %%g in ('bcdedit.exe -store s:\efi\microsoft\boot\bcd /create /d "Win 10 PE" /application osloader') do (set guid={%%g})

    echo --------------------------------------------------------------------------

    echo GUID = %guid%

    echo --------------------------------------------------------------------------

    bcdedit -store s:\efi\microsoft\boot\bcd /set %guid% device ramdisk=[%drvlttr%:]\sources\boot.wim,%deviceid%

    bcdedit -store s:\efi\microsoft\boot\bcd /set %guid% osdevice ramdisk=[%drvlttr%:]\sources\boot.wim,%deviceid%

    bcdedit -store s:\efi\microsoft\boot\bcd /set %guid% systemroot \windows

    bcdedit -store s:\efi\microsoft\boot\bcd /set %guid% path \Windows\system32\boot\winload.efi

    bcdedit -store s:\efi\microsoft\boot\bcd /set %guid% winpe yes

    bcdedit -store s:\efi\microsoft\boot\bcd /set %guid% detecthal yes

    bcdedit -store s:\efi\microsoft\boot\bcd /displayorder %guid% /addlast

    bcdedit -store s:\efi\microsoft\boot\bcd /set {bootmgr} displaybootmenu True

    bcdedit -store s:\efi\microsoft\boot\bcd /set {bootmgr} timeout 10

    timeout /t 5 >nul

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Step 7: Add boot entry

    Simply run the addiso.cmd file with admin rights and enter drive letter of partition to be added.

    Step 8: Use new flashdrive

    Reboot and select appropriate winpe as required.

    WARNING: Remember this is proof of concept and anybody trying this does so at their own risk Always make backup images first.
    Last edited by cereberus; 08 May 2017 at 15:59.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 17,661
    Windows 10 Pro
    Thread Starter
       #30

    I think this qualifies for "You saw it first on TenForums", have not seen DEFAULTUSER0 user profile explained anywhere else, documentation totally missing on Microsoft sites.



    Kari
      My Computer


 

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