Easy2boot How To

Easy2boot How To

2017-02-01. Category & Tags: Easy2boot, Rufus, Balena Etcher, USB, Bootable, ISO

Rufus #

Open-source Microsoft application (thus can download official MS ISOs).

Rufus Features

  • It is a 100% free utility software for Windows users.
  • Rufus has a DOS-compatible environment to run legacy tools with FreeDOS and MBR partitions.
  • Allows formatting the USB disk into multiple file formats including UDF, NTFS, ReFS, or FAT.
  • Easily compute the MD5, SHA-256, and SHA-1 image hashes.
  • Elevated UAC and UI structure.
  • The program can be downloaded on both desktops and laptops.
  • Offers an auto-update feature.
  • Supports different regional languages.
  • It is compatible to download retail ISO DVD images of Windows 7, 8.1, and 10 from Microsoft servers.
  • Allows booting USB drives to .iso files, including Linux, Windows, and raw disk image files.

Pros

  • Easy to use.
  • Several advanced features.
  • GPT/UEFI support.
  • Automatic USB detection.
  • 100% free and open source.

Cons

  • Only available on Windows.
  • Can only install one distro on a USB.

ref

BalenaEtcher #

Etcher Features

  • Etcher has a modern, simple, and eye-appealing user interface. There’s also a command-line interface available.
  • Allows flashing multiple boot partitions to a USB or SD card.
  • Balena constantly updates Etcher with new and improved features.
  • Offers data security to your USB files.
  • It helps to detect corrupted cards.
  • Instate live CD versions of Clonezilla, GParted, or Tux2live.

Pros

  • Compatible with Mac, Linux, and Windows.
  • User-friendly graphic interface.
  • Free to use and modify.
  • Burns images faster (? sunny did not test).

Cons

  • Lacks the ability to perform advanced tweaking.
  • The file size is larger than Rufus.
  • By default, it sends data to balena that you have to manually turn off.

ref

Easy2boot #

The Easy2boot tools is super great, the official web site is … :(
Anyway, Easy2boot makes it very easy to have multi-bootable USB / pen-drive for several ISO’s.

require #

A big pen-drive.
Tip of space usage:

  • Easy2boot itself: 600M (DPMS version for XP) or 500M for normal version
  • ISO’s: x GB + y GB + …
  • Space for defregment: > max(x, y, …)
    (After putting everything, the left free space should be bigger than the biggest ISO file.)

install (unzip) #

Download portable Easy2Boot_vXXX.exe from Google Drive or OneDrive. (<30M before self-extraction)
(for different types of installer, see official web)
Run .exe and it will extract to Desktop and auto-run.
For .zip, extract to an EMPTY folder.
(OBS: all files in the foder will be copied to pen-drive).

make drive #

Close anti-vir soft.
Click (if downloaded .exe) or Run (if downloaded .zip) MAKE_E2B_USB_DRIVE (run as admin).cmd.
For options, we only need to choose the right pen-drive.
Use “Enter” for other options (using default).

copy isos #

Copy ISO files to the corresponding folder.

defregment #

Run MAKE_THIS_DRIVE_CONTIGUOUS.cmd.

test #

(Optional)
Run QEMU_MENU_TEST (run as admin).cmd.

usage #

Tip for win: Choco means to install updates during installation, which requires internet.

see also PXE Install, recommended by Patrik.