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I have created a external hard drive contain GRUB2. This drive can boot the following:

  • Windows 10 PE
  • Ubuntu 16
  • Many ISO files.

Now I want to include Windows installations. My problem is I want to put each version of windows in its own folder like so:

  • DIR windows10x64
  • DIR windows10x32
  • DIR windows8x64
  • DIR windows8x32
  • DIR windows7x64
  • DIR windows7x32

The issue now becomes that moving the installation files from their root directory to these folders messes up the BCD. I know you can use bcdboot to repair the BCD in a windows file system. My issue is there is no windows file system within the install files.

Is there anyway to repair the BCD on a windows installation USB?

Thanks!

Gavin Youker
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1 Answers1

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If you have the Windows installation image (e.g. *.iso), all that nonsense concerning the Windows file structure on installation media is a thing of the past. Format the drive as an Easy2Boot drive*, then just copy the iso to the USB stick, and you're finished. Copy two or five or ten iso's to the stick, if you like, as long as you have the space. When you boot, you'll get a menu to select which iso you want to boot from, and you're golden.

*If the images are 4 GB or larger, you need to format the drive as NTFS or exFAT.

benJephunneh
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  • This is great, my only problem is that I am using Grub2 on a USB drive. This dual boots Windows and Ubuntu along with some ISOs... can this still be done? – Gavin Youker May 29 '16 at 19:49
  • Could you elaborate on the whole process, maybe even in your original question? It sounds like you're saying the USB drive is a hard drive that has your two OSes, in addition to installation media, is that right? If I understand correctly, then, you want to put Windows installation sources on a drive that you also boot from, and you want to be able to select what it does at boot. It sounds like something I started working on (but never finished) when I was doing computer repair. Is that your purpose, also? – benJephunneh May 29 '16 at 20:00
  • Yes that is my exact predicament. Sorry for being so unclear, I will edit my question further. The idea and uses are exactly as described. The real problem is the MBR doesn't allow more than four partitions, so I cant put each install on a separate partition (plus I find that sloppy). So my solution is to make just one partition with directories for each installer. The only issue is when moving out of the root directory and into the directories for each version, the BCD gets completely messes up... Did you ever find a workaround? – Gavin Youker May 29 '16 at 20:04
  • @Gavin: Only the boot code (for you that's grub and the Windows boot manager it chainloads to) needs to be on a primary partition -- the main OS "system volume" can be non-primary, or even a VHD. – Ben Voigt May 29 '16 at 20:13
  • Interesting.. I thought Grub2 doesn't support logical paartitons? Anytime I try booting to a logical volume through Grub2 I am met with `Error: unknown filesystem` – Gavin Youker May 29 '16 at 20:15
  • Can you explain this in more detail? Chain loading confuses me – Gavin Youker May 29 '16 at 20:33
  • I never finished the project, and my process didn't use E2B, but according to one of the developers, it'll do it. See [Reboot.Pro](http://reboot.pro/topic/21078-best-practices-usbdrive-swiss-knife/). In one tutorial, you can use an [existing grub4dos USB drive](http://www.easy2boot.com/make-an-easy2boot-usb-drive/add-e2b-to-your-own-grub4dos-usb-drive/) to which you simply copy the E2B files and edit the grub menu. I'm sorry for avoiding your question about the BCD. I only thought that might be unnecessary. If you still want to try editing the BCD and Grub, you can try BootICE. – benJephunneh May 29 '16 at 20:37