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Multiboot USB issues


brenryan

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Possible noob question (Please don't flame me! You don't have to reply if you don't want to!)

Hi all,

I have been having some issues creating a multiboot USB, namely XP and Win7 will not install. Also having trouble booting Backtrack5 in live mode.

One of the problems is that there are just so many guides out there, I don't know where to begin! so hopefully somebody can point me in the right direction.

I want to get a multiboot USB with the following features

XP Pro SP3 installation

Win7 Installation

Ubuntu live

Kaspersky Rescue

Clonezilla

System Rescue CD

Backtrack5

My companys proprietary installation CD (.iso)

Partition Magic

And Active@ file recovery

I tried using several applications to do this, xboot, sardu and YUMI with no success, XP and Win7 will not install.

I would like to end up using xboot as I can easily change the menu background image, but whatever works would be fine.

It's just that there are so many guides out there that I am having so much trouble. If somebody could please point me in the right direction and let me know what software and guide I should follow, I would be extremely grateful!

Many thanks,

And apologies for the noobish questions!!

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  • 4 months later...

I have been running across the same issues. I can get 1 OS to boot (either XP, vista or 7), but not more than one at a time. My idea to proceed at this point is to attempt to create a multiboot disc and then copy to flash drive and possibly try an additional partition on the same drive if possible. I would really like to have a disc for an IT guy. You know, all OSs from XP-8 with Server additions and other useful utils. I will update with any progress.

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  • 1 year later...

Reboot.pro might have usefull informations for you.

They have a driver called firadisk. Grub4Dos can copy a whole ISO into RAM. It's slow but it works. However, when the Iso contains windows it will crash afterwards because windows don't know how to read the virtual-CD from RAM (only grub does). Firadisk is fixing this problem, helping windows to continue running from virtual disc in RAM, grub created. This is acutally meant for PE-discs like bartspe. But maybe it's possible to integrate the firadisk driver into XP-Setup somehow to run a whole installation from RAM.

Edit:

Here another link with a similar topic. Please post your attempts if you should try it.

Edited by whocares02
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It's just an idea....wouldn't it be nice if such an iso-mount was combined with netboot? Just typed in "netboot" in forum-search, resulting:

No results found for 'netboot'.

Szenario could be: XP-ISO residing on a stick, plugged in a router of a home-network. Every computer in the house had access to the stick and could get a fresh (unttended) setup, streamed over internal network. Never done netboot before. Not sure how realistic this is.

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It's just an idea....wouldn't it be nice if such an iso-mount was combined with netboot? Just typed in "netboot" in forum-search, resulting:

Which is "normal" :yes:, since the procedure is not called "netboot", but rather "RIS install" or "PXE boot" or "boot from LAN" (and you will find more info for this on reboot.pro, including a dedicated subforum), here:

http://reboot.pro/forum/12-boot-from-lan/

jaclaz

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Diskless Workstation - an old concept and used at one time "back in the day".

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/D/diskless_workstation.html

http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/d/diskwork.htm

All the way back to Windows 3.x.

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

You need a better terminology/synonym book.

Or maybe (after a google of "netboot") you confuse Linux terminology? :unsure:

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Referring not to Installs but Remote Diskless Workstations. Gave the "Win3.x" as an early (and used) example.

The MS KB article - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/114425

Another example - http://www.netbsd.org/docs/network/netboot/

Same concept, different end result.

Simply pointing out the "misnomer" that was given in the search for "netboot", of which I said googled. ;)

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Just found a few infos about PXE. It looks rather complicate. As far as I understood, someone needs to setup a Smb-Server, a special tftp-server, a special dhcp-server and provide a special folder-structure on smb-share with special file-modifications of setup-files. All this just to make possible a network-boot-disk might find the setup-files.

:unsure: ...doesn't sound straight-forward actually...

It's easier just inserting a CD than booting-up another PC in network providing all neccesary servers.

Edited by whocares02
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????

ONE server!

How do you come to the conclusions that you do (quite erroneously I might add)?

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2008.07.desktopfiles.aspx

Here - try this "simplified" approach (disclaimer - have NOT used this) -

http://www.rmprepusb.com/tutorials/serva

Also look here -

http://diddy.boot-land.net/pxe/

One Server, all Server Services necessary, PXE boot from Client to Single Server, and Go-Go! I do believe the NIC has to have PXE built into the Firmware as well. The newer built-in NIC has either RIS (older), or PXE (usually), or Both.

Generally in Corporate Environments it's a lot easier to set up the Server, go to each PC and PXE boot them. And it IS much faster than using a slower CD/DVD in this case. You can also, if the SIF/XML and Server is properly set up, just walk away from each one.

Edited by submix8c
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