grub 2 -restore boot loader onto portable hard drive

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Do you have a removable hard disk with dual-boot systems and Grub2 boot loader? This is a simple tutorial about how to restore/reinstall grub2 on a removable hard disk using a Ubuntu machine.

Commonly, to restore Grub2 is just this three commands to reinstall it on that device.

sudo apt-get install grub-pc grub-common     # commonly installed already.
sudo grub-install --root-directory=/ /dev/sda    # install grub onto device /dev/sda.
sudo update-grub       # create grub.cfg config file.

Now, we’re going to restore grub2 on a portable hard drive using a Ubuntu machine. First plug in this device, assume that it is “/dev/sdb” (use sudo fdisk -l to check it) and mounted on “/mnt” (sudo mount /dev/sdbX /mnt). Just use previous three commands with the second one changed to:

sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt/ /dev/sdb

Now, everything’s done but “sudo update-grub” which will create “grub.cfg” config file on Ubuntu local drive rather than the portable hard drive, and the boot entries are the system entries on local drive.

Note: before following, make a backup first!

1.) To make “grub.cfg” created onto portable hard drive, edit “/usr/sbin/grub-mkconfig”

change:

sysconfdir=/etc

into:

sysconfdir=/mnt/etc

And run this to create a “grub.cfg” that will finally be moved into portable drive (under /mnt/boot/grub/)

sudo grub-mkconfig -o /PATH/grub.cfg

2.) For the boot entries, just edit the section in “grub.cfg”. Following may help. About add/remove grub2 entries, refers to http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1195275

ls -l /dev/disk/by-uuid # look up uuid of all device
ls -l /mnt/boot   # look for useful kernels

FlashBoot

FlashBoot is a tool to convert Windows XP/Vista/7 installation CD/DVD to bootable USB disk, useful for Windows installation on netbooks and other devices without CD/DVD drive. FlashBoot supports USB flash thumbdrives and USB hard disks.
Also, using FlashBoot you can create blank bootable USB flash with minimal set of system files and then manually tune it for your needs, or convert a full-featured bootable CD-ROM or floppy disk to bootable USB Flash keeping all functionality. Different operating systems are supported: Windows 7/Vista, Windows XP, SysLinux-based disks, GRUB4DOS disks, Linux kernel etc.
Click here for more info: http://www.prime-expert.com/flashboot/
Overview
Why USB disks?
Why FlashBoot?
Screenshots
Download Demo
Setting up BIOS

Try FlashBoot for 99% Bootability!  RMPrepUSB can make a USB drive bootable, but some BIOSes may have problems. If you need to create a USB drive that will boot on 99% of systems...Download

Download FlashBoot: flashboot-2.1m-setup.exe [32 Mb].
Limitations of demo version:

• USB disk or image file is bootable only for 30 days since the date of formatting
• Each distinct USB disk can be formatted by FlashBoot demo version no more than 16 times

Maximum time of use of demo version is not limited.
Demo version may be upgraded to full version later by copying license key file to FlashBoot folder, there's no need to download big files twice.
It is recommended to try out the demo before buying the full version to ensure that there are no hardware incompatibilities and product meets your particular needs.
System requirements for FlashBoot 2.x:

• BIOS which supports booting from USB devices
• Operating system: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, either x86 or x64 edition
• 256 Mbytes of RAM
• 30 Mbytes of disk space

Portable version for users who don't like installers or need to run FlashBoot from removable media on multiple computers: flashboot-2.1m-portable.zip [32 Mb].
    

YUMI SARDU XBOOT and others

 (shameless carbon copied from this Source!) Thanks!!

YUMI (Your Universal Multiboot Installer), is the successor to MultibootISOs. It can be used to create a Multiboot USB Flash Drive containing multiple operating systems, antivirus utilities, disc cloning, diagnostic tools, and more. Contrary to MultiBootISO's which used grub to boot ISO files directly from USB, YUMI uses syslinux to boot extracted distributions stored on the USB device, and reverts to using grub to Boot Multiple ISO files from USB, if necessary.

Aside from a few distributions, all files are stored within the Multiboot folder, making for a nicely organized Multiboot Drive that can still be used for other storage purposes.

Creating a YUMI Multiboot MultiSystem USB Flash Drive
YUMI works much like Universal USB Installer, except it can be used to install more than one distribution to run from your USB. Distributions can also be uninstalled using the same tool!

YUMI's Main Multiboot Boot Menu

YUMI-0.0.3.1.exe – October 14, 2011 – Changelog

Updated to support Ubuntu, Edubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu 11.10.

YUMI-0.0.3.1.exeSource Code

How to Create a MultiBoot USB Flash Drive

1. Run* YUMI-0.0.3.1.exe following the onscreen instructions
2. Run the tool again to Add More ISOs/Distributions to your Drive
3. Restart your PC setting it to boot from the USB device
4. Select a distribution to Boot from the Menu and enjoy!

That's all there is to it. You should now be booting your favorite distributions from your custom Multi-Boot USB device!

How It Works: YUMI (Your Universal Multiboot Installer) enables each user to create their own custom Multiboot UFD containing only the distributions they want, in the order by which they are installed. A new distribution can be added to the UFD each time the tool is run.

If you run YUMI from the same location you store ISO downloads, they should be auto-detected (*See Known Issues Below), eliminating the need to browse for each ISO.

VERY IMPORTANT: Windows Vista or 7 Installers will cause Ubuntu or any remix based on Ubuntu (I.E. Linux Mint) to hang during boot. A quick fix is to temporarily rename the Windows SOURCES folder found at the root of the USB device.

Other Notes: If MultibootISOs was previously used, you must reformat the drive and start over. YUMI uses Syslinux directly, and chainloads to grub only if necessary, so it is not compatible with the older Multiboot ISO tool. Although I do plan to add back the capabilities of MultibootISOs as time permits.

The distro uninstaller works great, but unlisted ISO's that have been added must currently be manually removed!

The Basic Requirements or Essentials

• Fat32 Formatted USB Flash or USB Hard Drive
• PC that can boot from USB
• Windows XP/Vista/7 host to create the Bootable USB
• YUMI-0.0.3.1.exe
• Your selection of ISO Files

List of Installable Live Linux Distributions
Known Issues, Troubleshooting, and Additional Help

Potentially Related Portable Linux Posts

• alternativeto.net/  more multiboot ISO creators
• SARDU – Multiboot USB Creator (Windows)
  SARDU is another nice Windows based Multiboot USB Creator that can also be used to create Multiboot CD/DVD's. Created by Davide Costa, SARDU enables you to create a Multiboot UFD containing your basic essential Utilities, Antivirus, and Windows XP/7 Installers. On top of that, SARDU offers the built in ability to Defragment your USB Drive, and burn an ISO to CD/DVD.
  Authors Website: http://www.sarducd.it 
  For format USB use RMPREPUSB
  Choose your USB unit
  Set
  
  • FAT32
  • Set partition as not bootable
  Press prepare drive button
  Download SARDU_2.0.3 
  
• Use of Acronis in the Extra folder
  If file \Extra\Extra.cfg don't exists File --> Enabled Extra
  Sample of use for extra folder to add Acronis True Image
• Extract the folder von application Acronis Recovery Manager into folder extra (you can use 7zip, winiso or similar)
  
• Rename it in Acronis
  
• Add these lines to the file extra.cfg:
  

#- EDIT HERE 
Label Acronis True Image
Menu Label ^Acronis True Image
MENU INDENT 1
kernel /extra/Acronis/dat3.dat
append initrd=/extra/Acronis/dat2.dat vga=0x314 ramdisk_size=40000 quiet
# EDIT HERE

• Make ISO or USB with SARDU.

• XBOOT – Multiboot ISO USB Creator (Windows)XBOOT is yet another neat little Multiboot ISO USB Creator. It is a Windows based application that can be used to create a Live Multiboot USB or even a Multiboot ISO file that can then be burnt to a CD/DVD. XBOOT supports many Linux Distributions and Utilities, and allows you to use your choice of a Grub or Syslinux bootloader. Also included is a built in QEMU emulator (enabling you to boot an ISO from within Windows).
  Authors Website: http://sites.google.com/site/shamurxboot/
  
  
• MultiSystem – Create a MultiBoot USB from LinuxHow to Create a MultiBoot USB Flash Drive from Linux: Multisystem is an awesome tool created by LiveUSB.info, that works similar to our Windows based MultiBootISOs USB creator, but was created for use within Linux. It also uses Grub2 instead of Grub Legacy, and can be run from within Ubuntu Linux to create a Custom Multiboot UFD containing your favorite Bootable Live Linux Distributions.
  Official HomePage: http://liveusb.info/dotclear
  

===============   =================

Quelle
Multiboot: ISO-Images von USB booten

5. Juni 2011 von Robert Saupe

Mit LinuxLive USB Creator, welches ich bereits in einem Video vorgestellt habe, sieht man bereits eine gute Möglichkeit ein Live-System von USB zu booten. Allerdings ist es mit dieser Methode nicht möglich, mehrere Systeme gleichzeitig auf den USB-Stick zu bringen.
Einige von euch kennen sicher noch meinen Multibooter, welches mit Hilfe von GRUB4DOS und Syslinux mehrere ISO-Images vom USB-Stick bootbar macht.
Eine einfachere Möglichkeit sieht man nun mit XBOOT. Dieses Programm besitzt eine grafische Benutzeroberfläche und erkennt bereits viele bekannte Systeme. Es ist möglich, eine Multiboot CD/DVD oder einen Multiboot USB-Stick zu erstellen.
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Source

What it can be used for adding to your USB stick/disk

- multiple Windows XP/2kX sources in the same partition (up to 10 99 with vers. 1.0). They have to be in the first(no longer applies to 1.0 versions) any primary partition of the USB disk if hard disk type. If USB stick- Windows will not see any other partitions, but the first one, so you are restricted to it anyway.
Existing folders ~BT and ~LS and TXTSETUP.SIF will be renamed, and SETUPLDR.BIN and SETUPDD.SYS patched against the new names. Checksum checks are also corrected.(no longer applies to 1.0 versions). BTS OEM folders are supported and renamed accordingly.
- BartPE/WinBulder/UBCD4Win/WinFLPC (NOT ramdisk versions) to any primary partition. Multiple BartPE for example, in the SAME partition are NOT supported. Neither is the mix of them on a single partition.
- Vista/Windows 7/Server 2008 setup to different primary partitions. Multiple Vista sources in the SAME partition are NOT supported. Place your second Vista/7/Server 2008 setup in another partition. It can be placed in any primary partition. If looking for several Vista/Server 2008/7 sources in the same partition have a look here or if just for 7 or Vista here. The first ling would require you manually to put everything to the USB disk, if using the second you can point the program to the prepared AOI source.
- PartedMagic, a friendly Linux distro, which includes GParted- open source partition manager.
- Other grub4dos CD emulation compatible ISO. Refer to this topic for list of examples:
http://www.boot-land...?showtopic=5041
- SysLinux bootsector as a file, and optionally a directory, containing (Linux) distro booting off SysLinux. For example you may extract UBCD411.ISO, and point the program to this folder. Entire contents will be copied and entry for SysLinux bootsector file will be added to the grub4dos boot menu.
Some features:
- detects UBCD4Win and uses multiboot menu for it if folder IMAGES is found. Only default UBCD4Win multiboot options are added. Edit UBCD4Win.lst to add custom ones.
- UBCD4Win boot menu is adjusted to boot from the selected partition. It can be placed on any primary partition.
- if Windows setup folders (~BT and ~LS) and txtsetup.sif coexist in the same partition as BartPE/WinBuilder/UNCD4Win/WinFLPC, SETUPLDR.BIN of the latter is patched not to use txtsetup.sif in root. Checksum checks are also corrected (applies to pre 1.0 versions).
- grub4dos is the main bootloader/manager. Without it's advanced features, multiple partitions will not be easily achieved.
Bootsector loading GRLDR is installed in the active partition of the selected disk. Hence the requirement for active partition and MBR. In version 1.0 versions grub4dos MBR is used instead.
- detailed log file is created in the folder, where program is executed from. Use it for troubleshooting. Upon next execution if log file is found, it's compressed in Microsoft cab format, moved to BACKUPS folder and renamed with current DATE/TIME stamp.
- upon installing grub4dos bootsector or MBR, backup of MBR and bootsector with DATE/TIME stamp are placed in BACKUPS folder. Use it in case something goes wrong.
- if in Windows source folder winnt.sif is found it will be used as answer file. Section UNATTENDED will be temporarily removed, only for the Text part of setup, and before start of GUI mode it will be merged back. PRESETUP.CMD is used for this purpose.((no longer applies to 1.0 versions)
- $OEM$ folders are copied by presetup.cmd(no longer applies to 1.0 versions)
- option to start the prepared USB disk in QEMU for testing purposes. Use carefully at own risk, do not attempt write operations!
- tooltips with hints on almost every element in the GUI
- for multi partition USB stick use the cmd files in "files\tools\MULTIpartitionUSBstick". Works for 32bits Windows XP/2003 only! This is not thoroughly tested option, use at your risk.
Please read the included with the stable versions ReadMe.txt and \Docs\HOW-TOs.txt, it should help you get started. When in doubt hold the mouse over the element, a tooltip should help you with the choice.

Proteja seu Pen-drive de infecções

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Autor: Ciro Mota
MUITO OBRIGADO, CIRO! Perfeita experticia!

Com o completo desuso dos disquetes chegamos a era dos pen-drives, objeto de armazenamento de arquivos simples, rápido e super prático. Bastou plugar em um PC qualquer e já estará funcionando.
Devido a esta alta mobilidade dos pen-drives, é cada vez mais comum as infecções nestes dispositivos onde possuem um poder muito grande de disseminação. Pode parecer um artigo muito maçante e muito longo, mais que valerá a pena ser lido.

Entenda como funciona:
Ao plugar o seu pen-drive em um PC que já infectado, o seu pen-drive
carregará a infecção para o seu próprio PC ou um outro PC no qual o seu
pen-drive for plugado, formado uma cadeia.
Isto também é válido para cartões de memória, telefones celulares, mp3/mp4 e demais dispositivos de armazenamento USB.

Sintomas da infecção:

• A Unidade fica inacessível
• Erros de Autorun são comuns na tela
• A opção de ver arquivos Ocultos fica desabilitada e/ou nunca fica ativada
• Incapacidade de apagar/mover arquivos do pendrive

Remoção da infecção: Ler mais
Download PenClean
Download USB WriteProtector
Download AutoPlayConfig