Boot from hard drive

NavyLCDR · Jan 13, 2022

SIW2 said:
As far as I know that is for mbr disks.

And? Windows 11 will boot from MBR disks.

SIW2 · Jan 13, 2022

Huh? I dont think the os inside the iso has anything to do with it. Grub can boot iso files off mbr disks. I havent heard of grub2 or anything else booting iso files off gpt disks.

NavyLCDR · Jan 14, 2022

I guess I am missing the point. The OP:

asadermo said:
How to boot windows 11 from hard drive (where ISO win 11 stored) .

Then I posted there are some Linux bootloaders that will boot ISO files, but don't know if they will boot Windows ISOs.

SIW2 said:
As far as I know that is for mbr disks.

SIW2 said:
Huh? I dont think the os inside the iso has anything to do with it. Grub can boot iso files off mbr disks. I havent heard of grub2 or anything else booting iso files off gpt disks.

I'm trying to figure out where there was any mention of MBR or GPT disks before you mentioned it? Or was it just a statement that the disk might have to be MBR to use Grub?

SIW2 · Jan 14, 2022

Or was it just a statement that the disk might have to be MBR to use Grub?

To boot an iso from a disk, yes ( unless there is something else in the Linux arsenal I dont know about ).

Winuser · Jan 14, 2022

NavyLCDR said:
The answer to that question is yes.

Because I've read a lot of post recommending using Rufus to make a bootable flash drive, I wanted to see if the old mount the ISO and copy and paste the files and folders still worked. I also found out that both of my desktops will boot from the flash drive that was formatted with the NTFS file system. I'm going to test my laptop later today.

cereberus · Jan 14, 2022

Winuser said:
I was testing to see if it was still possible to make a bootable flash drive by just copying the files and folders from a mounted ISO file.

Yes it is possible and dead easy.

I wrote a tutorial and even included a batch script,

Create bootable USB installer if install.wim is greater than 4GB

Information As discussed in tutorial DISM - Split install.wim file | Windows 10 Tutorials, it is not possible to create a bootable flash drive in fat32 format if the install.wim file is over 4GB in size. That tutorial presents a method to spl

www.tenforums.com

The MAJOR PLUS of this over using crappy RUFUS is you do not have to disable secure boot temporarily either.

Winuser · Jan 14, 2022

Getting back on subject I hope @asadermo was able to better understand different ways to use an ISO to boot.

jimbo45 · Jan 14, 2022

Bree said:
The simple answer is not to download the ISO direct from MS, because that has an install.wim that's almost always larger than 4GB. If you want to download from MS then use the MCT to make an ISO. This will always have an install.esd in the sources folder, and MS make sure that their install.esd is always less than 4GB.

Hi there
There's also a problem (or potential problem) with the MCT as it may do a "W11 compatibilty check" before even allowing the download !!!! -- OK if your hardware is "W11" compatible -- but there are still loads of PC's out there with CPU's etc that aren't on the Ms approved list.

The easiest way on this type of thing is to create a small efi 100MB fat32 partition on your USB device, create a tiny 128mb unformatted msr partition on the device and format the rest as NTFS.

Now copy the Windows install ISO to the data area on the device (as an ISO image) , boot the WINPE system, mount the iso and then simply use dism /Apply-Image to the target Windows destination.

Remember to select the correct image if you have made an iso with several different editions of Windows from UUPDUMP. In the Dism /Apply-Image the image files are in /sources/install.wim and the one you want is selected by the /index:n parmeter where n is the image number -- usually 1 if you only opt for a single W11 build from UUPDUMP.

The destination can be a VHDX physical file (attach VHDX and mount as a disk) a Virtual machine image, or a physical standard Windows partition or Disk.

After that simply run the bcdboot command to install the bootloader on the target Windows device and then boot into your new Windows system.

To create Winpe iso -- simply follow easy (and that's rare from Ms) documentation from Ms site.

WinPE: Create bootable media

Create bootable WinPE media

docs.microsoft.com

Simple, easy, all Windows (and coming from a serious Linux user !!!) , no 3rd party things needed. 8GB USB device more than sufficient !!!

I'd also recommend getting your iso via UUPDUMP -- as you can choose what you want etc.

Cheers
jimbo

Bree · Jan 14, 2022

jimbo45 said:
There's also a problem (or potential problem) with the MCT as it may do a "W11 compatibilty check" before even allowing the download

No, there's no such problem. The MCT will run on any machine no matter how below spec for W11, it could be W7/8/10, x86 or x64. The option to make an ISO (or usb) is always available as there is no way the MCT can tell if you intending to use it to install on this PC or on another machine.

Wynona · Jan 14, 2022

Winuser said:
Because I've read a lot of post recommending using Rufus to make a bootable flash drive, I wanted to see if the old mount the ISO and copy and paste the files and folders still worked. I also found out that both of my desktops will boot from the flash drive that was formatted with the NTFS file system. I'm going to test my laptop later today.

I use Rufus exclusively to create a bootable flash drive. Been using it since at least Windows 7. Works every time.

NavyLCDR · Jan 14, 2022

I've never understood people's reluctance to use the MCT...

NavyLCDR · Jan 14, 2022

Wynona said:
I use Rufus exclusively to create a bootable flash drive. Been using it since at least Windows 7. Works every time.

I've always used diskpart and mount and copy since Windows 7 and it has worked every time.

Wynona · Jan 14, 2022

NavyLCDR said:
I've always used diskpart and mount and copy since Windows 7 and it has worked every time.

We are all creatures of habit, and tend to use what has worked for us.

Bree · Jan 14, 2022

NavyLCDR said:
I've always used diskpart and mount and copy since Windows 7 and it has worked every time.

^^^ Ditto

Winuser · Jan 14, 2022

NavyLCDR said:
I've always used diskpart and mount and copy since Windows 7 and it has worked every time.

Ever since I found out I could just mount and copy an ISO I stopped using Rufus. I had to use the mount and copy to install Windows 8.1 on an old Lenovo tablet the other day.

Winuser · Jan 14, 2022

Wynona said:
We are all creatures of habit, and tend to use what has worked for us.

I totally agree. It's all about what way is best for us.

jimbo45 · Jan 15, 2022

NavyLCDR said:
I've never understood people's reluctance to use the MCT...

Hi there
depends on what build you want -- the latest can be got via UUPDUMP without any necessity of having to sign in as a Windows insider or use any Microsoft account.

Cheers
jimbo

NavyLCDR · Jan 15, 2022

jimbo45 said:
Hi there
depends on what build you want -- the latest can be got via UUPDUMP without any necessity of having to sign in as a Windows insider or use any Microsoft account.

Cheers
jimbo

That's true. But to just make the basic installation flash drive with the current version...