Is Active@ Boot Disk completely free now? It's a bit confusing. There are two tabs there. Windows Installer: Active@ Boot Disk FREEWARE EVALUATION and Boot Disk 9: Active@ Boot Disk 9 (32-bit WinPE 3.1-based) FREEWARE The installer's file name is: BootDiskDemo-Setup.exe It also has two different websites. https://www.lsoft.net/bootdisk/ https://www.boot-disk.com/index.html
I agree. It is free. The UFD lasts forever. Maybe the contained Active@ apps are demos. I don't use them. Boot Disk 9 is 32-bit WinPE 3.1-based. It doesn't boot with UEFI firmware/BIOS. Forget it. Both websites give you the same files. The Windows/DOS installer is a 64-bit WinPE. Get this one. It is 520 MB. BootDiskDemo-Setup.exe When building a UFD I choose... System Boot Settings, General tab, Time to Autostart of 1 second User's Files, I add snapshot64.exe Startup scripts, I add ds.cmd (see yesterday) No other changes are made. If you desire, you can put lots of portable apps in User's Files.
Thanks for that info, Brian. It's a bit clearer now. Can you also make ISOs? That way, I could make UFDs with the ISO using Rufus. But I'm guessing that I won't be able to manually update a file such as snapshot64.exe without building again.
It's very easy to make and to use. I prefer a UFD as you can add or remove files. Mine is on an internal SSD. Very fast booting. Faster than a UFD. Files can still be added or removed.
I installed this on an old computer. It says: Licensed to DEMO Version. But in my brief test, it worked fine. Drive Snapshot (snapshot64.exe) was added successfully. I haven't used the autostart script yet, but I had a look where to add it. Everything seems to be very simple to use. It couldn't be more simpler, I don't think.
I made a UFD with snapshot64.exe and the auto startup script, and it worked. Both files and folders were automatically created. No manual work needed. It's quite fast. I don't know how it compares to Sergei Strelec's WinPE in terms of speed as I haven't used it in ages. If I decided to add more programs, I'd probably create sub-folders in the User_Files folder for tidiness. Especially if the programs contained more than one file. For example, I have even thought about adding IFW portable.
Good effort @Hadron on the accomplished project with it. Also the simple fact that those automated scripts also succeeded is testament again of DS versatility and reliability. With the scheduled arrival of a new 2 TB Western Digital (2 year warranty), i'm looking forward to wrapping up and completing full backups with Drive Snapshot leading the first backups because there's not been a single prob for many years with it, backup & restore.
Over the years, a common complaint that I've seen about Drive Snapshot is that it doesn't supply bootable recovery media. There are many ways to do it. I also run it from TeraByte TBLauncher. But not everyone uses TeraByte products, and not everyone wants to mess around too much. Most people want a simple solution, and this is super simple way. PS: The developer, Tom Ehlert has an antiquated boot disc method on his website that's not worth looking at. He should have put more time and effort into providing bootable media for Drive Snapshot then wasting time on SFTP server support.
Active Boot Disk only supports one .cmd file. But you can have multiple apps in the script. For example... Code: CD /d %~dp0 CD \User_Files start IFW\imagew64.exe start IFW\tbosdtw64.exe start DS\snapshot64.exe start Explorer++_1.3.5_x64\Explorer++.exe start A56x64\A56.exe It's just an example. I'm sure no-one wants 5 apps opening. They can be opened manually. Edit... Tom's boot disk is DOS based and won't boot on modern computers. Unless you enable CSM and disable Secure Boot.
Maybe have File Explorer open at User_Files folder at startup. I don't need it. I'm just thinking. It's easy to browse.
An example of an auto backup of the Win11 partition (seen as H: drive in my Active@) Code: CD /d %~dp0 CD \User_Files start DS\snapshot64.exe H: "E:\DS_Backup\Win11.sna" -R -L0 -o -Go
Some boot disks, modern WinPE or Linux based boot disks, don't boot in some machines. I hate when I encounter such scenario and more hate when I have to create a new UFD with different boot software. Why not have multiple boot disks in one large UFD or external drive with a separate folder containing different imaging software, including Drive Snapshot? And like @Hadron says, it's easy to browse. I do so with Ventoy...
I understand that. It's one of those often skipped over by most users ordeal where sometimes a boot disk/PE isn't doing as expected, but some determination thru trial and error gets us the working type eventually. My boot PE UFD's work flawlessly until trying on a new DELL and i couldn't at first figure out why not. But found out on entering the BIOS, that unlike the the old way of moving up the list your UFD which in my case was always USB HDD and not the other, that it WAS already populated on another screen (low on the list by the way oddly enough) which simply required placing the pointer focus/clicking or keypress it and instantly the DELL rebooted straight into the PE boot disk. Interesting new behavior. As i said earlier i understand the frustration of having to make a new Boot Disk sometimes and those can and do add up, (which requires accurate labeling) of course by color/type or markings etc I have a keychain with several, @Peter2150's Win 10 PE, a Linux Mint (which is not used anymore but still worthy addition), and Aomei Backupper PE, Macrium, DS and of course my personal favorite Strelec's PE Ventoy sounds like it solves that problem although i yet to experiment with that one.
I mainly work on our home computers and occasionally on friends' computers, setup in a similar manner. UFDs aren't needed. We boot IFL, TBWinRE, TBWinPE and Active Boot Disk from partitions on internal drives. BootIt UEFI enables this. It's faster than booting from a UFD and you can script the next partition to boot from Windows. My last HD failure was 15 years ago so I'm not concerned about not having UFD restore media available. One can be made on another computer if needed.
Making your own boot media is miles better than using what is out there as many are either bloated, come with branding, require the usb stick to still be plugged in and other nuisances. My own WinPE has no start menu, no taskbar etc. You just type the name of the software to run and I made it this way, so I don't need the usb stick to remain plugged into a computer and I can leave something running on another persons computer and walk away......They can't run other things. My WinPE contains (if anyone is interested) - Snapshot64 (1.44 - October 2016) Backup-OS.exe / Restore-OS.exe (automated Drive Snapshot compiled scripts to only backup / restore the Windows partition) BootICE WinNTSetup DiskGenius A43 NTPWEdit Never needed anything else.
Gaddster, I'll bet it boots quickly. How did you make it? A quick summary is fine. Does it boot on UEFI systems?
I see A43 and A56 mentioned. I had to Google it. They're file managers. I use Explorer++ for my boot media file manager. Is A43 / A56 better? By the way, Explorer++ v1.4.0 Beta 2 is now available. It's interesting to note that the backup and restore scripts (Backup-OS.exe / Restore-OS.exe) by @Gaddster are executables.
Yes it boots on UEFI and Secure Boot enabled machines and boots quite quick as it is only 368mb in size. I've always made them manually using Windows ADK than relying on tools like WinBuilder as I want it untouched from the very start to customise it for my own needs, so before I add any programs. I'll add registry settings for various things (especially setting the PE to show hidden files / folders). The Drive Snapshot custom boot media I made with the ADK for my sister gives her only two options (Backup or Restore) to back up / restore her Windows partition and as a safety net it'll create an image of her current Windows partition before restoring her Windows partition.
Those was created using "Quick Batch File Compiler" and compiled as x64 executables, which is a great program to use for this type of stuff.
Out of pure dumb curiosity i wonder if this program i used for years can produce an equal exe DS script. Bat To Exe Converter (64 Bit) for Windows Often used it for minor automation duties like service state backup batch scripts to simple exe etc.
I might be a bit dumb, but I don't see the benefit of converting scripts to executables for this usage.
Me either since the batch scripts work as-is. Still kinda clever though to transform the batch instructions into an executable of sorts. Frankly on this end still busy really clamping down with 'manual' full backups to be put into storage offline and separate, 100% free of entanglements that might influence or corrupt backups tethered to the PC machines as secondary drives. (although those CAN be set to 'hidden') for some extra protection. I always keep backups off and away from the source Funny out of the (3) backup imagers selected, i still trust DS as first runner for those chores
