For those confused by the BIU terminology. When you install a Windows OS a folder called Microsoft (which contains the booting files) is created in the \EFI folder of the EFI System partition. With a Linux install this folder is called ubuntu. BIU renames these folders to Microsoft.001, Microsoft.002, Microsoft.003, ubuntu.001, etc as you install further OS. So the \EFI folder contains booting files for all OS. When you boot an OS, say one with booting files in Microsoft.002, BIU renames Microsoft.002 to Microsoft so the folder path for certain items, eg Windows Recovery Environment, will be correct in the booted OS. When the OS shuts down Microsoft is renamed to Microsoft.002. A Microsoft.xxx folder is around 25 MB in size so if you want to have many Microsoft OS multi-booting you will need to resize the EFI System partition larger. With a BIU install to an empty drive the ESP created is 400 MB. Not 100 MB as with a Windows install. BIBM can hide partitions by moving partition information from the MBR partition table into the Extended MBR partition table in LBA 1 and beyond. GPT doesn't allow an Extended MBR partition table so BIU hiding is done by creating a GUID Partition Type that Windows can't read. TeraByte apps and Linux can read data in these partitions. BIU relies on the UEFI firmware being "correct". If you have an old motherboard with outdated UEFI firmware then BIU might not work correctly.
If you want to keep backup copies of your \EFI sub-folders in another partition you can use a tbs script like this in BIU... Code: sub main() ext("open fs 0: 3 0x01") ext("copy C:\EFI\* 0:\Copied-EFI /s /y /q") ext("close fs 0:") end sub Only for enthusiasts as these folders will be in the ESP image backup.
When you boot an OS, say one with booting files in Microsoft.002, BIU renames Microsoft.002 to Microsoft so the folder path for certain items, eg Windows Recovery Environment, will be correct in the booted OS. When the OS shuts down Microsoft is renamed to Microsoft.002 ->AGAIN Terminology can be mind busting with this app for greenies but you lay out it out nicely-orderly. Thanks @Brian K
Hello @Brian K, For the past few weeks I have been considering adding a Macrium Reflect partition to my set-up. I see from this post that you have done this with BIBM: Of course, I would be using BIU instead. I am hoping that you can help me with a few questions that I have about the procedure to do so. The first steps are easy and I should be able to do these without issue: using partition work to resize a partition to create space for Macrium, then sliding the other partitions so the free space is where I want it, then creating the partition, and then using IFU to copy the Macrium UFD to the newly created partition. My questions start with the actual set-up of the new Macrium partition in BIU: What is the location and name of the bootfile that I need to use? Is there an easy way to determine this? Does the option "renamed directory" need to be checked? How do I know when I need to use this option? Are there any other settings besides those two that I should be concerned about or need to verify or change? I assume that I can use BootNow UEFI to boot directly from Windows to the Macrium partition and also assume that it can not be used from the Macrium partition to boot to any of the other partitions. It will be probably a couple of weeks before I get around to adding this partition, so I just want to have a decent knowledge about what I need to do to add the Macrium partition with BIU beforehand. Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated...
Kent, I just did this experiment as I didn't have a Macrium partition on my GPT disk. In Windows Explorer determine how much Used Space is on the Macrium UFD. I have 248 MB so I plan to have a 300 MB Macrium partition. Boot into BIU and if you don't already have Free Space, create 300 MB of Free Space by resizing a partition. I had 63 GB of Free Space on my SSD so I used that. Disk Imaging, Copy. Copy the Macrium partition (not the Drive) on the UFD to the Free Space. No special Options are needed. In my case I entered 300 in the Size box. In New Name I put Macrium. If you forget to put Macrium you can do this later in Partition Work. Boot Edit, Add. Identity Macrium. Boot Macrium. Bootfile \EFI\Boot\bootx64.efi. Rename Directory will be greyed out as it only applies to Windows and Linux OS. Resume, Macrium, Boot. It took 10 seconds until Macrium was fully loaded.
If you have several GPT disks you can put the partition on any one of the disks. It doesn't have to be on your OS disk.
Hello @Brian K, Thank you for your help as I now have a Macrium partition up and running without issue. I also have it working with BootNow UEFI in both Windows and Mint. My main concern was what was the correct bootfile to use as I have seen often times that there are more than one (sometimes even in different locations). If there is more than one bootfile, is there an easy way to determine what is the correct one to use besides just trial and error?
Kent, I can't recall any bootfile confusion. With a WinPE or IFL the \efi folder is in the WinPE or IFL partition. For a Windows or Linux OS the \EFI folder is in the EFI System Partition on the HD/SSD. Does the following help or have I missed something? For a WinPE or IFL partition... \efi\boot\bootx64.efi For a Windows OS... \EFI\Microsoft.xxx\Boot\bootmgfw.efi For a Linux OS with Secure Boot... \EFI\ubuntu.xxx\shimx64.efi For a Linux OS without Secure Boot... \EFI\ubuntu.xxx\grubx64.efi Edit... changed \EFI\ubuntu.xxx\bootx64.efi to \EFI\ubuntu.xxx\grubx64.efi
Hello @Brian K, I just thought that I recalled when I was initially setting up BIU for the first time with your help, when I went to select a bootfile for a particular partition sometimes there was more than one to choose from (but with my age, my memory is not what it used to be). Maybe it was with Mint since it could have two different bootfiles depending on with or without secure boot. In any case, your answer clarifies things for me and does indeed now answer my question. Thanks !
I'm now looking in \EFI\Microsoft.001\Boot\ There are 3 .efi files but bootmgfw.efi is the correct one to choose.
When setting up a Boot Item for WinPE or IFL you would enter the items partition in the Boot field. When setting up a Boot Item for Windows or Linux you would enter EFI system partition in the Boot field.
Hello @Brian K, That could very well have been where I saw more that one bootfile to choose from... Thanks for that bit of information as it also helps to clarify things.
Kent, a sideline. If you want a test Windows partition you can copy your Windows partition to Free Space in Partition Work. Use Copy/Paste and put a tick in "Add to Boot Menu". A Boot Item will be created. This doesn't work for Linux OS.
Hello @Brian K, Cool... I will keep that in mind if I may decide to have a test partition. At the moment, with my very thorough back-up routines, I do not really need a test partition. My needs, however, could very well change in the future...
For general interest. Let's say you have an old Windows backup image you would like to run as an extra OS. Restore the partition image to any GPT disk. It doesn't have to be HD0. (Restoring with IFL is the fastest but use your preferred app) Boot BIU and click Scripting CD \EFI DIR You will see all your Microsoft.xxx folders. Say Microsoft.001 and Microsoft.002 are in use. We'll create Microsoft.003 for our restored OS. MD Microsoft.003 CD Microsoft.003 copy ..\Microsoft.001\* /s exit Reboot the computer Boot Edit Add Set up a Boot Item for the restored OS. Make sure the "Rename Directory" option is enabled. Do a BCD Edit on Microsoft.003 ( Partition Work, ESP, BCD Edit, \EFI\Microsoft.003\BOOT\BCD ) Finished.
Hello, I am giving the "AutoReactivate" option a try as I have enabled it. I also added the line "AutoReactivate=1" to my bootit.ini file under "Options". Hopefully this will solve the issue of every time that Mint updates grub having to reactivate BIU. I shall see the next time grub updates...
Hello @Brian K, If I understand this correctly (for my example above), this just omits the part of having to use the BIU UFD. I would have to manually select to boot to BIU to reactivate instead of having to insert the BIU UFD and booting to it to do the same.
That was my experience. I had to click BIU in the BIOS Boot Menu to reactivate. It just saves you using the UFD but you still have to manually boot BIU. It makes sense as with a Win10 install there are several reboots. You would not want BIU reactivated at every reboot.
Hello @Brian K, Thanks. That was not what I was expecting it to do from the description in the manual but it does make it easier to reactivate.
Kent, The new Delete option is interesting and it's enabled by default. Remove MS GPT Gaps. When you delete a partition in Partition Work all MS partitions below move up one space in the partition table to eliminate the gap in the partition table. So their Partition IDs will change as they move into a different GPT slot. To mentally calculate the Partition ID it is GPT slot plus one. So a partition in Slot 000 has a Partition ID of 0x1. Changing Partition IDs usually has no consequences but if you are imaging that partition from a script you might have to edit the script or use "Reorder GPT" to revert to the previous Partition ID. Reorder GPT is a manual procedure. Partition table GPT slots may or may not reflect the physical order of the partitions on the drive. You can make them the same if you desire.
Hello @Brian K, I have not yet had a need to delete a partition and will probably not for the foreseeable future, but I will keep in mind this information if I do. I use TeraByte as my primary back-up solution and Macrium as my secondary. I do not use scripts with TeraByte so it should not be an issue there. With Macrium, I do use their definition files and their creation of shortcuts for particular back-up jobs, but I do not think this would be an issue in this case. Thanks for bringing this to my attention as it is always good to know what some of the new options do for future reference.
There is another setting to consider when deleting a partition. "Clear Boot Sector". Think of a partition as a carton of milk. The container is the partition boundary and the milk is the data. When you delete a partition you have removed the container but the milk is still present. You can Undelete a partition which re-creates the container and everything works as if the partition had never been deleted. But if you select "Clear Boot Sector" then you lose the ability to re-create the container. Only use this if you are certain you don't want to access the data again. On the other hand it's not a good idea to never use this option as having multiple Boot Sectors on the drive can make it more difficult to Undelete the partition you really want to recover.
