What is your favorite software for making multiboot USB Flash Drives? I have heard of SARDU, YUMI, XBoot, Grub4DOS, etc. What are the PRO's and CON's of each? Easiest to use? Most Flexible? Thanks in Advance.
I've been happy with SARDU. It depends what you use it for, but it includes support for the most popular Linux distros, as well as a bunch of popular bootable antivirus disks and other utilities.
although SARDU is top notch, i must say YUMI is the one i constantly use. the reason why is because YUMI easily supports non supported boot disks. i have tried every conceivable boot disk with YUMI which are not listed in the default list and they have all worked perfectly
When you make the Multiboot USB Flash Drive with YUMI, is it possible to update one or more of the ISO's without re-doing the whole USB Flash Drive with YUMI? In other words, can I just delete one or more of the ISO's from the USB Flash Drive and then copy the newer ISO's (with same file names) to the USB Flash Drive?
I used YUMI to install 11 ISO's to a Patriot 8 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive. I tried to boot the USB Flash Drive on two different PC's. Both attempts failed. The boot process would just stop. Several years ago I heard that some USB Flash Drive Brands/Models would not work as bootable USB Flash Drives. Is there a problem with making some Brands/Models bootable?
Just a few days ago i tried both SARDU and YUMI. I could not get SARDU to work with non supported ISOs (it is not a software problem but mine - I could not make much sense of the instructions for the specific process) whereas this was not at all a problem with YUMI - much easier to use in this specific aspect. @TheKid7 I discovered this interesting software MobaLiveCD with which one can to test a bootable flash drive through emulation, thus allowing to discern potential issues connected to a specific hardware. You may want to have a go.
I used YUMI and tried SARDU and found YUMI to be more versatile and helpful and it saved me once when i mistakenly tried to back up and restore the partition table. Which made booting from the winxp and win7 impossible. i used YUMI to format and resize the table and format it. Or else it would be a loss of a good HDD and only would it recognise the disk from that moment i dont like any partition backup program and will never play with it. But in the end its up to ones preference and needs. But i would
yes it is possible to update a single entry without re-doing the whole usb. yumi detects all installs when it is run and pointed to the appropriate usb drive.
just to rule out a common error, did you check the 'format' option in yumi? or did you format the usb with built in windows tool? it is recommended to use the option built in to yumi as it will give the usb the best format for booting usb's with.
Thanks. It was already formatted FAT32, but I formatted again using Windows XP Pro. I will take your advice. I will format it with YUMI, delete the partition (including boot sector) and make a new FAT32 partition (using BootIt Bare Metal). Then I will format it using YUMI.
just format it with yumi, yumi will take care of everything including boot loader and file format etc. edit- dont make a partition as it will complicate the diagnosis
I got YUMI to boot after having YUMI format the USB Flash Drive. Here are the Distro’s that I installed: 1. Linux Mint 12.0 32 bit 2. Kubuntu 11.10 32 bit 3. Ubuntu 11.10 32 bit 4. Xubuntu 11.10 32 bit 5. Puppy Linux 5.28.004 Lucid 6. Puppy Linux 5.3.1 Slacko 7. Parted Magic 2011_11_24 i686 8. Partition Wizard 7.1 9. Memtest86+ 4.20 10. Avira Rescue System CD 11. Bitdefender Rescue CD 12. Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10 CD 13. Dr.Web LiveCD I never could get either the Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10 or the Dr.Web LiveCD to Boot. The Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10 gave a bunch of errors. The Dr.Web LiveCD gave the following error(s): “Cannot find boot devices. /bin/sh: can’t access tty; job control turned off” I uninstalled both Kaspersky and Dr.Web and re-installed them as "Try an Unlisted ISO". They still would not Boot and had the same errors. I burned the ISO’s of both Kaspersky and Dr.Web to CD’s and Booted the CD’s on the same PC with no issues. I had to install Memtest86+ 4.20 as "Try an Unlisted ISO" since the ISO zip file would not install properly. Memtest86+ 4.20 Booted with no issues when installed as "Try an Unlisted ISO". I uninstalled Kubuntu since I really didn’t need it. The following Distro’s would cause the ‘boot from USB hard drive first’ BIOS setting to be skipped on each PC Restart. The only way to get rid of this problem would be to Turn Off the PC and then Restart the PC. I do not understand how an Operating System accomplishes the skipping of a BIOS boot order setting. I know that Microsoft’s Windows Installation will cause the ‘boot from CD/DVD first’ to be skipped during each Restart during the Windows Operating System Installation Procedure. How is skipping a BIOS boot setting accomplished with Software? Is there a way to clear this ‘skipping of the boot order settings’ to avoid having to Turn Off and On the PC? Linux Mint Kubuntu Ubuntu Xubuntu Bitdefender Rescue CD The YUMI boot menu option for booting from the hard drive would not work. In Summary: All Distro's booted and seemed to function properly except the Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10 and the Dr.Web LiveCD.
Which version of YUMI are you using? I am using version 0.0.4.5 which was released on February 12, 2012. I E-Mailed Pendrivelinux about my issues.
Pendrivelinux said that they I figured out the problem with Kaspersky & Dr.Web and that the problem will be resolved with the next version release.
I am giving Xboot a try. I installed the same Distro's on different USB Flash Drive (16 GB). I could not get that USB Flash Drive to boot. I trimmed down the Distro list (so that it would fit on a SL DVD+R), made an ISO Image and burned the ISO Image to a DVD+R. 1. Ubuntu 11.10 32 bit 2. Puppy Linux 5.28.004 Lucid 3. Puppy Linux 5.3.1 Slacko 4. Parted Magic 2011_11_24 i686 5. Partition Wizard 7.1 6. Memtest86+ 4.20 7. Avira Rescue System CD 8. Bitdefender Rescue CD 9. Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10 CD 10. Dr.Web LiveCD I was able to get all ten (10) of the Distro's to boot on one of the two PC's that I checked it on. Both PC's are on the same KVM switch. The Xboot DVD boot menu would not respond to the keyboard on the other PC. I 'assume' that this lack of keyboard response on the one PC is all related to the KVM switch. I find using the 'make ISO' feature potentially more useful to me since many older PC's may not be able to boot from a USB Flash Drive.
Pendrivelinux issued a new version of YUMI. The problem with Dr.Web not booting was resolved. The problem with Kaspersky not booting is be resolved in a later version.
I was able to get YUMI to work on this 16 GB USB Flash Drive. Therefore, there is no problem with this USB Flash Drive. Currently, I plan to use YUMI with USB Flash Drives and Xboot with DVD's.
There have been some YUMI updates recently, but still no fix for the Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10 problem. I speculate that the problem with the Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10 may be related to the Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10 version update mentioned here: https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=319022
Another YUMI update today. No mention of Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10 in this update. YUMI-0.0.4.8.exe – February 27, 2012 – Changelog: Fix HP Firmware Maintenance CD option and add 32 bit version entries http://www.pendrivelinux.com/yumi-multiboot-usb-creator/
besides bootable isos proper, what is a good resource for finding things that will run properly in the minixp environment that is included in hirens etc? I for instance found that Emsisoft Emergency Kit runs fine in minixp just by having it on the usb drive, xyplorer runs fine, but I haven't been able to run malwarebytes antimalware thanks
nearly all portable programs will work in hirens. malwarebytes is not a portable program so it wont work. basically a program which requires an install will not generally work in hirens. click on my sig to see which antimalware programs will work in hirens (the portable section)
