www.sarducd.it

[Robert333]

Hello,

I have have SARDU on Windows 7 Starter.

I used SARDU to prepare my USB Flash Drive with downloaded Anti-virus ISOs.
I set the Boot order so that the USB stick would be the first boot device, but the computer boots normally, and does not boot to the SARDU flash drive.

I have tried the following:
"Update only SARDU's menu".
But this did not solve the problem.

In Disk Management, the USB Flash Drive is described as:
FAT 32 Healthy (Active, Primary Partition).

How do I get the computer to boot to the USB Flash Drive, so the SARDU boot menu is shown?

Regards,

Robert333

[TechieRefugee]

Hopefully Davide doesn't mind me offering my own ideas, but it does say that your MB supports USB Boot? Does it actually detect it as a USB device, or does it only recognize it as a "Generic Storage Device" or something to that effect? Another thing you could try is (if you have all of the ISOs) is use the Burn to DVD option, and see how that works out for you. Again, I'm nowhere near fully understanding SARDU, but those are a few suggestions I have.

[Robert333]

Hello TechieRefugee,

Thanks for your reply.

You wrote "your MB supports USB Boot". In this context I do not know what "MB" means. I only know it as short for megabyte. Perhaps you could explain what you mean by it. I assume you must be in fact referring to the SARDU application.

When I insert the flash drive, open SARDU, and do: "Search USB", it shows:

USB=E:\INTEGRAL COURIER
Device: hd1
Serial: [number given]
Label: SARDU
Total: 15264 Mb
Free: 6903 Mb
The total size of the selected data is shown as: 4.15 Gb

"Integral" is the name of the manufacturer of the Flash Drive.
"Courier" is the product name given to the Flash Drive by the manufacturer.

When I tried to boot with the Flash Drive, there was a slight delay, the light on the Flash Drive flashed and the ceased flashing, and then the machine booted to Windows normally. There was no error message of any kind.
The Removable drive was 1st boot device in the BIOS.

I need to use a Flash Drive because by their nature, antivirus applications need to be updated fairly frequently to remain effective and reliable.

I would appreciate a solution for this issue.

Regards,

Robert333

[TechieRefugee]

Sorry; what I meant by MB is motherboard. I should really stop lazy-typing.
Well... your motherboard seems to detect the drive, so it's beyond any tried and true ideas of mine. Oh well; maybe SARDU 3 will work for you since Davide's in the process of a major overhaul. Either way, I wish you luck!

[Robert333]

Hello,

Further to my previous messages on this issue, I cannot see an option in this "Post a Reply" for being able to attach a file to a message, and so in case it may be helpfu, I shall paste part of the SARDU log here. I am unable to paste the full log due to your Posting Restriction. I have therefore pasted the beginning and the end of the log. (The part omitted shows each ISO extracted successfully.)

Regards,

Robert333

Code: Select all

- - - - Copy of the beginning and end of the SARDU log, starts: - - - -


Start creating Sardu for USB!

Making SARDU 2.0.4.3

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AOSS : AOSS.iso
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


[Text from log omitted due to posting restriction.]


7-Zip 4.62  Copyright (c) 1999-2008 Igor Pavlov  2008-12-02

Processing archive: D:\SARDU_~1\Windows_7_32-bit_Repair_Disc.iso

Extracting  bootmgr

Everything is Ok

Size:       383786
Compressed: 150192128


Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier              {bootmgr}

description             Windows Boot Manager
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {globalsettings}
default                 {default}
displayorder            {default}
                        {873d786e-7fe7-11e1-90af-e0cb4ea3c78b}
toolsdisplayorder       {memdiag}
timeout                 30

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier              {default}
device                  ramdisk=[boot]\sources\win7pe.wim,{7619dcc8-fafe-11d9-b411-000476eba25f}
path                    \windows\system32\boot\winload.exe
description             Windows 7 PE
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {bootloadersettings}
osdevice                ramdisk=[boot]\sources\win7pe.wim,{7619dcc8-fafe-11d9-b411-000476eba25f}
systemroot              \windows
detecthal               Yes
winpe                   Yes
ems                     Yes

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier              {873d786e-7fe7-11e1-90af-e0cb4ea3c78b}

device                  ramdisk=[boot]\sources\win7pe.wim,{7619dcc8-fafe-11d9-b411-000476eba25f}
path                    \windows\system32\boot\winload.exe
description             Windows 7 PE
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {bootloadersettings}
osdevice                ramdisk=[boot]\sources\win7pe.wim,{7619dcc8-fafe-11d9-b411-000476eba25f}
systemroot              \windows
detecthal               Yes
winpe                   Yes
ems                     Yes

The operation completed successfully.

The operation completed successfully.

The operation completed successfully.

The entry was successfully copied to {8f8d86a2-7fe7-11e1-90af-e0cb4ea3c78b}.

The operation completed successfully.

The operation completed successfully.


Windows Boot Manager
--------------------

identifier              {bootmgr}
description             Windows Boot Manager
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {globalsettings}
default                 {default}
displayorder            {default}
                        {873d786e-7fe7-11e1-90af-e0cb4ea3c78b}
                        {8f8d86a2-7fe7-11e1-90af-e0cb4ea3c78b}
toolsdisplayorder       {memdiag}
timeout                 30

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier              {default}

device                  ramdisk=[boot]\sources\7RD32.wim,{7619dcc8-fafe-11d9-b411-000476eba25f}
path                    \windows\system32\boot\winload.exe
description             Windows Seven Recovery Disk 32 Bit
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {bootloadersettings}
osdevice                ramdisk=[boot]\sources\7RD32.wim,{7619dcc8-fafe-11d9-b411-000476eba25f}
systemroot              \windows
detecthal               Yes
winpe                   Yes
ems                     Yes

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier              {873d786e-7fe7-11e1-90af-e0cb4ea3c78b}
device                  ramdisk=[boot]\sources\win7pe.wim,{7619dcc8-fafe-11d9-b411-000476eba25f}
path                    \windows\system32\boot\winload.exe
description             Windows 7 PE
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {bootloadersettings}
osdevice                ramdisk=[boot]\sources\win7pe.wim,{7619dcc8-fafe-11d9-b411-000476eba25f}
systemroot              \windows
detecthal               Yes
winpe                   Yes
ems                     Yes

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier              {8f8d86a2-7fe7-11e1-90af-e0cb4ea3c78b}

device                  ramdisk=[boot]\sources\7RD32.wim,{7619dcc8-fafe-11d9-b411-000476eba25f}
path                    \windows\system32\boot\winload.exe
description             Windows Seven Recovery Disk 32 Bit
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {bootloadersettings}
osdevice                ramdisk=[boot]\sources\7RD32.wim,{7619dcc8-fafe-11d9-b411-000476eba25f}
systemroot              \windows
detecthal               Yes
winpe                   Yes
ems                     Yes

The operation completed successfully.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Windows 7 Repair Disk 32 Bit : Windows_7_32-bit_Repair_Disc.iso
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Copying files Extra, Please wait!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Copying files

 Elapsed time: 00:28:09

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Finished copy

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Construction of the menu is running!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SARDU for USB successfully created!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Robert333]

Hello,

I have resolved the issue, so that the computer can boot to the USB Flash Drive configured by SARDU.

This was a BIOS settings issue.

In the BIOS of this Asus netbook I found a second setting, which also had to be set with "USB" as 1st boot device.

When I found this setting, the 'Boot Settings' dialog box had the following categories:

"Boot Device Priority".

"Hard Disk Drives":

It was necessary to additionally set "USB" as 1st boot device within the "Hard Disk Drives" category.
In here its default settings were:
“HDD”
“USB”.

I was rather surprised by this because this category, according to its name seemed to be only for hard disks.

I wrote down the name of the “Hard Drives Category” and of its two default settings.
Yet, once I had also set this additional category to “USB” as first boot device, this “Hard Drives Category” was no longer visible in the BIOS !

I do not know if anyone else has noticed categories that “remove themselves” from the BIOS according to what settings are made by the user.

In any event, when seeking to set the Boot Order to start a USB removable device, people need to carefully examine the 'Boot Settings' dialog box, by opening each category to see if there may be any additional options for “USB”!

The BIOS may well differ for many machines, so it is necessary to look for similar, rather than the same items that I have described.

Be careful when making changes in the BIOS!
If anyone suspects they may have made any unintended changes, it is better to select to exit without saving, and then
re-open the BIOS to try again.

Regards,

Robert333

[Robert333]

Hello,

I now better understand how the BIOS settings on my Netbook function, and so the following may help others:

In the BIOS of this Asus netbook, its 'Boot Settings' tab (or dialog box) includes the following two items:

1) "Boot Device Priority":
For your USB Flash Drive, this has to be set with the "Removable device" as 1st boot device.

2) "Hard Disk Drives":
By default this contains just two items:
HDD
USB
You need to change the "HDD" to "USB". (This causes HDD and USB to swap positions.)

You then need to "Exit saving changes", and the machine will then boot to the SARDU interface.

These BIOS settings are only saved for a certain amount of time on my machine. While they are still saved, if you go into the BIOS, the "Hard Disk Drives" option is no longer present.

After a while however, the BIOS settings revert to the way they previously were, with the HDD as 1st Boot device and then also the "Hard Disk Drives" option is visible again.
You will then not be able to boot to your USB Flash Drive until you again set those two options in the BIOS to see the USB drive.

I assume similar BIOS behavour applies to other machines, so I hope this helps others.

Regards,

Robert333

[Robert333]

Hello,

I hope the following may prove useful:

This concerns a different netbook (an Acer) from the one to which my previous messages applied (which was an Asus).

I also tried booting to my SARDU created USB Flash Drive, to an Acer netbook and found that I had to do the following:

Insert the USB Flash Drive, start the machine and enter the BIOS. There are two sets of items in the 'Boot' tab. The Removable drive is in a non-active list, and you place this item in the active list. You then move it to the top of that list.
Exit saving changes.
The machine then boots into Windows, but do not panic!

Leaving the USB Flash Drive attached, reboot and ensure that you again go into the BIOS. In the 'Boot' tab, the name of your Flash Drive can now be seen (manufacturer and model). This item must be moved to the top of the list.
Exit saving changes.
The machine boots to SARDU.

In other words, at least with this machine, it was necessary to twice go into the BIOS.

I hope this helps.

Regards,

Robert333

[Robert333]

This is a correction for my previous message.

The netbook for which it is necessary to twice configure the BIOS, before being able to boot to the SARDU USB Flash Drive, was a "Samsung" (and not an "Acer").

Regards,

Robert333