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What I am still looking for, is for a boot os that can boot a normal .iso/.img file from its own device. This will be the perfect usb boot stick. 1. Flash boot

by Eun 7y ago

What I am still looking for, is for a boot os that can boot a normal .iso/.img file from its own device. This will be the perfect usb boot stick. 1. Flash boot os on the boot sector, place any iso/img file on the stick. 2. Boot from the stick 3. select the iso you want to boot Don't know it this is possible though... (I know that there is a emulation mode for virtual cd drives in the bios but thats about it...)

ComputerGuru 7y ago
EasyBCD can give you that, but you must run it to update the boot code each time you add an ISO (ie no dynamic detection).
wolfspider 7y ago
It is possible with EFI based boot loaders from what I've seen. I was looking for something similar and ended up discovering rEFIt and rEFInd. Although it isn't technically an OS it can autodetect entries from the MBR. http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/ http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/
arantius 7y ago
You're looking for YUMI: https://www.pendrivelinux.com/yumi-multiboot-usb-creator/ https://www.pendrivelinux.com/yumi-multiboot-usb-creator/ It's not 100% compatible with every ISO, but it's definitely possible to boot more than one thing from a single USB drive.
notpeter 7y ago
I've seen various software that does this with multiple installer/liveCD ISOs for Linux distributions but none that could actually boot all arbitrary ISOs (Windows installers, DOS rescue disks) which need to be on a logical device partition. I used to have a 2.5 enclosure that supports this in hardware (Zalman ZM-VE300) but selection of ISO is done on-device before booting. I don't see any reason you couldn't build a hardware/software combo where selection on-screen made the USB hardware mount the selected ISO as a new logical device and then booted it. [1]: http://www.zalman.com/contents/products/view.html?no=212 http://www.zalman.com/contents/products/view.html?no=212

by Eun 7y ago

ComputerGuru 7y ago

EasyBCD can give you that, but you must run it to update the boot code each time you add an ISO (ie no dynamic detection).

wolfspider 7y ago

It is possible with EFI based boot loaders from what I've seen. I was looking for something similar and ended up discovering rEFIt and rEFInd. Although it isn't technically an OS it can autodetect entries from the MBR. http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/ http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/

arantius 7y ago

You're looking for YUMI: https://www.pendrivelinux.com/yumi-multiboot-usb-creator/ https://www.pendrivelinux.com/yumi-multiboot-usb-creator/ It's not 100% compatible with every ISO, but it's definitely possible to boot more than one thing from a single USB drive.

notpeter 7y ago

I've seen various software that does this with multiple installer/liveCD ISOs for Linux distributions but none that could actually boot all arbitrary ISOs (Windows installers, DOS rescue disks) which need to be on a logical device partition. I used to have a 2.5 enclosure that supports this in hardware (Zalman ZM-VE300) but selection of ISO is done on-device before booting. I don't see any reason you couldn't build a hardware/software combo where selection on-screen made the USB hardware mount the selected ISO as a new logical device and then booted it. [1]: http://www.zalman.com/contents/products/view.html?no=212 http://www.zalman.com/contents/products/view.html?no=212