What do YOU think of VistaBootPRO? (On a Scale of 1-10, 10 being the highest)

[gries818]

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PROnetworks would like to hear your thoughts about our newest release of VistaBootPRO! Please feel free to vote in the poll and tell us what you think so we can continue to make VistaBootPRO the best that it can be! This is the place for all suggestions and recommendations as to features to be included in future builds.

[kd1966]

Well, I voted awesome............

[gries818]

Yes I did too - I when I first installed Vista (before VistaBootPRO) I was very I annoyed that bcdedit was the only way to edit the bootloader. Now I am happy that we've got this software and I have enjoyed working on it.

Does anyone have any suggestions for the software? We can't improve if you don't speak up!

[TWiST2k]

Well there are two things actualley but first.

I am looking to edit a BCD registry that is not stored on the drive that the OS I am running is on. I am using the Vista Boot Loader on a portable USB HD for a WinPE 2.0 project and I would love to be able to use VistaBootPRO instead of BCDEdit on the command line to add entries and what not. So is there a way to specify what BCD registry your going to be editiing with VistaBootPRO ?

Second one is that I know there is a way with BCDEdit to boot from a wim file, its a few lines of manual command line code, and I am wondering if this will be implemented into the program ?

Code: Select all

To create an entry to boot a WIM image from hard disk
1.
Create the {ramdisktoptions} object in your BCD store by specifying the following. Drive should be the drive that contains the image.

bcdedit /create {ramdiskoptions} /d "Ramdisk options"

bcdedit /set {ramdiskoptions} ramdisksdidevice partition=Drive

bcdedit /set {ramdiskoptions} ramdisksdipath \boot\boot.sdi

2.
Create a new boot application entry by specifying:

bcdedit /create /d "Boot from WIM" /application OSLOADER

3.
This will return an identifier (GUID) for the newly created entry. This new entry will be referred to as {GUID} in the rest of this procedure. Next specify the following:

bcdedit /set {GUID} device ramdisk=[c:]\sources\boot.wim,{ramdiskoptions}

bcdedit /set {GUID} path \windows\system32\winload.exe

bcdedit /set {GUID} osdevice ramdisk=[c:]\sources\boot.wim,{ramdiskoptions}

bcdedit /set {GUID} systemroot \windows

4.
If you are booting into Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE), then you will also need to specify:

bcdedit /set {GUID} winpe yes

bcdedit /set {GUID} detecthal yes

5.
Next specify the following to add your new entry to the display order:

bcdedit /displayorder {GUID} /addlast


When BCDEdit was first released I started to create a program like VistaBootPRO, but with everything else I had going on I didnt not have time to commit to it, so it pleases me someone else had the same great idea!

merged to VBPRO Thoughts and Suggestion Thread by gries818

[Grav!ty]

Welcome to PROnetworks TWiST2k

Lets see what jbullard has to say about your suggestion and the ability to edit a BCD store not at the default location. He is one of the programmers directly involved in the applications development and should have some answers for you.

[jbullard]

Welcome to PROnetworks!

First of all let me thank you for you suggestions and say we appreciate all of them. So if you have more please let us know.

I am looking to edit a BCD registry that is not stored on the drive that the OS I am running is on. I am using the Vista Boot Loader on a portable USB HD for a WinPE 2.0 project and I would love to be able to use VistaBootPRO instead of BCDEdit on the command line to add entries and what not. So is there a way to specify what BCD registry your going to be editiing with VistaBootPRO ?

Can I ask if you have tried to just add that OS into the current BCD registry through VBPro? If so, did you successfully boot into that OS?

- Currently, in VBPro there is not an option to connect to a different system and manage the BCD registry. We do have plans for it in the future, but it is a very sticky situation. In order to connect to another computer you must use the WMI version of BCD. The downfall is that the WMI version does not work in any OS except Vista. So, as you can see this is a very tough decision at this moment. However, we are looking into the possibility. Maybe releasing a "Network Administrator" version which incorporates WMI.

Second one is that I know there is a way with BCDEdit to boot from a wim file, its a few lines of manual command line code, and I am wondering if this will be implemented into the program ?

We will definitely look into this and if feasible add it to the next build.

If you have any others please keep them coming. And thank you once again.

Jason

[TWiST2k]

I was just looking auround wondering "Hmm where did my post go ? Did it get deleted ? Did I say something rude ?" haha, no more fun back to work...

You are able to work on a seperate store, without using WMI by using /import and /export. What you can do is /export the current config to a temp file in the VistaBootPRO dir or what not, and then /import the store they want to work on, and then when its done /export that store to whereever it came from and /import back the original file. I am using this technique now with BCDedit and its working fine I can import and export it to my primary (Windows XP SP2 PRO) OS and then load up VistaBootPRO to do some of my editing. I did notice sometimes it complains if a drive like X: is referenced and does not exist so that would have to be changed when editing external BCD stores.

I almost lost my OS atleast twice this morning from BCD issues (Luckily I got my handy WinPE DVD and WinPE External HD, which BTW is the whole reason im getting so crazy with BCD in the first place), I was getting that error about running it as admin but I finalley figured out if u use BCDEdit to /import a store or even a blank environment that dosent exist, then the error goes away, ALSO when getting said, run as admin error and trying to use BCDEdit instead it will also error saying it has been altered externalley and needs to be reloaded or something similar. But /import ing a new file or an old one gives u access again. Maybe its a bug, in BCDEdit NOT VistaBootPRO.

[gries818]

I was just looking auround wondering "Hmm where did my post go ? Did it get deleted ? Did I say something rude ?" haha, no more fun back to work...

Check your PM inbox

[jbullard]

You are able to work on a seperate store, without using WMI by using /import and /export. What you can do is /export the current config to a temp file in the VistaBootPRO dir or what not, and then /import the store they want to work on, and then when its done /export that store to whereever it came from and /import back the original file. I am using this technique now with BCDedit and its working fine I can import and export it to my primary (Windows XP SP2 PRO) OS and then load up VistaBootPRO to do some of my editing. I did notice sometimes it complains if a drive like X: is referenced and does not exist so that would have to be changed when editing external BCD stores.

This is the biggest problem with BCD and will be fixed in VBPro. Unfortunately what you are talking about will not work with the next version because we are running a test scan to look for that "\uknown" device. If it detects one, it will then propmt the user for further action; either, tell us where the device is, or delete the entry. But you will not be able to proceed if you do not do either one. This is what is causing a problem with the "index count error." I had tried to do what you are talking about and it will work if the user does not have any "\unknown" devices in their registry, otherwise, we will be prompting them to take further action to correct there BCD registry. This can get very confusing/troublesome for those inexperienced users.

Thanks,
Jason

[edkugler]

Correction and addition to my previous post that my new XP entries to the Vista boot menu do not work.

The error message when selecting the new XP entries was: "The selected entry would not load because the application is missing or corrupt." But each of the XP selections do open from the XP boot.ini menu after "Earlier version of Windows" is selected. They just do not work when selected directly from the Vista boot menu. The NTLDR system bootloader file is present and working in the root of my boot XP partition (Tulips).

Here are my View Settings in Overview view:

There are a total of 6 OSes installed into the boot manager.
Current timeout before default boots: 5 seconds.
Default OS: Mountains Reflected

Entry # 1

Name: Earlier version of Windows
BCD ID: {ntldr}
Boot Drive: K:
Windows Drive:
System Bootloader: \ntldr
Windows Directory:

Entry # 2

Name: Mountains Reflected
BCD ID: {current}
Boot Drive: N:
Windows Drive: N:
System Bootloader: \Windows\system32\winload.exe
Windows Directory: \Windows

Entry # 3

Name: Green Frond
BCD ID: {55fe76bf-1b01-11db-8218-cbc721746f36}
Boot Drive: O:
Windows Drive: O:
System Bootloader: \Windows\system32\winload.exe
Windows Directory: \Windows

Entry # 4

Name: XP - Tulips
BCD ID: {55fe76c4-1b01-11db-8218-cbc721746f36}
Boot Drive: K:
Windows Drive:
System Bootloader: \ntldr
Windows Directory:

Entry # 5

Name: XP - Azul
BCD ID: {55fe76c5-1b01-11db-8218-cbc721746f36}
Boot Drive: L:
Windows Drive:
System Bootloader: \ntldr
Windows Directory:

Entry # 6

Name: XP - Stonehenge
BCD ID: {55fe76c6-1b01-11db-8218-cbc721746f36}
Boot Drive: M:
Windows Drive:
System Bootloader: \ntldr
Windows Directory:

Here they are in Detailed view:

Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {bootmgr}
device partition=K:
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-US
inherit {globalsettings}
default {current}
resumeobject {f2a6a1ca-1b22-11db-a5d5-806e6f6e6963}
displayorder {ntldr}
{current}
{55fe76bf-1b01-11db-8218-cbc721746f36}
{55fe76c4-1b01-11db-8218-cbc721746f36}
{55fe76c5-1b01-11db-8218-cbc721746f36}
{55fe76c6-1b01-11db-8218-cbc721746f36}
toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}
timeout 5

Windows Legacy OS Loader
------------------------
identifier {ntldr}
device partition=K:
path \ntldr
description Earlier version of Windows

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {current}
device partition=N:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Mountains Reflected
locale en-US
inherit {bootloadersettings}
osdevice partition=N:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {50c73d4d-e6b3-11da-bc73-d30cdb1ce216}
nx OptIn

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {55fe76bf-1b01-11db-8218-cbc721746f36}
device partition=O:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Green Frond
osdevice partition=O:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {e05d8e58-26cf-11db-bda7-806e6f6e6963}

Windows Legacy OS Loader
------------------------
identifier {55fe76c4-1b01-11db-8218-cbc721746f36}
device partition=K:
path \ntldr
description XP - Tulips

Windows Legacy OS Loader
------------------------
identifier {55fe76c5-1b01-11db-8218-cbc721746f36}
device partition=L:
path \ntldr
description XP - Azul

Windows Legacy OS Loader
------------------------
identifier {55fe76c6-1b01-11db-8218-cbc721746f36}
device partition=M:
path \ntldr
description XP - Stonehenge