The ultimate utility for any serious USB user -- but BEWARE: here be dragons!
@ http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Boot-Manager-Disk/Bootice.shtml, Mihaela Citea wrote:Bootice is a portable utility that allows you to modify, backup and restore the MBR (Master Boot Record) and the PBR (Partition Boot Record) of local or removable drives. MBR refers to the first sector of a partitioned drive, while PBR implies the part that allows booting.
The application is intended for professional users, yet provides a tab-based interface, which makes it easy to handle even by the less experienced. With this tool, you can easily change your MBR / PBR sections to another type. It supports multiple different boot records, ranging from Grub4DOS, UltralSO or Plop Boot Manager to BOOTMGR or SYSLinux.
The homepage link in the program interface appears to be hardcoded to launch MS Internet Explorer, which is always a nuisance when you have a different browser preconfigured as default.
@ DEVICE
*******************************************************
/DEVICE=[m:n | X:]
m:n >> partition n of disk m. (m: 0-based; n: 1-based)
X: >> specify the disk and partition number by its drive letter.
/install >> Install some kind of MBR, requires /type parameter.
/type=[wee, GRUB4DOS, grub2, 1jf9z, 1jf9k, plop,
usbhdd+, usbzip+, nt52, nt60]
If /type= parameter is missed, the MBR screen will display.
/menu=xxx.lst >> Load menu file for WEE.
/backup >> Backup MBR to a file. Requires /file= parameter.
/file=xxxx.xxx: backup file name, a full path name.
/sectors=n: Specify the sectors number to be backupped.
/restore >> Restore MBR from a file. Requires /file= parameter.
/file=xxxx.xxx: backup file name, a full path name.
/keep_dpt: Keep disk signature and partition table untouched.
/boot_file=xxx >> Specify the boot file of GRUB4DOS, grldr as default.
/install >> Install some kind of PBR, requires /type parameter.
/type=[msdos | GRUB4DOS | ntldr | bootmgr | syslinux]
If /type= parameter is missed, the PBR screen will be displayed.
/backup >> Backup PBR to a file. Requires /file= parameter.
/file=xxxx.xxx >> File name, coundl be a full path name or a short name.
/sectors=n >> Specify the sectors number to be backupped.
/restore >> Restore PBR from a file. Requires /file= parameter.
/file=xxxx.xxx >> File name, coundl be a full path name or a short name.
/keep_bpb: Keep BPB(Bios Parameter Block) untouched.
/boot_file=xxx >> Specify the boot file of GRUB4DOS, NTLDR or BOOTMGR.
@ Partitioning & Format
*******************************************************
BOOTICE [DEVICE] /partitions [operation]
operation:
/backup_dpt=xxx >> Backup the partition table to file xxx
/restore_dpt=xxx >> Restore the partition table from file xxx
/hide >> Hide a partition
/unhide >> UnHide a partition
/eisahide >> Hide a partition by setting its ID to 0x12
/activate >> Activate a partition
/repartition >> RePartition and Format an USB disk
[/usb-fdd, /usb-zip, /usb-hdd] [/vollabel=xxx] [/fstype=xxx]
[/vollabel=xxx]: specify new volume label, 11 chars max.
[/fstype=]: /fstype=[fat16 | fat32 | ntfs | exfat]
[/startlba=nnn]: specify the LBA of the partition
@ Special parameters
*******************************************************
1. /quiet
With /quiet parameter, BOOTICE will automatically start the installation
rather than stopping and waiting for the user's operation
(except when formatting a disk).
2. /nodriveletters
*******************************************************
If /nodriveletters exists, BOOTICE will not detect any drive letters.
3. Parameters for GRUB4DOS
*******************************************************
Because of widely use of GRUB4DOS, BOOTICE supports these special
parameters for GRUB4DOS:
/mbr-bpb: Copy the BPB of the leading FAT partition to MBR
/mbr-disable-floppy: don't search floppy for grldr
/mbr-disable-osbr: don't boot from old MBR with an invalid partition table
/duce: disable the unconditional console entrance
/chs-no-tune: disable geometry tune
/boot-prevmbr-first: boot previous MBR first
/preferred-drive=m: preferred boot drive number
/preferred-partition=n: preferred partition number
/hot-key=3920: hot-key, four hex numbers, first two for scan code, last two fro ASCII
/time-out=d: count down
/boot_file=xxx: rename the boot file (default value is grldr)
Re: Bootice
Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2013 2:50 pm
by guinness
Don't rely on RegFromApp to provide accurate results.
Re: Bootice
Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2013 3:28 pm
by I am Baas
Requires admin privileges. Unable to test right now.
Re: Bootice
Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2013 1:54 am
by Midas
guinness wrote:Don't rely on RegFromApp to provide accurate results.
Since, unlike Primo, it has both a 32 & 64 bit version, it has become my quick'n'dirty way to check registry access.
◆ 2013.4.10 v1.0.5:
1. Fixed a bug that caused incorrect BCD device when using GPT disk;
2. New feature: when format a partition as FAT16/FAT32/ExFat file system, the reserved sectors can be customized now;
3. When re-partitioning a disk into multi-partitions, both MBR and GPT scheme are supported now;
4. BOOTICE supports partition internal structure optimization now. So, the reserved sectors, FAT table, and other structures of FAT16/FAT32/ExFat can be 4K-aligned, which brings performance increcement on SSD or 4K-sector hard disks.
So bootice.narod.ru is a download mirror; for bleeding edge, look at the homepage...
Re: Bootice
Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 8:11 am
by guinness
Midas,
You're free to choose what applications you want on your system, this isn't the "issue" so to speak. I understand what you're saying, but submitting application(s) should be impartial to what you (or I) believe to be Stealth.
Re: Bootice
Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 9:09 am
by Midas
guinness wrote:Submitting application(s) should be impartial to what you (or I) believe to be Stealth.
Sure thing. That's why most of the time I don't make any assumptions, there are members here with rather more honed skills that mine for detecting portability/stealthiness...
2013.5.12 v1.0.6:
1. Upgraded grub4dos 0.46a to 2013-05-07, including its USB 2.0 driver options;
2. Upgraded grub2 to 2.00;
3. A progress bar was added to the sector backup / restore screen;
4. A progress bar was added to the re-partition / format screen;
5. Allow re-partitioning to image files;
6. Fixed a bug that changes the last 2 bytes of the 1 sector to 0x55 0xAA when restoring sectors from a file;
7. Fixed a command line parameters error in the PBR Grub4Dos function;
8. Upgraded Plop boot manager to 5.0.15-Test.
Re: Bootice
Posted: Fri May 31, 2013 8:26 am
by Midas
This is puzzling -- just found a different changelog for v1.0.6 at http://www.ipauly.com:
2013.5.17 v1.0.6:
Added two parameters: /assign_letter, /delete_letter, used to assign or delete drive letter for the specified partition. Use /assign_letter=X to specify a letter or /assign_letter to specifiy the first available letter;
Support menu edit for the newest GRUB4DOS v0.46a with USB 2.0 driver;
Fixed a command line bug, which parses the partition number incorrectly;
Re: Bootice
Posted: Fri May 31, 2013 9:04 am
by Userfriendly
Same version number with different build dates. Here's the complete list for v1.0.6:
◆ 2013.5.17 v1.0.6:
1. Added two parameters: /assign_letter, /delete_letter, used to assign or delete drive letter for the specified partition. Use /assign_letter=X to specify a letter or /assign_letter to specifiy the first available letter;
2. Support menu edit for the newest GRUB4DOS v0.46a with USB 2.0 driver;
3. Fixed a command line bug, which parses the partition number incorrectly;
◆ 2013.5.16 v1.0.6:
1. Fixed a bug that causes NTFS formatting failed;
2. Added a menu in the sector edit screen. This menu will list all partiitons on the disk which brings fast access to the PBR of each partition;
3. Added mouse wheel function to navigate sector in sector edit screen;
4. Using a custom format dialog to format a partition other than the system format dialog;
5. Add 2 parameters: /v045, /v046. Used to specify the version when installing grub4dos to MBR or PBR;
6. Fixed the "lock failed" bug in WIN7/8, which causes the PBR writing failed.
◆ 2013.5.12 v1.0.6:
1. Upgraded grub4dos 0.46a to 2013-05-07, including its USB 2.0 driver options;
2. Upgraded grub2 to 2.00;
3. A progress bar was added to the sector backup / restore screen;
4. A progress bar was added to the re-partition / format screen;
5. Allow re-partitioning to image files;
6. Fixed a bug that changes the last 2 bytes of the 1 sector to 0x55 0xAA when restoring sectors from a file;
7. Fixed a command line parameters error in the PBR Grub4Dos function;
8. Upgraded Plop boot manager to 5.0.15-Test.
UPDATE: Bootice 2013.9.16 v1.1.4
Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2013 3:57 am
by @thehop
Since v1.1.2 is also a 64-bit Version available!
* Bug fixes and improvements
——————————————————————————————————
◆ 2013.9.16 v1.1.4
1. Fixed the "unknown boot device" bug when deleting a boot entry of some BCD files !
2. Added a "Backup BCD" button to backup current BCD as another BCD file.
3. After formatting a partition as NTFS, the default access permissions get correct, while old versions (1.06~1.13) handle this incorrectly.
4. Added a parameter "/set_id=XX" to modify the partition ID.
5. Other optimizations.
◆ 2013.9.8 v1.1.3
1. Fixed some typos on English UI. Thank Safety1st for reporting !
2. Added a switch in Grub4Dos menu editor for embedding non-ASCII chars patterns or not.
3. Fixed the donation links.
◆ 2013.9.5 v1.1.2:
1. x64 version released;
2. Fixed the "RegOpenKeyEx failed" bug when editing BCD;
3. Fixed a bug that causes error when editing a BCD WIM boot entry with a non-existing ramdisk option;
4. Grub4Dos menu editor font changed back to old style.
◆ 2013.9.23 v1.1.5
1. Fixed a bug: in the past versions, if you create or modify a VHD boot entry of BCD, the device wouldn't be saved correctly. This bug was solved in v1.1.5;
2. UI adjustment. All dialog fonts changed to Microsoft Yahei font if available, otherwise, Tahoma instead;
3. The "Set Accessible" button comes back! When managing partitions of a removable disk, if you select a partition other than the first one, the caption of the button "Assign letter" will change to "Set Accessible".
4. Save some settings in Windows registry. For example, the last tab in the main window, the last bcd file being edited...
5. Other small fixes.
Awaiting the developers permission to make a PortableApps version available.
