Boot Multiple ISO Files from USB

How to create a Multiboot USB Flash Drive that you can use to Boot Multiple ISO Files from USB. Please note that you might need a 8GB-16GB or larger USB flash device to be able to support every bootable ISO entry. I will update and add more Bootable ISO files to the list as I find the time to test them. You can also contact me to submit working Bootable Linux ISO menu.lst entries for inclusion.



MultiBoot USB Menu (Simply select an ISO to boot from USB)


http://www.pendrivelinux.com/downloads/MultiBootISOs/MultiBootISOs-2.1.5.2.exe

MultiBootISOs-2.1.5.2.exe – February 18, 2011 – Changelog
Display warning notification only during first run of tool on a given drive.


How to Boot Multiple ISO Files from USB
Run* MultiBootISOs-2.1.5.2.exe following the onscreen instructions
Run the tool again to Add More ISOs/Distributions to your Drive
Restart your PC setting it to boot from the USB device
Select the ISO you want to Boot from the Menu and enjoy!

That's all there is to it. You should now be booting your favorite ISO files from your Multi-Boot USB device!

How It Works: MultiBootISOs enables each user to create their own custom Multiboot UFD containing only the Distributions they want. New Distributions can be added to your UFD each time the tool is run.

Store your downloads in the ISOFILES Directory created where the tool is run. Supported downloads stored there are auto-detected by the tool. The Basic Requirements or Essentials


Basic Essentials to create a Multi ISO Boot USB Flash Drive
Fat32 Formatted Flash Drive (NOT Superfloppy Formatted)
PC that can boot from USB-HDD or detects the USB as a HardDrive

Windows XP/Vista/7 host to create the Bootable USB

MultiBootISOs-USB-Creator.exe

Your select ISO Files


IMPORTANT NOTE: A Fat32 Format option has been removed (for now). Ensure that your USB drive is fat32 formatted (with a partition) before running the tool on it, otherwise Syslinux WILL fail and your drive WILL NOT Boot. List of Installable Live Linux Distributions


MultiBootISOs can create a UFD containing one or all of the following
KNOPPIX
T(A)ILS
PING
Panda Antivirus
PCLinuxOS
Sugar on a Stick
Debian Live
Trinity Rescue Kit
System Rescue CD
Puppy Linux
TinyCore
EasyPeasy
SLAX 6.1.2
Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10
Peppemint Linux OS
EEEBuntu 3.0.1
Linux Mint 10
Ubuntu 10.10
Xubuntu 10.10
Kubuntu 10.10
Lubuntu 10.10
Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook Remix
Damn Small Linux
SliTaz Linux 3.0
Ophcrack XP
YlmF OS
xPUD (Simple Netbook Distro)
FreeDOS
Ubuntu Rescue Remix
Partition Wizard 5
Memtest86+ (Memory Diagnostics)
DBAN 2.2.6
RIP Linux (Recovery Is Possible)
Redo Backup and Recovery 0.9.5
Parted Magic
UBCD Ultimate Boot CD
Offline NT Password + Reg Editor
GParted
Clonezilla Maverick
BKO boot.kernel.org
AVG Rescue CD (Antivirus Scanner)
Avira Antivir Rescue CD (Antivirus Scanner)
BitDefender Rescue CD (Antivirus Scanner)
Jolicloud | Download
EASUS Disk Copy | Download
BackTrack 4 Final | Download
Mandriva Free 2010 Spring | Download
Windows Vista/7 Install Disk | Create the ISO from your DVD Known Issues and Additional Information
Known Issues:
PC must be able to detect and boot the Flash Drive as a HardDisk or USB-HDD . USB-ZIP boot options won't work because, once handed over to grub, the flash drive will be improperly set to (fd0), whereas the menu entries are to be found at (hd0,0).

Additional Notes:

You can also boot Ubuntu or an Ubuntu based remix with persistence by using our Casper-RW Creator script to create a Casper-RW file on your USB device. Only "ONE Distro" can use casper persistence

If you don't have a floppy drive and get fd0 errors while booting, simply add floppy.allowed_drive_mask=0 to the kernel line for that menu entry. Although the best fix is to disable floppy in BIOS.

To load Ophcrack tables when booted in this fashion, the tables folder needs to exist at the root of the USB device. Example E:\tables\vista_free. Download Tables from the Official Ophcrack site and unzip to your USB.

Boot Errors: While trying to run an ISO from USB, If you get a Boot error saying:


Error 60: File for drive emulation must be in one contiguous disk area

You'll need to defragment your ISO using one of the following tools:

contig - Command line tool to defragment ISO files.

wincontig – GUI tool to defragment ISO files.

For information on how to try other ISO's, see the "CDROM emulation (virtualization) section" in the official GRUB4DOS Readme file. Additionally, Here is another good third party guide that explains how things work.

If you successfully boot from a Linux Based ISO that isn't listed (see full.menu.lst for examples), let me know and I will add it to the list.

Alternately, Here is a Linux Based MultiBoot Tool created by another developer. Here is a Manual Multiboot ISO method using Grub2 and Linux.