beta feature not working properly?

[SomeGuy1]

1. Quick (probably dumb) question;

Does it matter if the interface of the attached USB drive is Serial ATA or Parallel ATA (IDE)?

(though you would think it should not matter, as the computer "sees" it through the USB interface, I once encountered a situation where it did in fact matter...)

2. You said it works perfectly in your test environment;

Can you give specific details about how you are preparing and formatting the drive?

Are you using:
set id="de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac"
gpt attributes=0x8000000000000001
For any partitions?

are there any similar ids and attributes that need to be set?


3. Is there anything you would like me to try?


*************************


Attempt of the day

I tried again and then took a look at the drives, and discovered:

Original internal disk:

File System Capacity Used Space

WINRE NTFS 650M 251.01M
: FAT32 260M 107.67M
: none 128M 0K
Windows NTFS 445.04 28.01G


USB disk after running WinToUSB:

File System Capacity Used Space

WINRE NTFS 650M 12.3M
: FAT32 260M 104.68M
: none 128M 0K
Windows NTFS 73.52G 27.96G


Shouldn't these all match?

[admin]

Install windows 8.1 from CD works perfectly, cloning the existing doesn't work. Did you use the same computer, same USB external disk and same partition scheme?

[SomeGuy1]

Install windows 8.1 from CD works perfectly, cloning the existing doesn't work. Did you use the same computer, same USB external disk and same partition scheme?

Short answer:

Yes.


Long answer:


Attempts of the day;

(I repeated the processes)

Ran diskpart

clean
convert gpt
delete partition override (remove the reserved partition created by default)
create partition primary size=650
format quick fs=ntfs label="WINRE"
create partition efi size=260
format quick fs=fat32
create partition msr size=128
create partition primary size=64000
format quick fs=ntfs label="Windows"
create partition primary
format quick fs=NTFS label="Recovery"

(Note; I am not really planning on using the "recovery" partition, but included it merely for consistency)

So, my USB has the same number of partitions in the same order, the WINRE, System, and MSReserved partition are of identical size, with Windows and "Recovery" partitions that are obviously smaller


Ran WinToUSB

Selected the Internal Installed system as the source (Win8.1 "with bing" 6.3.9600 build 9600)
Selected the 260 FAT32 EFT drive for the EFI system partition
Selected the 62G NTFS partition for the boot partition
The system rebooted and ran
"System clone completed successfully"


I interrupted the boot process to make sure it was booting from the USB hard drive first in UEFI

I got a blue screen with the message "inaccessible_Boot_Device"

Tried again, got a little window that said boot device failed

I got a blue screen with the message "inaccessible_Boot_Device"

Just for fun, selected the USB drive as the boot device, without UEFI

Got a simple line of text "No bootable device"


No luck.



Rebooted from the internal hard drive.


Attempted to run WinToUSB again, using the CD as the source, but received an error message
"Already has a version of Windows installed or the same name file has been existed!"
"Please format the destination partition and retry. (0x000000/F2200AC0000)"

Exited WinToUSB


Ran diskpart

(I did not do anything to alter the partitions)

Select partition 2 (This is the 260M EFI partition)
format quick fs=fat32
Select partition 4 (This is the 62G partition)
format quick fs=ntfs label="Windows"

Exited Diskpart


Ran WinToUSB

Selected the CD as the source
Selected the 260 FAT32 EFT drive for the EFI system partition
Selected the 62G NTFS partition for the boot partition

WinToUSB ran, finished.


Rebooted.

I got the logo and wait/spinning thing, the system rebooted by itself, then went into the installation procedure asking for time zones, product key, etc.

Success!

(Well almost, the reason I want to clone the existing installation is that my product key will not work with the ISO that I have, and an ISO of the OEM version that matches my product key is not available...)


"Congratulations, you have successfully installed Windows. Share WinToUSB with your friends."



So, the CD worked, cloning did not.


*****************************************************


Yet another experiment:


(I tried using the ISO as the source also, but

*this attempt WAS using a different external drive and a different computer*)

(I have used this external drive successfully using the CD as the source on the Win8.1 machine, with both the internal HDD and the USB drive formatted as GPT, same as the attempt outlined above)


USB Drive #2

Ran Diskpart (on Win8.1 machine)
clean
create partition primary size=48000
format quick fs=ntfs
active
create partition primary
format quick fs=fat32


Ran WinToUSB (on win7 machine, internal drive formatted as MBR)

Selected Win8.1 ISO as source

Selected external USB MBR partition as destination for both system and boot

WinToUSB ran, finished.

I disconnected the drive from the Win7 machine and attached it to the Win 8.1 machine.

Turned it on. There was no UEFI boot option available. (USB disk is formatted as MBR)


I got the logo and wait/spinning thing, the system restarted by itself, but booted from the internal drive. I shut it down and restarted, manually selecting the USB drive. It then went into the installation procedure asking for time zones, product key, etc.

Success!

(Well, with the caveat above)


"Congratulations, you have successfully installed Windows. Share WinToUSB with your friends."



So, the ISO worked.

(* Created on a different computer and a different USB drive, but run on the same computer. *)


*********************************************

So, I believe at this point I have used many/most combinations of "host" computers, external USB drives, GPT vs. MBR format, using the ISO or the CD as the source.

The common problem seems to be "cloning" from the existing installed Win8.1.


Thank you very much for the replies and attention.

If there is anything else I can try for a test for you please let me know.

[admin]

I have fixed the problem, please try again: http://www.easyuefi.com/wintousb/downloa...0_Beta.exe

[SomeGuy1]

Thank you very much.

I have downloaded "WinToUSB_Setup_2.0_Beta" from the link you have provided.

I will install it, try it, and let you know what my results were.

One thing, the file I downloaded has exactly the same name as the previous Beta... I would recommend a unique file name so that people downloading them do not become confused. I changed the name so I can keep track, but there is the danger of a user using an incorrect version and reporting incorrect behavior of the program to you as a result.


*****

I am currently working on another experiment that may result in some information that is actually useful as opposed to being a headache, I will let you know soon.

Once again, thanks.

[admin]

Thank you very much.

I have downloaded "WinToUSB_Setup_2.0_Beta" from the link you have provided.

I will install it, try it, and let you know what my results were.

One thing, the file I downloaded has exactly the same name as the previous Beta... I would recommend a unique file name so that people downloading them do not become confused. I changed the name so I can keep track, but there is the danger of a user using an incorrect version and reporting incorrect behavior of the program to you as a result.


*****

I am currently working on another experiment that may result in some information that is actually useful as opposed to being a headache, I will let you know soon.

Once again, thanks.

before retry, please remove the boot.sdi and boot.wim file located in the bin folder under the installation directory.

[SomeGuy1]

My apologies for taking so long to respond, I have had other things taking up my time.



I tried the new version of the beta. I tried to "clone" the existing installed Win8.1 from the internal drive to an external USB HDD. It appeared to run, but when I tried to boot the external drive, I got the Blue Screen Of Death and an error message saying inaccessible boot device.


*****


In the mean time, I managed to do something that did work. (Unfortunately not with WinToUSB)

When I first bought the computer, the first thing I did was use the "Make Recovery Disks" function to create a set of backup DVDs. While the Recovery partition seems to resist attempts and playing with the contents (I have been reluctant to do anything too weird to it, as I did not want to damage it) the Recovery DVD set is easy to work with. I copied the contents of the Recovery DVD set into a folder, and discovered that the main installation file is a ".swm" file set, or a ".wim" file that is broken up into pieces small enough for DVDs. I was able to use DISM to apply the installX.swm to a USB HDD, and get it to install and boot.


After doing this, I used a backup software application to make a compressed copy of the external USB drive. So now, I can very quickly and easily "restore" this to an external USB at my whim. I have thus achieved my goal of being able to do exactly that, and have a "disposable playground" that I can play with and do not have to worry about messing up, as I can make a new one anytime with a couple of mouse clicks and about twenty minutes. (Hurrah!)


*****


One thing though, I thought that if you had a "real" "win2go" and you booted from it, that the existing HDD on the host computer was supposed to be inaccessible. (this would actually be desirable for my purposes) However, I have full access to the existing internal HDD when booting from the external drive.


*****


I don't know how easy this would be for you to do, but something that may make WinToUSB work for more people would be for it to be able to work with .swm files if a user has that on their DVD.


*****

"before retry, please remove the boot.sdi and boot.wim file located in the bin folder under the installation directory. "

I took a look at my Recovery DVD files, and I can not find a "bin" folder or a "boot.wim" (or .swm) file. There is a "boot.sdi" file in a directory labeled "boot".


*****


I appreciate your time and efforts to assist me, so even though I have achieved my goal, if there is anything else I can do to assist you with testing WinToUSB, or tests you would like me to try, please let me know.