Solved BIOS to allow booting from an ISO on an HDD.

jimbo45

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Hi there
I'd like a feature in a Bios to enable an ISO on the HDD to be a selectable boot device.

Some MB's have a small Internet Browser built in to the BIOS which can be activated at boot time before loading the OS.

Perhaps even if loading a file system into the BIOS wasn't possible perhaps by selecting this type of option in the BIOS Windows could issue a prompt for the ISO once it could read the file system before loading the rest of its code.

Shouldn't IMO be impossible to do and would certainly make life a lot simpler.

Cheers
jimbo
 

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Problem is when the BIOS goes to the HDD, first stop is the MBR. How is it going to find the .iso from there. Maybe if you put it into an active partition all by itself. But now it is looking for a bootmgr there. I guess one would need a "look for .iso" option in the MBR.
 

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Well Jimbo,

true would maybe be easier, but would it be any faster. I use Iso2disk to convert the Iso right on a USB stick or drive and this takes a while.

But i think that installing from ISO, this would take a lot longer to end.

Jeff
 

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Jeffrys, where can I get Iso2disk ?

I googled it and didnt found a download source :(
 

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Last edited:

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That looks like a good program, it would solve some problems for me.

I think I see what Jimbo is saying, he'd like to boot to any ISO image that's stored on the hard drive. That would be difficult to set up. The BIOS would have to first mount the hard drives, then search a predefined area on it and mount any predefined ISO image which may be stored there, and boot to it.

I don't think any Motherboard maker has even thought of doing, but it would be great if it could be implemented.
 

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    AMD 4400+/4200+
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    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
Jimbo's post is several years old but it has been revived. I don't know of any BIOSs that support booting from an ISO on an hdd but look into the Zalman ZM-VE300, ::: Zalman, leading the world of Quiet Computing Solutions :::. At first glance it appears to be an ordinary external hdd enclosure but it has a feature that makes it very unique, it can emulate a CD drive. The enclosure can do exactly what jimbo was asking for, I have one of the Zalman enclosures and have dozens of install ISOs stored on mine. It allows me to select one of the ISOs on the hdd and then boot from it just like it was a disk in a CD drive. It works great and now I have a single place to store all of my install disks as ISOs and don't need to sort through stacks of disks to find the install disk I'm looking for.
 

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That is one remarkable HDD! Are they within poverty level buyer's range? That would save me all kinds of problems, I could cart that around with me for on-site jobs, instead of taking my huge CD wallets with me.
 

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    AMD 4400+/4200+
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    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
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    2 GB/3GB
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    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
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    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
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    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
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    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
I use Rufus. you don't need to install it and it's pretty quick.
 

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Hi there
This was an OLD post -- Windows to Go more than suffices and being a full windows system it's actually a lot more useful than some of the "Recovery" or "Magic" Cd stuff out there like Bartpe (sorry Bart -- great in it's time - had no equal but there's better tools out there today), or the various versions of Hirens CD or Magic boot etc etc.

Windows to Go allows you also just to install any windows application too just like normal windows so not only can you use it as a recovery system but you can have your OWN versions of typical Windows programs like Office etc. --It's a GREAT PORTABLE windows system.

Cheers
jimbo
 

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    ASUS TUF Z370-Pro Gaming, HP, MS
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    16G, 8G, 8G
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    AMD Radeon RX580, Intel Iris X Graphics, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G4
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    ATI High Definition Audio (Built-in to mobo)
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    Dual Samsung U32J59 32 inch monitors, 13.3" display, 12.3" display
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    3840x2160 (Desktop), 1920x1080 (laptop), 2736x1824 Pro 7
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    500GB ssd boot drive with 2 & 10TB Data (Desktop), 512GB ssd (laptop), 128GB SSD (tablet)
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    Corsair CX 750M
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    Antec 100
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    Coolermaster CM 212+
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    IBM Model M - used continuously since 1986
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    Microsoft IntelliMouse
    Internet Speed
    665Mbps/15Mbps down/up
    Browser
    FireFox, MS Edge
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    Defender on all
    Other Info
    Retired in 2015 after working in the tech industry for 41 years. First 10 years as a Technician, the rest as a programmer/software engineer. After 1 year of retirement, I was bored so went back to work as a Robotic Process Automation Consultant. Retired for 3rd (and final) time in 2019.
Hi there
This was an OLD post -- Windows to Go more than suffices and being a full windows system it's actually a lot more useful than some of the "Recovery" or "Magic" Cd stuff out there like Bartpe (sorry Bart -- great in it's time - had no equal but there's better tools out there today), or the various versions of Hirens CD or Magic boot etc etc.

Windows to Go allows you also just to install any windows application too just like normal windows so not only can you use it as a recovery system but you can have your OWN versions of typical Windows programs like Office etc. --It's a GREAT PORTABLE windows system.

Cheers
jimbo

I'm confused. How does Windows to Go allow you to boot an ISO from an hdd which was your original question? Also, WTG isn't a very generic solution since it is not readily available to many since it's only comes with Windows Enterprise.
 

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    W10 Pro (desktop), W10 (laptop), W10 Pro (tablet)
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    Home built i7-8700K, Hp Envy x360 EVO Laptop, MS Surface Pro 7
    CPU
    3.7Ghz Core i7-8700K, 11th Gen Core i7-1165G7 4.7Ghz, 10th Gen Core™ i5-1035G4 1.1Ghz
    Motherboard
    ASUS TUF Z370-Pro Gaming, HP, MS
    Memory
    16G, 8G, 8G
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon RX580, Intel Iris X Graphics, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G4
    Sound Card
    ATI High Definition Audio (Built-in to mobo)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual Samsung U32J59 32 inch monitors, 13.3" display, 12.3" display
    Screen Resolution
    3840x2160 (Desktop), 1920x1080 (laptop), 2736x1824 Pro 7
    Hard Drives
    500GB ssd boot drive with 2 & 10TB Data (Desktop), 512GB ssd (laptop), 128GB SSD (tablet)
    PSU
    Corsair CX 750M
    Case
    Antec 100
    Cooling
    Coolermaster CM 212+
    Keyboard
    IBM Model M - used continuously since 1986
    Mouse
    Microsoft IntelliMouse
    Internet Speed
    665Mbps/15Mbps down/up
    Browser
    FireFox, MS Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender on all
    Other Info
    Retired in 2015 after working in the tech industry for 41 years. First 10 years as a Technician, the rest as a programmer/software engineer. After 1 year of retirement, I was bored so went back to work as a Robotic Process Automation Consultant. Retired for 3rd (and final) time in 2019.

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    WINDOWS 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    INTEL CORE I--3770K LGA1155
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77-V
    Memory
    KINGSTON 2400 MHZ KHX24C11K4 16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    INTEL HD GRAFICS 4000
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Philip BDL3245€ 32 inch
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    2 SAMSUNG 840 PRO RAID 0 ON BOARD 2 x 128 GB
    Keyboard
    LOGITEC MX™ 5500
    Mouse
    LOGITEC MX 5500
    Internet Speed
    120 Mbps
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