Install Windows for UEFI booting from E2B in MBR mode (using WinNTSetup)

[Jordan]

Install Windows for UEFI booting from E2B in MBR mode

(using WinNTSetup)

 

If you have an E2B USB hard disk and you want to install Windows onto a UEFI-system, it can be a bit of a pain the make the .imgPTN file and get it working. Especially if you want to use SDI_CHOCO.

However, you can install Windows from an E2B USB drive using WinNTSetup by JFX. This way you do not need to modify the ISO or create a .imgPTN file or modify the boot.wim files, etc. to perform a UEFI\GPT installation. Also a WinHelper USB Flash drive is not required.

This means you can boot from a Win8/10 Windows Install or WinPE ISO and then use WinNTSetup to install Windows from any ISO on the E2B drive.
 

• There is no need to UEFI-boot from the E2B USB drive
• No modification of ISOs required
• No .imgPTN file required
• No WinHelper USB Flash drive required
• You can use SDI_CHOCO XML files

The disadvantage of this method it that you will need to manually create and format some partitions on the target hard disk first, if they are not already present.

There are many videos on YouTube about WinNTSetup, if you want to see it in action. You can even boot to one of the DLC WinPE ISOs which already contains WinNTSetup, instead of booting from a Windows Install ISO.
 

Prepare the E2B USB drive

 

1. Download WinNTSetup and extract the files to a folder on the E2B USB drive (e.g. \WinNTSetup)

2. (optional) Download BootIce (x86 and x64 versions) and copy them to the \WinNTSetup folder.

3. Run WinNTSetup from Windows. Say 'Yes' to allow it to download some needed files. Quit WinNTSetup.

4. Make sure your E2B drive contains the ISO that you want to install - e.g. Windows 10 x64 Home+Pro.

5. (optional) Add a diskpart script file. Make a text file containing diskpart commands which you can use to wipe and partition the target hard disk. See here for some examples. Here is one I used

\WinNTSetup\DiskPartGPT.scr

select disk 0
clean
convert gpt
create partition primary size=300
format quick fs=ntfs label="Windows RE tools"
assign letter="T"
create partition efi size=100
rem == Note: for Advanced Format Generation One drives, change to size=260.
format quick fs=fat32 label="System"
assign letter="S"
create partition msr size=128
create partition primary
format quick fs=ntfs label="Windows"
assign letter="W"
exit

 

Boot to the ISO and run WinNTSetup

1. Boot to the E2B Main menu and select the Windows Install ISO. This can be the same ISO that you are going to install from or a different one (I suggest using the latest Win10 ISO because it is likely to contain the latest drivers). You can use any of the ISOs in the \_ISO\WINDOWS\xxx folders or just copy a Windows Install ISO to any one of the other 'standard' menu folders (e.g. \_ISO\MAINMENU).

2. When you reach the first Windows 'Setup' screen, press SHIFT+F10 to get to the command shell. If SHIFT+F10 does not work, proceed to the next Setup screen and try it again.

3. At the Windows command shell, we need to wipe and partition the target hard disk. You can run a Windows DiskPart script. e.g. where D: is the E2B USB drive...

diskpart /s d:\WinNTSetup\DiskPartGPT.scr

If you prefer, you can create the partitions using diskpart by typing in the commands and use abbreviated commands (mostly three-letter abbreviations can be used) - .e.g

diskpart

sel dis 0

detail dis
clean
convert gpt

cre par pri size=300for quick fs=ntfs label="Windows RE tools"
assign letter T 

 

cre par efi size=100 

for quick fs=fat32 label="System" 

assign letter S 

 

cre par msr size=128 

 

cre par pri

for quick fs=ntfs label="Windows" 

assign letter W 

exit

 

Tip: You can use the 'F' buttons in WinNTSetup to format any existing volumes. Make sure that you format the System EFI partition as FAT32.

If you want an MBR installation, you can use diskpart or BootIce to partition the target drive.

Example for single maximum size partition:
diskpart
sel dis 0
clean
convert mbr
cre par pri
for quick fs=ntfs label="Windows"
assign letter C
active
exit

Note that the convert mbr/convert gpt command is required to ensure that Windows does not fail during installation of boot files, due to any previously-used partitioning scheme.

4. Now run WinNTSetup (either the 32-bit or 64-bit version) and select your ISO file.

Right-click on the Search button (or the icon) at 'Select location of Windows installation files' and choose the ISO file that you want to install from the E2B USB drive. It should automatically find the install.wim file inside the ISO file. Note: If you left-click on the button/icon, then you will not be able to use an ISO file - always right-click on the button/icon.

 

Right-click on the icon and select a Windows Install ISO

5. Select the Boot (System) volume - in my case S:

6. Select the 'Installation' (OS) volume - in my case W:

7. (optional) Select an XML file - tick the 'Unattend' button. In my case I selected one of the ZZDanger_xxxxxx_SDI_CHOCO.XML files. Note that if the XML file contains a drive partition section, it will be ignored, so the partitions will remain unchanged. Also, the version of Windows that is installed (Home/Pro, etc) is determined by the one that you select in WinNTSetup and NOT the product key or wim image number used in the XML file.

There are other options available, such as creating VHD files and adding 'Tweaks' and your own drivers.

8. Select the Windows Edition (e.g. Home, Pro, etc.) in WinNTSetup.

9. Click the Setup button - you can change a few options here if you wish (not normally required) - to support both UEFI and MBR booting, make sure the ALL option is displayed.

10. Click the OK button and WinNTSetup will copy the files across to your target volumes and make it bootable.

Once the copy phase has completed, reboot and make sure you configure the target system's firmware to boot in either MBR or UEFI mode, as desired.

If running an SDI_CHOCO.XML unattend file, I suggest you remove the E2B USB drive once SDI_CHOCO tells you to. Otherwise you may find that the target system will try to reboot from the E2B drive.

If you are not using SDI_CHOCO, then you can disconnect the E2B USB drive before you allow the target system to boot.

 

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