Easy2Boot

Description

Easy2Boot is a free*, highly-configurable USB drive multiboot software with support for Secure UEFI booting. It is one of the most useful bootable media tool being both small and fast.

The downloadable app allows you to create a multiboot USB on a standard USB flash drive, but it also supports external USB drives (both SSDs and HDDs). There are many videos on YouTube, a quick setup guide, and plenty of other information such as Easy2Boot Forum, FAQ section, Blog, and three eBooks by the developer.

Easy2Boot Review

The demands of today's expert software users are always increasing. Whether you are an IT expert working with a wide variety of clients or a savvy hobbyist, having a multiboot USB makes the job so much easier. There are dozens of multiboot USB tools on the market, but one of the best is Easy2Boot available at www.easy2boot.com. Let's take a detailed look into what makes Easy2Boot one of the best applications for setting up and maintaining a multiboot USB.

What is a MultiBoot USB

Let's start with the basics. A multiboot USB tool is a software application that turns your everyday USB stick into a tech geek's Swiss Army Knife. Multiboot USBs allow the user to boot many dozens of bootable programs and operating systems from a single USB drive. These programs and operating systems run without needing to be installed on the computer you plug it into. This means that you can safely run programs and test or repair systems without leaving a trace on the host computer.

Why Would You Want a Multiboot USB

There are as many reasons to use a multiboot USB tool as there are programs you can run off of them! The most common is needing to boot into a wide range of operating systems. If you ever need to try a specific Linux distro or install Windows, this will be the most time-saving way to get that done. It's way easier than installing and dual booting dozens of operating systems or, and I shudder to think of this, hot swapping dedicated operation system hard drives!

Other reasons to use a multiboot USB are for people interested in the more clinical side of computing. If you're working in IT, penetration testing, or system recovery, a multiboot USB is mandatory. These tools allow you to run any number of software without "touching" the host computer. So if you have a machine that can't boot, is crushed by malware or you're troubleshooting it, a multiboot USB tool is where it's at!

With all that out of the way, let's dig into why Easy2Boot makes the best multiboot USB tool!

It's Easy to Use

The old days of making a multiboot USB were a major hassle. You had to install each ISO, Live CD, and .bin individually. The USB boot loaders were often fickle and required regular updating to keep them working when new ISOs were released - Easy2Boot gets us past all of this. With Easy2Boot, all you need to do is perform a one time install of the Easy2Boot software onto a USB flash drive, and then you're done! Really! After that installing your software packages or ISO files is a breeze. You just need to plug in your Easy2Boot USB and drag and drop your desired software (e.g., ISO file) into the right directories, and then you are good to go! Easy2Boot dynamically creates a new boot menu every time you load it, so there's no updating needed on your end. If you want to swap software payloads, say you want to replace or add the latest Ubuntu distro, all you need to do is drag and drop the new files and delete the old ones (or leave them and have both!) Easy2Boot lives up to the "easy" in its name! Easy2Boot will boot 99% of all Linux 'LiveCD' ISOs and is not version specific. Easy2Boot uses the NTFS filesystem, so you can also store all your files on the same USB drive even if they are over 4GB in size.

UEFI-booting

An Easy2Boot v2 USB drive can UEFI-boot to the 'agFM' grub2 menu system and can directly load ISO/VHD/IMG/EFI files (if the 'agFM' UEFI boot files were added to Partition 2 when it was created). In addition, you can convert a payload to a .imgPTN partition image file using the MPI Tool Kit (a Windows utility). You then copy the .imgPTN file onto the E2B USB drive. Using the boot menu, you can then select any one of your .imgPTN files. This will then cause the Easy2Boot partition 1 to be instantly replaced by the contents of the .imgPTN file (you can instead use the Switch_E2B.exe utility to switch in any .imgPTN file). Once the .imgPTN file has been 'switched-in,' you can UEFI-boot (even Secure UEFI-boot) directly from the USB drive. In this way, you can have hundreds of Secure UEFI-bootable images such as Windows Installers, Linux Installers, Linux Live OS's, WindowsToGo OS, MemTest86, KonBoot, etc. all on the same USB drive.

What About Updating?

Back in the day, updating a multiboot USB sometimes meant scrapping the current USB stick and rebuilding it. This is, thankfully, not the case with Easy2Boot. The updating process with Easy2Boot couldn't be, well, more accessible. When it comes to updating the drivers, ISOs, and other software payloads inside the Easy2Boot multiboot USB, you drag and drop new items into their directories. That's it! You can use the same drag and drop utility to get rid of the outdated software, drag and drop that into its subfolder — say a subfolder for older editions — or leave it! That's updating the software on your Easy2Boot drive, but what about updating the drive itself.

So you've added dozens of operating systems, a fully functional Kali Linux pen testing setup, countless drivers, etc. In short, you've built the true all-purpose multiboot USB, but now you have to update Easy2Boot. I can hear your trepidation. You don't want to lose all that work by risking an update and, thankfully, with Easy2Boot, you don't have to! Just download and run the latest version and click on the Update E2B Drive button.

Here's an Easy2Boot pro tip: You can also use Easy2Boot's UPDATE_E2B_DRIVE.cmd utility to spot-fix any problems you might be having with your multiboot USB stick. If you suspect some files on the USB drive are missing or corrupt, run the update utility and 9 out of 10 times that will repair E2B and get your multiboot USB back online and running at full force!

Final Thoughts

I'm sure you've all experienced this, but once you become even slightly tech-savvy everyone you know will start calling you about their email not working or that "weird thing that happens whenever they open Outlook." I started learning pen testing and system recovery for my own use, and now it seems like everyone in town knows I'm the unofficial "IT guy." Honestly, with tools like Easy2Boot's multiboot USB, I don't mind it one bit.

Easy2Boot is so intuitive and user-friendly it's fun to use (and it is fully configurable too and comes with its own Menu Editor so you can design your own menu system). The first install is lead by a convenient graphic interface, and adding software payloads such as ISO files to the drive is as simple as copying the ISO file onto the USB drive using drag-and-drop. From there, plug in the drive and fire up whatever software the situation calls for! (You can even sneak your favorite game on here to play on the fly!)

The author will also appreciate any donation!

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