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I am a long term user of Hiren's Boot CD, but the CD does not support booting on UEFI/EFI/SecureBoot hardware, is there some kind of update/patch to apply to the cd image to be able to boot without BIOS? Can I make this myself? (By putting some files in the iso image?)

Edit: Running Hiren from USB on EFI counts too as an alternative.

To clarify before accepting an answer: I will test the solution on:

  • A EFI computer (SecureBoot enabled)
  • A EFI computer (SecureBoot disabled)

Edit 2:

There are many suggestion to use tools which make an ISO bootable with UEFI on a flash disk, however it's not that easy as you can only do that with UEFI-enabled ISO's. By UEFI enabled ISO's I mean that the ISO files contain a BOOT\EFI directory with a EFI bootloader. Hiren does not have this so the tools will not work. This is why I am asking the question - is there any way to make ourselves / copy another bootloader into HIREN and make it work?

Braiam
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Gizmo
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9 Answers9

6

Short answer: No; you cannot make Hiren's Boot CD EFI compatible.

Even when Hiren's uses Syslinux and it is true Syslinux 6.03 now supports UEFI (syslinux.efi) you will face at least 2 problems when upgrading your Hiren's CD to Syslinux 6.03:

  1. syslinux.efi is not an UEFI signed application then forget about the SecureBoot scenario.

  2. Syslinux.efi (as the rest of EFI boot managers) can only boot kernels that were built with certain EFI parameters turned "ON" i.e.

    CONFIG_EFI=y
CONFIG_RELOCATABLE=y 
CONFIG_EFI_PARTITION=y
CONFIG_EFI_VARS=y 
CONFIG_FB_EFI=y

Hiren's kernel is not built with those flags "ON" and you (surely) do not have the exact sources/config for re-building the kernel while adding the above mentioned missing EFI related parameters.

Pat
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1

Have you tried via USB with rufus? Try Rufus USB. Rufus is a utility that helps format and create bootable USB flash drives, such as USB keys/pendrives, memory sticks, etc. Handles UEFI as well as legacy booting

Important: Select "MBR partition scheme for BIOS or UEFI computer"

Link: http://rufus.akeo.ie/?locale=en_US

Jonay
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0

I could successfully manage that by doing 2 things:

  • Disable UEFI boot
  • Enable the "Launch CSM" option

Then, in the boot order list, I got a new option for USB boot, without "UEFI" written on it. Put that one in the first place and your Hiren's USB stick should now boot up!

Natanael
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0

Hirens Boot CD uses ISOlinux (part of Syslinux) to create it's environment. ISOLinux now supports UEFI.

Look in to their guides on how to make an image to change the the Files you need to UEFI-capable ones.

I used PXELinux (also part of Syslinux) to boot Hirens over PXE and had to basicly port some of hirens menu's en files and switch out the BIOS ISOLinux files for the UEFI ones.

kazaamjt
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0

I made one following this: https://ttcshelbyville.wordpress.com/2014/10/10/rufus-usb-boot-and-hirens-boot-iso/

It boots on my new system and works on all the computers I get in for repairs. If you are looking for a read only copy (CD/DVD), there are tools that can make a EUFI bootable CD and then copy the files over... but that probably won't work for you...

because, what I usually find (and why I use the USB) is that many systems come with the boot-to-optical drive disabled. Especially if this is an OEM computer. some Toshiba's dont' even give the option to change that in the bios. The OEM Windows has to be booted, and the drive order enabled and changed from there! That presents a mess of catch-22.

The systems are designed to be reverse compatible with old boot disks, which makes "converting the Cd to EUFI" irrelevant. Its that "legacy optical boot" being automatically disabled is what is probably causing your problems.

So what you are most likely looking for is enabling the system to boot from a legacy optical drive which may not be an option from the bios. :(

One fallback/test option is to remove all the other drives from the system, and see if the bios/boot falls back to a optical drive boot when no other devices are found. That will tell you if its the CD or BIOS.

FrankenWidget
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0

maybe this is the solution:

http://softx86vn.blogspot.com/2015/01/ultimate-dlcd-boot-2015-v10-uefi-gpt.html

It's very similar to HBCD - something like HBCD upgrade. I have made bootable HDD with small partition for DLCD and other partition with ghost images and other software tools... I was using 2014 without UEFI but this new 2015 is described to support UEFI.

Goran
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-1

So, as i suggested, you should boot in with the Hiren Boot cd somewhere you can do it successfully. I suppose it has a builtin grub in it, so try grub2-install --target=x86_64-efi --> or i don't know what instruction set your laptop has, but read grub's man page for help (first make sure, you have a boot directory, if not, then make one:))

After this has gone well, you're gonna find the .efi file in somewhere /boot/efi/.../.

Now you have the efi file, so you can modify the ISO content. (i would copy it either in /boot/EFI and /boot/EFI/boot for some reason).

Hope this helps you to solve the problem. (i'm also curious if this would be good)

AdamK
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-2

Make Bootable Hiren's USB in easy steps.

"Hiren's CD to Bootable USB" is a free to use tool to make bootable USB disk from Hiren's CD iso.

Features: - Create ‎Bootable USB from Hiren's ‎iso file. - Easy to use. - Free Tool. - Just 1 2 3 and get your bootable USB. - Test Your USB.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hirens-CD-2-Bootable-USB/1440129386302328

Download Link: https://sourceforge.net/projects/hirenscd2bootableusb/

Download, Test & give your feedback.

Mohamad
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-3

An alternative CD which has many of Hirens capabilities is SPOTMAU. SPOTMAU includes EFI.

Excellll
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Paul
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