How to create a UEFI boot utility from non-UEFI version?
How to create a UEFI boot utility from non-UEFI version?
Can it actually happen if someone has no coding skills at all? Yes, absolutely! You don't need a programming degree to build this. Think of Hiren's Boot Disk or memtest86 as old-school tools that only work on very old computers (BIOS era). Can we make modern versions of those old tools that work in the new UEFI world instead of CSM? Sure, there are newer versions out there now, but I don't mean those.
I've read about making USB drives that run on real UEFI mode, and everyone talks about Windows installers. But I already know how to do this myself! I know how to make a GPT partition and put in an EFI\Boot\bootx64.efi file. That's basically all the knowledge I have right now.
Does bootx64.efi have to be written specifically for each app? Can one old bootfile work with different programs? If you want some tips or links to good places, please tell me!
With your BCD store, you can load isos from any device by using commands from the boot menu. You only need Windows commands, but getting an easybcd tool makes a lot of work easier. You run it on a working Windows 7 or later and install the mbr and bcd to that USB drive. Then you load up the BCDstore from that USB so that easybcd doesn't work on the installed Windows BCD but works on the USB one. Copy over your iso, go to add new entry and add the iso to the boot menu of the USB. EasyBCD supports isos, hard disk images, floppies, Windows PE, Linux basically anything you could need. There are plenty of detailed guides online about both easybcd but also for the BCDstore in general if you want to do this old school with commands.