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BootAble – FreeDOS boot testing freeware
To obtain direct, low-level access to a system's mass storage drives, SpinRite runs under a GRC-customized version of FreeDOS which has been modified to add compatibility with all file systems. In order to run SpinRite it must first be possible to boot FreeDOS.
GRC's “BootAble” freeware allows anyone to easily create BIOS-bootable media in order to workout and confirm the details of getting a machine to boot FreeDOS through a BIOS. Once the means of doing that has been determined, the media created by SpinRite can be booted and run in the same way.
The participants here, who have taken the time to share their knowledge and experience, their successes and some frustrations with booting their computers into FreeDOS, have created a valuable knowledgebase which will benefit everyone who follows.
You may click on the image to the right to obtain your own copy of BootAble. Then use the knowledge and experience documented here to boot your computer(s) into FreeDOS. And please do not hesitate to ask questions – nowhere else can better answers be found.
(You may permanently close this reminder with the 'X' in the upper right.)
Yes, I did. When I went to install Manjaro again, I could see that Manjaro was showing on the partition. After I ran SR 6.1 in Level 3, the Toshiba no longer shows the pop-up menu which allows me to select Manjaro or Windows. I am leaning towards reinstalling Manjaro.
When I was in the boot menu, I noticed that the BIOS enabled the Fn key by default. I changed the setting to standard F1-F12 keys because F2 was not working after I ran Level 3 yesterday. Now that I updated the BIOS setting, F2 is working again - I am glad that I checked! Strange...
The only reason I checked the F2 button is that I need it in order to change the BIOS from CSM back to UEFI, otherwise I will brick the machine if I run SR again. Until I re-enabled F2, I was only able to get into the BIOS settings by doing a soft reboot through the Windows Security settings. Now I am really leery about running SN again.
On the plus side, I just figured out that I can get back into the Manjaro partition as long as I enable the bootloader with the USB which holds the ISO plugged into the computer. The bootloader was launching from the HDD upon start-up prior to running Level 3 yesterday without having the ISO USB plugged in, so Level 3 changed something yesterday that I have yet to unravel.
@ColbyBouma : From what @VBSailorGuy has shared (see his most recent "clarification") it appears that he has quite a complex environment, not to mention an, as I understand it, barely functional keyboard. So I doubt that SpinRite has done anything untoward. He previously claimed that SpinRite had "wiped out his Manjaro partition" (which seemed unlikely at this point given the extensive testing that's been done) but after additional poking around he's figured out how to get back into it. So, I have no idea what's going on with his machine, but I'm glad he's having fun playing with it and with SpinRite!
@Steve, thank you for your patience and for humoring my troubleshooting efforts. My coding skills are very newbie-ish, so I am learning a few things the hard way along the way.
Google Gemini just saved the day!
For the last few days, I have learned a few things about the Manjaro bootloader, so I am now that much smarter.
After the second run at Level 3, I could only get into my Manjaro partition was when I left my USB with the Manjaro ISO inserted into the Toshiba. If I pulled out the ISO USB, then the Toshiba was going straight into Windows 10.
Now I can boot up from the HDD into Manjaro after I ran these commands in Konsole:
sudo su
sudo mkdir /mnt/boot
# Mount the EFI partition
sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot
# Reinstall the bootloader
grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/mnt/boot --bootloader-id=manjaro
# Update the GRUB configuration
update-grub
@Steve, thank you again for your hard work! I appreciate everything you have done on SR and with the Security Now! podcast.
Google Gemini just saved the day!
For the last few days, I have learned a few things about the Manjaro bootloader, so I am now that much smarter.
After the second run at Level 3, I could only get into my Manjaro partition was when I left my USB with the Manjaro ISO inserted into the Toshiba. If I pulled out the ISO USB, then the Toshiba was going straight into Windows 10.
Now I can boot up from the HDD into Manjaro after I ran these commands in Konsole:
sudo su
sudo mkdir /mnt/boot
# Mount the EFI partition
sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot
# Reinstall the bootloader
grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/mnt/boot --bootloader-id=manjaro
# Update the GRUB configuration
update-grub
@Steve, thank you again for your hard work! I appreciate everything you have done on SR and with the Security Now! podcast.
@VBSailorGuy : I'm glad that you got it sorted out! Thanks for providing the closure for us!
@Steve , P.S. FWIW Part II just as an addendum in case anyone is interested (i.e., I will not be offended if no one cares!).
Yesterday, I re-installed a fresh copy of Windows 10. I was hesitant to go down that rabbit hole when the Toshiba was my primary working machine and I was concerned about inadvertently wiping out the content even though the data is backed up.
After uninstalling the bloatware from my usual login accounts, the Windows 10 partition definitely is a lot faster now. It is not 100% snappy, but it is definitely a lot more responsive than it was prior to the new installation of Windows 10. I didn’t even think of going down this rabbit hole until this weekend!
Much to my surprise and delight, the Windows 10 installation also left the dual-booting bootloader unchanged. One of the YouTube videos I watched last week mentioned that sometimes, Windows updates can sometimes inadvertently change the bootloader. When I boot up from the HDD, I still have the option to select between the Manjaro and Windows 10 partitions. Phew!
The Manjaro partition is pretty darn snappy!
I am now using both LibreOffice suite and Mozilla Thunderbird in both the Windows 10 and Manjaro partitions. I wish I had started using them a long time ago!
Anyways, I just figured you may (or may not?) appreciate knowing how my “science project” laptop is doing.
Now I am off to learning out to use Linux and Manjaro. I have a lot of Linux 101 to learn – all stuff that most greybeards will consider to be kindergarten-level table stakes knowledge.
Thank you for everything you are doing!!
Yesterday, I re-installed a fresh copy of Windows 10. I was hesitant to go down that rabbit hole when the Toshiba was my primary working machine and I was concerned about inadvertently wiping out the content even though the data is backed up.
After uninstalling the bloatware from my usual login accounts, the Windows 10 partition definitely is a lot faster now. It is not 100% snappy, but it is definitely a lot more responsive than it was prior to the new installation of Windows 10. I didn’t even think of going down this rabbit hole until this weekend!
Much to my surprise and delight, the Windows 10 installation also left the dual-booting bootloader unchanged. One of the YouTube videos I watched last week mentioned that sometimes, Windows updates can sometimes inadvertently change the bootloader. When I boot up from the HDD, I still have the option to select between the Manjaro and Windows 10 partitions. Phew!
The Manjaro partition is pretty darn snappy!
I am now using both LibreOffice suite and Mozilla Thunderbird in both the Windows 10 and Manjaro partitions. I wish I had started using them a long time ago!
Anyways, I just figured you may (or may not?) appreciate knowing how my “science project” laptop is doing.
Now I am off to learning out to use Linux and Manjaro. I have a lot of Linux 101 to learn – all stuff that most greybeards will consider to be kindergarten-level table stakes knowledge.
Thank you for everything you are doing!!
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