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Thanks for explaining.
 
I do not understand how the .iso files work on your USB stick. I have thought that an .iso was a sort of agnostic container which can store the image of an entire disk's content, (for example; useful as an interim format when cloning CD ROMs) so I am having trouble imaging how having a collection of .iso files on bootable media is useful. I can imagine how a collection of .exe files can be useful.
 
Does the WinPE stick see the .iso files as a collection of bootable disks?
 
Thank you.
 

To understand ISO you need to understand the old boot process.
 
Older BIOS (pre-EFI) had hard-coded simple boot loaders that loaded the first sector off of a hard drive or other media. These bootstrap loaders would run and they had more smarts to load the Windows loader, which in turn loaded Windows. These loaders, if they knew anything about a file system, it would have been FAT.
 
So disks had MBR formatting on the partition table and CDs and DVDs had ISO formatting.
 
Nowadays, EFI boot proms understand NTFS and can have much more elaborate handling of file systems.
 
So, in a nutshell, an ISO image is a CD/DVD drive format that usually is able to run from BIOS.
 
Nowadays, it's also another type of file archive format that can be mounted as a file system (ie, get's its own drive letter).
 
Often software vendors use it to install large applications. Sometimes you even see Windows and Apple installs on the same image.
 
Flash drives (and all removable media) can not have partitions (unless you resort to special stuff). So they require something like FAT32 boot loading usually. You can't mount and eject file systems. At least not in Windows.
 
YUMI is a FAT32 application with a syslinux boot loader with enough smarts to display a menu and run some simple scripts. It can load certain types of file and supports ISO and CASPER file systems and maybe a few others.
 
Typically one could use it to boot a Linux LiveCD, a Kaspersky rescue disk, or any other number of recovery utilities when your normal boot doesn't work.
 
I use it to store all my recovery utilities on a single device. Run the application that makes an ISO file and you can use YUMI to boot that from a flash drive. I also boot to Linux with it.
 
There is no practical limit to the number of applications - most ISOs are under 4 GB so you could easily fit 10 or 20 on a 64 GB flash drive. So I keep older versions along with newer ones.
 
And slow flash is hundreds of times faster than fast CDs and DVDs.
 
Everyone should use YUMI (or one of the equivalents).
 
 
 

Caa2
Can, and if so how, can I use Macrium Reflect Free and Paragon Backup and Recovery 16 with YUMI? Can I use each to make bootable media and then somehow make an .iso of the bootable media and then place the .iso on a YUMI USB stick?

You should be able to do what you describe, although the only advantage over the bootable CD that you create would be to make a convenient package on a flash drive. The "somehow" I would recommend is the free program ImgBurn http://www.imgburn.com/ . That program will let you read or write a disc to or from a disc to iso image. Yumi would then point your computer at the desired iso and if the disc from which it is made is bootable so should the iso be. These programs probably expect to actually write to a physical disc via a DVD writer and so they are going to set up files to be read from a DVD burner. The file setup on a bootable flash drive is different than a bootable disc and the program that is set up to add bootable features for the particular medium you choose, and I very much doubt they can write bootable versions to an iso directly.
 
If you do not want to go through the process of creating a bootable disc, and want to go directly from the program to the iso without the intermediate round plastic thingy, say you do not have access to a disc burner for example, you might try TotalMounter 
http://www.techsupportale...ner-thats-easy-use.htm
This supposedly will create a virtual burner on your machine that other programs capable of burning discs will recognize as an actual DVD burner and "burn" content to an iso instead of a physical disc. 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Caa2
 ImgBurn install includes an antimalware install and a Yahoo browser install, and the GUI dialog is jumbled so I can not be confident that I have declined the option.

No it does not.
If you are getting that kind of pile-on it is not from the ImgBurn installer, but from the source page you are using to download it.
I just downloaded SetupImgBurn_2.5.8.0.exe
MD5= 4BF2B8F4B46385BFDA4D65E423CFB868
SHA-1= 6A3D20796E1FCD4169D5D339AF6E491DCEA3367C
from http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/imgburn.html
a download mirror linked from the ImgBurn site at http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download
scanned it with AVG, MalwareBytes and Security Essentials with no malware hits, then installed it with no optional crap to either install or decline. It just clean installed the newest release version of ImgBurn.

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Caa2

slartabartfast

Caa2
 ImgBurn install includes an antimalware install and a Yahoo browser install, and the GUI dialog is jumbled so I can not be confident that I have declined the option.

No it does not.
If you are getting that kind of pile-on it is not from the ImgBurn installer, but from the source page you are using to download it.
I just downloaded SetupImgBurn_2.5.8.0.exe
MD5= 4BF2B8F4B46385BFDA4D65E423CFB868
SHA-1= 6A3D20796E1FCD4169D5D339AF6E491DCEA3367C
from http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/imgburn.html
a download mirror linked from the ImgBurn site at http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download
scanned it with AVG, MalwareBytes and Security Essentials with no malware hits, then installed it with no optional crap to either install or decline. It just clean installed the newest release version of ImgBurn.

I used the mirror 7 ( http://download.imgburn.com/SetupImgBurn_2.5.8.0.exe ) from the ImgBurn v2.5.8.0 found here: http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download
 
The MD5 posted at that page matched the download.
 
I figured downloading ImgBurn from the actual ImgBurn website would be a good choice.
 
I forget the name of the antimalware install option that was presented, but it was clearly there, and the Yahoo browser option was all too familiar.
 
I guess I could have tried installing with a download from a different mirror, but the MD5: 2046D47E56C5E4EFA444DE857EB6EC5F of the file I downloaded matched the posted number so I figured they would all be the same.

I stand corrected.
The ImgBurn site mirror does in fact download a version of the installer that includes an adware installer identified by AVG as Installcore.bog and options to set Internet Explorer to use Yahoo Search, and in a fine piece of irony an antimalware application called ByteFence which bills itself as "Ultimate protection against malware, spyware and crapware."
 
 
The ImgBurn developer was treated to some well deserved criticism in the ImgBurn forum, and the crapware was justified as the cost of getting free software. You have the option to decline the add-ons, but the interface is ambiguous. You need to click an underlined hyperlink that says "Click here to customize installation" at which point you get a popup that lets you opt out. I was just lucky to find an installer that did not have the crap attached. 

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The easy method.
http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx
 
Macrium Reflect v6.1 has a WinPE Rescue Media Wizard, that can create a specific version of the WinPE media for each version of Windows (Win 7/8/8.1/10).  This media needs to be created for each PC locally.
 
If you lose your Windows operating system, you can start your PC using Macrium Reflect rescue media on CD,
DVD, or USB stick. This makes creating rescue media the first thing you need to do with Macrium Reflect. It contains a bootable, lightweight version of Windows and a full version of Macrium Reflect.

This lightweight version of Windows is called Windows Pre-installation Environment (also known as Windows PE or WinPE) and is provided by Microsoft. When you create rescue media, Macrium Reflect downloads Windows PE
automatically for you and writes it to your media. It downloads just those components you need to rescue your
system.

Windows PE and the rescue environment

Windows PE is a reduced version of Microsoft Windows that is designed to boot from CD, DVD or USB on a wide
range of hardware. When you run the rescue media wizard, Macrium Reflect automatically downloads the Windows
PE components from Microsoft and builds the rescue environment locally.

Caa2
Yes, Thank you. I have made a USB stick of Macrium Reflect just as you suggest.
 
The recommendation to try building a MultiBoot rescue stick has taken my interest further.
 

I was following this thread, and after re-reading your OP, I thought you originally just wanted a recovery boot with WinPE.  The Macrium process is plug and play, does it all for you.
 
I am curious now, what you are trying to accomplish? 
 
There are many tools available for PC tech, depending on what you want to do.  I build Windows and Linux systems and have several tools at my disposal for online and offline imaging and bare metal recovery, disk partitioning, file recovery, malware removal, etc.  Some are easier than others to deal with.  It's like a toolbox.  I like a tool for each task, no one size fits all.
 
Bottom line is, simpler is usually safer.

Caa2
Hi, 
 Yes, the original post was specifically asking about making a WinPE based USB stick for a single application, but after considering the ideas suggested by arachnaut I have become interested in the idea of making a custom multiboot rescue package.
 The question was answered via explanations provided by slartabartfast and arachnaut.
 
 I can make several individual USB sticks with a single application on each but the multiboot idea seems like a good option.
 Finally, I am enjoying learning about the multiboot concept and I would like to see the idea through and get something working on my system.
 
 Some of my older systems have legacy BIOS options, but I would like to find a solution that works for my most recently assembled computers as well.
 

It's great to hear that your original question was answered, and that your thirst for knowledge continues unquenched.
 
You received some great advice from some smart guys. It appears that you took it all in and soaked it up
 
Regarding the choices in reliable imaging solutions, I am also re-evaluating what I am using currently.  I am having a look now at Macrium and Paragon. 
 
My current tool, the native Windows Image utility, has been with me since Windows 7.  I have confidence so far that it can do the job reliably, and with the Windows recovery disk, I can do a complete disk restore anytime it is needed.  Since I moved to Windows 10 in July, I defaulted to the native image because I am now running UEFI BIOS and a GPT partition on my boot drive.  I wanted to make sure the built-in tools could cover those changes, and as far as I can tell, they are.  I have the Windows recovery tool on a CD-R and a USB stick, & can boot and access my images OK.  I can also mount the VHD image as a drive letter in Windows, then browse files and folders and copy files directly from the image if I wish.
 
So why am I considering the other solutions if Windows is doing what I need?  Well the file management, for one thing. It is hands on and requires me to rename & or retire the old images manually to free up space.
 
I am hoping that the WinPE recovery media with Macrium or Paragon is as solid as the Windows 10 native tools, and I would hope so, since the WinPE originates with Microsoft.
 
Bottom line, full disk imaging is the only way to go.  I had a few bad experiences with file & folder backup schemes years ago.  Once I tried a utility called Drive Image by Image Quest I was hooked, and stayed with that while using Windows 2000 & XP.  They were eventually bought out by Symantec and their code was merged into Norton Ghost. I couldn't believe how easy it really was, and how much confidence you gain by knowing that you can reset your PC back to any image you wish.
 
Good luck on your imaging plan!

Caa2
 
 The moral of the story is that if I had created the WinPE rescue media on the actual hardware that I wanted to use the rescue media on then the .wim boot image would have had the exact and correct drivers. When I made the WinPE .wim boot image on another computer using differing hardware I ended up with a less than ideal situation.
 
 One circumstance was going to take 44 hours to complete the restore while the other circumstance completed it in 11 minutes.
 
 Info worth knowing??? :-)

 
Yup!  Good to know.  The school of life, huh?
 
I didn't notice anywhere that it said you must use a rescue disk created on specific hardware, but the description provided in the Macrium user guide implies that may be the best option...
 
What version of Windows PE should I choose?
You should choose a version of Windows PE that can access your System drive and also your backup
location. The default option selects the Windows PE version that is the best match for your Windows
operating system. This enables the rescue media wizard to automatically copy any required drivers for
Network, USB or SATA controllers. However, versions of Windows PE that are more recent than your
Windows OS may already contain compatible drivers and also offer additional support for USB 3.0.
 
Windows PE (WinPE) is packaged with a large collection of drivers but there are many devices
that are not part of the WinPE driver package. If your device is not compatible then you must add
its driver so WinPE recognizes it and communicates with your device.

The wizard checks whether your device requires drivers adding to WinPE. It builds a list of devices in your
computer that are either Hard Drive/RAID controllers, Network Interface Cards, USB controllers or USB hubs.

For each of these devices it checks if:
The device is supported by default in WinPE
There is a compatible driver in the host operating system
There is a compatible driver already present in the collection of drivers on previously created rescue
media
 
Supported devices have a status of either:
Device Support in WinPE
Compatible Device Support in WinPE
Copy Host Driver
Driver already present in Drivers folder

Even if a device is supported you can choose to update it and use a different driver, you do not need to use
the driver provided by WinPE. Being able to update drivers in this way is useful if you experiencing issues
with performing backups or restores in WinPE, for example, if restoring runs slowly from a USB device.

You can find driver install packages in several places. Most manufacturers create a driver folder on the hard
drive of a new PC, often named after the manufacturer. If this is not present, you can download drivers from
the device or PC vendor's website. For older PCs, manufacturers of devices and motherboards included
driver CDs in the packaging, however, these may not be the latest.

Click the 'Update Driver' button to search for a compatible driver.
This presents a wizard. This wizard is straightforward to use, the first page prompts you for a folder to scan
for drivers and whether you want to include all sub-folders.