Add Payload Files

The NTFS first partition of your USB drive should contain a \_ISO folder. This folder contains the E2B Menu folders.

When adding any payload file (e.g. a bootable ISO file), you need to follow these steps:

1. Check the ‘List of Tested Payloads‘ page on the easy2boot.com website. See if there are any special instructions or tutorials for your particular bootable image.
2. Download the payload file to your PC/Notebook hard drive (if required) and then copy it from your hard drive to the E2B USB drive (do NOT directly download it from the Internet onto your USB drive because it is slow and you will end up with a heavily fragmented file!).
3. Double-click on the \MAKE_THIS_DRIVE_CONTIGUOUS.cmd file at the root folder of the E2B USB drive to make all files on the drive contiguous. Only files which are not contiguous are affected. Files which are already contiguous are not moved or re-written.
   — OPTIONAL —
4. The order of the menu entries is alphabetical, you can use a filename prefix to change their order, e.g. _100_Ubuntu.iso, _120_Fedora64.iso, etc. E2B will not show the _xxxxx_ part of the filename.
5. Once it is booting successfully, you can change the filename so that it is listed nicely in the menu (avoid special characters such as = $ ( ) [ ] { } ‘ ” spaces and &). Spaces are sometimes not OK for WinBuiilder-based WinPE ISOs and LINUX ISO file names.
   Instead of changing the filename, you can add a .txt file with the same filename but whose contents will be used instead of the name of the file, e.g. _100_Ubuntu.iso and _100_Ubuntu.txt.

E2B Menu Folders

For the E2B menu system, you can only place payload files in folders which are recognised by E2B.

Main Menu folder

\_ISO\MAINMENU     – iso/payload files in here will be listed in the Main menu. This folder must not be deleted.

Standard Sub-Menu folders

\_ISO\ANTIVIRUS     – copy ISO and other payload files here. 
\_ISO\DOS               – copy ISO and other payload files here. 
\_ISO\BACKUP          – copy ISO and other payload files here. 
\_ISO\LINUX             – copy ISO and other payload files here.
\_ISO\UTILITIES       – copy ISO and other payload files here.
\_ISO\WIN                – copy ISO and other payload files here. Use for Windows VHDs.
\_ISO\WINPE            – copy ISO and other payload files here.
\_ISO\UTILITIES_MEMTEST – copy memory test ISOs/payload files here

The E2B menu system will detect and list files automatically on each boot.
You can create new folders underneath these folders, but only .mnu files will be enumerated by E2B below this 2nd level.

All the 9 standard folders have identical functions (only the menu heading is different). E.g. You can place a Linux ISO file in the \_ISO\DOS folder and it will work in the same way. You can add more sub-menu folders if you wish.

Two ‘Special’ Sub-Menu folders

Microsoft Windows Installer ISOs are a special case. You should place these in the appropriate sub-folder under the \_ISO\WINDOWS folder.

\_ISO\WINDOWS\xxxx – copy your Windows install ISOs (and .imgPTN files into the correct sub-folders under here

The AUTO folder is also special – it is the only folder in which payload files can be put into sub-folders which you can make and organise yourself:
\_ISO\AUTO                – copy only ISO/payload files here or into sub-folders (any depth). All .mnu files are ignored. Direct Boot Menu – all payload files are detected and listed in a single menu.

Recommended payload files

• Linux LiveCDs – Ubuntu, LUbuntu, Mint (tip: for ISOs based on \casper, create a persistence file and use the .isopersist file extension)
• Puppy Linux (tip: try .isopup file extension to save changes – E2B v2.09+) – for persistence with agFM, use the sample file provided: slacko64-7.0_persistent.cfg.
• Microsoft Windows Install ISOs – place in correct \_ISO\WINDOWS\xxxx folder.
• Hirens WinPE Boot CD – HBCDPE – suggested file extension .isomap64
• Gandalf WinPE – suggested extension _.isodef.iso
• Sergei Strelec WinPE – suggested extension .isowin
• DLCBoot – suggested extension _.isohw.iso

File extensions and Ventoy

Ventoy only recognises standard file extensions such as .iso or .img. This means that you should not change the file extension if you also want to use Ventoy because Ventoy will not recognise files with non-standard file extensions such as .isodef or .iso01 or .isopup64, etc.

You can override the file extension used by E2B and agFM however by using an underscore and a dot suffix in the filename but keep the original file extension, e.g. instead of Ubuntux64.isodef64, you can use a filename of Ubuntux64_.isodef64.iso.