Add Windows Install ISOs to the (Main) Menu

Note: If the file DEFAULT.XML exists in the same folder as the ISO, then the DEFAULT.XML file will be automatically picked by E2B (E2B v1.B0+). 

The DEFAULT.XML file can be a ‘no key’ file if you wish. 

If you want to add a menu entry to install a specific Windows Vista\7\8\10 ISO directly from the any E2B menu (e.g. to save having to go to the Windows menu and then the Windows 7 menu), you can add a .mnu file to the  \_ISO\MAINMENU folder (or any other menu folder).  

Use \_ISO\docs\Sample mnu files\$$AddWin2Main.mnu as a template and change the Win7/Win8 entries or add to them as required, where HDG is the Menu Heading.

# Use this for Vista/SVR2K8R2/Win7 ISOs
iftitle [if exist /_ISO/WINDOWS/Win7/Win7_32_SP1.iso] Install Win7 SP1 32-bit \n Install from the ISO
set MFOLDER=/_ISO/WINDOWS/WIN7
set ISO=Win7_32_SP1.iso
set HDG=Windows 7 Menu
/%grub%/RunVista.g4b  %MFOLDER%
boot
 
# use this for Win8/8.1/SVR2012/WIN10/WIN11/SVR2016/SVR2022 ISOs
iftitle [if exist /_ISO/WINDOWS/Win8/Win8.1_32.iso] Install Win8.1 32-bit \n Install from the ISO
set MFOLDER=/_ISO/WINDOWS/WIN8
set ISO=Win8.1_32.iso
set HDG=Windows 8 Menu
/%grub%/RunWin8.g4b  %MFOLDER%
boot

You can add more entries into one file or make individual .mnu files for each Windows ISO. 

MFOLDER is any folder that contains your ISO file (and .key and .xml file(s). 

Do NOT change ‘RunVista.g4b’ (used for Vista\7\2K8, etc.) or ‘RunWin8.g4b’ (used for 8/10/2012 and later) entries.

You can specify the full path to an XML file so that the user is not prompted to select one, by specifying an extra parameter on the command line – e.g. If you want to have a separate Windows 8.1 folder (\_ISO\FRED\Win81) then just change the folder name (the xml file is optional and should be in the \_ISO\FRED\WIN81 folder in this example):

iftitle [if exist /_ISO/FRED/WIN81/Win8.1_32.iso] Install Win8.1 32-bit \n Install from the ISO
# suppress return to Windows Install menu
set NOWMENU=1
set MFOLDER=/_ISO/FRED/WIN81
set ISO=Win8.1_32.iso
set HDG=My New Menu
/%grub%/RunWin8.g4b  %MFOLDER%  myspecial.xml
boot

If you use a non-standard folder, you will also need to copy or add .xml and .key files from the \_ISO\WINDOWS\xxxx folders. Menu entries will be arranged alphabetically according to their filenames, so change the name to ZZZZZZ.mnu if you want it added last in the Main menu. You can also add a hotkey for each one by adding it to the title line. 

$$AddWin2Main.mnu also contains entries for XP install ISO menu entries (note that menu entries for each individual XP ISOs are not supported) and the XP PE install menu entry. You can copy any menu entries that you want. 

To prevent a Windows XP/Vista/7/8 sub-sub-menu from loading the Windows Install sub-menu, use this setting in your MyE2B.cfg file or the .mnu file: set NOWMENU=1 which causes a Windows Install sub-sub menu to return back to the Main menu rather than return to the Windows Install menu

set NOWMENU=1

Examples with XML file specified…

iftitle [if exist /_ISO/WINDOWS/Win7/Windows_7.1_EN-US_x86.ISO] Install Win7 32-bit \nInstall from the ISO
set MFOLDER=/_ISO/WINDOWS/WIN7
set ISO=Windows_7_x86.ISO
set XML=
# Specify full path of XML file (e.g. %MFOLDER%/Win8\ has\ spaces\ in\ name.xml)
# OR to choose XML or Product Key, comment out next line
set XML=%MFOLDER%/Sample.xml
set NOWMENU=1
/%grub%/RunVista.g4b  %MFOLDER% %XML%
boot
 
 
iftitle [if exist /_ISO/WINDOWS/Win8/Windows_8.1_EN-US_x86.ISO] Install Win8.1 32-bit \nInstall from the ISO
set MFOLDER=/_ISO/WINDOWS/WIN8
set ISO=Windows_8.1_EN-US_x86.ISO
set XML=
# Specify XML file in MFOLDER folder (e.g. Win8\ has\ spaces\ in\ name.xml)
# OR to choose XML or Product Key, comment out next line
set XML=Sample.xml
set NOWMENU=1
/%grub%/RunWin8.g4b %MFOLDER% %XML%
boot

You can also use the XP_Inst_from_MainMenu.mnu to add specific XP ISO files to the Main menu.

title Install XP Pro 32-bit - Step 1\nRemember to select an AHCI driver (if required) \nAND FiraDisk AND WinVBlock drivers (using F6)!\nYou must reboot to Easy2Boot again and run STEP 2 afterwards.
set XPISO=MyXPPro.iso
set MFOLDER=/_ISO/WINDOWS/XP
/%grub%/XPStep1.g4b
boot
 
title Install XP Pro 32-bit - Step 2 (512MB+ systems)\n2nd phase of setup (most reliable).\nThis will complete the install and reboot from the hard disk.\nIt requires at least 512MB of RAM to hold the ISO file.
set XPISO=MyXPPro.iso
set MFOLDER=/_ISO/WINDOWS/XP
/%grub%/XPStep2.g4b
boot
 
title Install XP Pro 32-bit - Step 2 (Low RAM systems)\n Faster - use this if not enough system memory (<512MB). \nDirect ISO map for WinVBlock. Does not work on all\nsystems, e.g. some Atom CPU based systems.
set XPISO=MyXPPro.iso
set MFOLDER=/_ISO/WINDOWS/XP
/%grub%/XPStep2LowRam.g4b
boot

Custom installs

If you want to have individual menu entries for a Vista/7/SVR2K8R2/Win8/SVR2012 Install ISO using a predefined XML file or specific Product Key using your own code, look at the Win_Vista_7_2K8R2_Direct.mnu and Win_Win8_2012_Direct.mnu files in the \_ISO\docs\Sample mnu Files folder for examples. 

Note that Win8/2012/10 installs nearly always require a product key (even those that don’t normally ask for one such as evaluation versions!), unless the ISO contents have been modified and a custom EI.CFG file has been added, or E2B uses WIMBOOT to boot the ISO (v1.A8+). if you do not specify a Product Key then Setup may give an error or it may default to using the OEM Product Key embedded in the firmware by the manufacturer rather than the Edition that you actually want!

Change the ComputerName and UserName each time

It is possible to make a .mnu file which will prompt you for a ComputerName and UserName before you start the install, by dynamically modifying the XML file.

This means you do not need different XML files for different Users.

See here for details about using the WIN10_Prompt_for_PCNAME_and_UNAME.mnu file in the \_ISO\docs\Sample mnu Files\Windows folder.

You can also modify the .mnu file to set a different ProductKey. This would allow you to have several different .mnu files to install Windows with different UserNames, ComputerNames and ProductKeys (e.g. Home/Pro Editions) but using the same source XML file.

See also WIN10_Prompt_for_UNAME_auto_serial_COMPNAME.mnu for a method of setting the ComputerName to contain the Serial Number of the system.

More information is available in my eBook on Windows Installation.