I got me a used Lenovo T480 solely because my guitar board bundleware
requires windows. At present I want to explore ways to boot any one of
many Linux installations OR windows-10 (laptop came with just w10).

MY 1st pref would be an external sata drive connected via
USB/Thunderbolt/Sata adapter-something for Linux leaving the internal
one for w10 as it was installed and as it came with the laptop (and as
it may have to be in a w10 recovery situation). This is not likely to be
a success in 2024 as I see no way to boot from a sata ssd connected to a
USB port.

Options 2 & 3 are to reduce windows jurisdiction on the internal ssd and
take 2/3-3/4 of it over for Linux and my data; in one case booting Linux
or windows by grub in the EFI, and in the other case letting the windows
booter boot linux optionally though I'm really not familiar with windows.

4th option is all Linux with w10 running in vBox but I'm not sure just
how that arrangement would cater to a windows disaster forcing recovery
from its own backup no longer on the drive on one hand and no longer
having jusrisdiction over the drive as it did when sold. How could I in
such a case restore the laptop to as-it-was if I want to sell it for
example?

On 2024-02-01 03:02, bad sector wrote:
> How could I in such a case restore the laptop to as-it-was if I want to
> sell it for example?

By doing a recovery imaging of the HD the first day to an external disk.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

On 1/31/24 21:23, Carlos E.R. wrote:
> On 2024-02-01 03:02, bad sector wrote:
>> How could I in such a case restore the laptop to as-it-was if I want
>> to sell it for example?
>
> By doing a recovery imaging of the HD the first day to an external disk.

I've already installed some drivers and bundleware but I think those can
be taken out with a windows reset before the backup or before selling

For the 'recovery imaging' you mean load rescue, connect an external
drive and either

dd if=internal-1tb-ssd of=/path-to-1tb file

or

dd if=internal-1tb-ssd of=/dev/external-1tb-ssd?

or do you mean some windows procedure?

On 1/31/2024 10:16 PM, bad sector wrote:
> On 1/31/24 21:23, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>> On 2024-02-01 03:02, bad sector wrote:
>>> How could I in such a case restore the laptop to as-it-was if I want to sell it for example?
>>
>> By doing a recovery imaging of the HD the first day to an external disk.
>
> I've already installed some drivers and bundleware but I think those can be taken out with a windows reset before the backup or before selling
>
> For the 'recovery imaging' you mean load rescue, connect an external drive and either
>
> dd if=internal-1tb-ssd of=/path-to-1tb file
>
> or
>
> dd if=internal-1tb-ssd of=/dev/external-1tb-ssd?
>
>
> or do you mean some windows procedure?

It might not even have a recovery partition on it. You're talking
about a Refurbished T480, which will have Win10Pro Refurbisher on it
(which is really a Retail image). The DVD you can download from Microsoft
right now, is very very close to what is installed on the SSD in the laptop.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/software-download/windows10

That's likely to be installed with a Win10 Refurbisher disc.
And no recovery disc, or partition, for putting Refurbisher back, either.
While Windows 10 can "make a Recovery USB key", this is largely a waste
of a USB flash stick. I've made these a couple times, and the USB flash stick
always gets reused a week later, and the considerable effort tossed on the floor :-)

Kaby Lake Q3'17. UHD Graphics 620

https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX00126327

You can do a backup with this. This will not be available for download
much longer. Could be only hours left for all I know. It was supposed
to be gone in 2024. *Do this one right now*

https://download.macrium.com/reflect/v7/v7.3.6391/reflect_setup_free_x64.exe

Name: reflect_setup_free_x64.exe
Size: 115,722,168 bytes (110 MiB)
SHA256: 7F798A760C212D3131349DA39506DB8C367F2A883E1C6A0BC4214998900AE2BC

This is one of my filmstrip pictures, "Working with Macrium and Rescue CD".
It was intended for a Linux user having Windows in a VM, but it will work
directly in Windows.

[Picture] "Download original" for best resolution.
If frame is blank, right-click and select "Reload"

https://i.postimg.cc/054trNDv/make-rescue-cd-via-win-vm.gif

The backup image created via booting the Macrium CD and making
a MRIMG backup file, should be considerably smaller than a dd dump.
It might only be 20GB.

*******

There are potentially two license keys.

The Refurbisher *could* come with a unique key.

This could have shown the key, except Windows Defender is set up
to quarantine this download as "Hackerware". Something like MagicJellyBean
could be used instead. The license key is 25 characters, but when
stored in the Registry, it's a shorter sequence, and Produkey does
the "decompression" (known pseudocode released in the WinXP USENET
group eons ago).

https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html

The second key came with the T480 hardware. It's the ACPI MSDM table,
and it can be dumped with the Linux ACPI table dumper. That will give
25 characters, as the only entry in that particular table.

We don't really care about these license keys as such, but capturing
them now is part of "maximizing value" of your new purchase. If someone
asks "do you have the license keys?", as useless as they are, you can say "Yes".

Treated as Boot Flag partition reagentc /info, winRE.wim
+-----+--------------------------------+-+----------------------+-----------------------+ GPT
| MBR | EFI System Partition 100MB | | Windows C: partition | System Reserved 600MB | Partitiond
+-----+--------------------------------+-+----------------------+-----------------------+ Disk drive
(Microsoft and Ubuntu folders) ^
+---- MSR, 16MB, no file system, gparted hates this

The EFI System Partition is too small for Linux. Some Linux installers
tell you to make it 500MB (but they don't tell you how).

The System Reserved (Hidden NTFS) contains a boot image used
when C: is not accessible. It too is too small as of Jan.2024 :-)
We have a procedure for making that 1GB to shut up the
Jan.2024 Patch Tuesday.

There are no partitions with "14GB of files" like on Windows 7 laptops.
There was an actual "Recovery" partition back then, with 14GB of stuff
(that can be used to populate 3 DVDs or so). They have stopped doing that.

With sudo gdisk /dev/sda, it's likely you could manufacture a lot
of these things. The Windows "diskpart.exe" can also manufacturer
special partitions such as "System Reserved 1GB in size" when you want
one. In Windows, you need to know the GUID of the GPT partition type,
while gdisk in Linux uses a fake four digit code such as "0x0700
Visible NTFS" suited to the C: partition and its NTFS file system.
System Reserved would nominally be 0x2700 in an ideal world, but there
are likely a couple partition types that are hidden NTFS, so using
a four digit shorthand might not be enough. When a code point is overloaded,
they make 0x2700 and 0x2701 and then each of them is a custom of some sort.

*******

But these are small potatoes for a multibooter. Am I right, brother ? :-)
In for a penny, in for $1.49.

Working with these materials, you will be asking "Are we having fun yet",
and that's normal.

And if you feel unsure of a lot of this, by all means do a "dd" to external
media. If you have a lot of disks laying around, maybe this isn't an issue
for you, to have one more copy. When I started out, without a known good
backup system, I was using "dd" at first too. Because I knew it would work.

Paul

On 2024-02-01 04:16, bad sector wrote:
> On 1/31/24 21:23, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>> On 2024-02-01 03:02, bad sector wrote:
>>> How could I in such a case restore the laptop to as-it-was if I want
>>> to sell it for example?
>>
>> By doing a recovery imaging of the HD the first day to an external disk.
>
> I've already installed some drivers and bundleware but I think those can
> be taken out with a windows reset before the backup or before selling

Me, I would do a factory restore of the computer, and then create an
image on an external disk. I typically buy a rotating rust disk of at
least double size the internal disk, install a small linux on it (I use
plain Leap with xfce), and partition the rest of the disk as a huge data
partition, encrypted + compressed, with btrfs (because it is the only
one that has compression on the fly).

> For the 'recovery imaging' you mean load rescue, connect an external
> drive and either
>
> dd if=internal-1tb-ssd of=/path-to-1tb file
>
> or
>
> dd if=internal-1tb-ssd of=/dev/external-1tb-ssd?

Yes.

Actually, I do separate images per partition, and backp the partition
table. For the initial image, it can be the entire disk.

This is the script I use - warning: some lines have wrapped:

(sorry, some comments are in Spanish, ask for clarification if you need)

+++····································
#!/bin/bash
echo "Tiempo total estimado, 3 hora(s)"

THEDEVICE=sda

cd /backup/images/004

echo "=== Copiando las tablas"
dd if=/dev/$THEDEVICE of=MBR count=1
sgdisk --backup=gpt_table /dev/$THEDEVICE
parted --list > parted_list
echo

#restore: sgdisk --load-backup=gpt_table /dev/nvme0n1

#http://www.tech-g.com/2014/11/28/backing-up-disk-with-dd-saving-space/
# restore, podría ser: pigz -dc /hds/www/vzhost.img.gz | dd of=/dev/sdd
status=progress

function hacer()
{ echo
echo "Haciendo la particion $1 ($2) en $3"
echo "copiando, comprimiendo, y calculando md5..."
mkfifo mdpipe
dd if=/dev/$1 status=progress bs=16M | tee mdpipe | pigz -3 > $3.gz &
md5sum -b mdpipe | tee -a md5checksum_expanded
wait
rm mdpipe
echo "$3" >> md5checksum_expanded

echo "Verificando..."
pigz --test $3.gz
echo
echo "·········"
}

echo "-----------" >> md5checksum_expanded
time hacer sda1 "8S" "sda1__SYSTEM_DRV"
time hacer sda2 "1S" "sda2__RESERVED"
time hacer sda5 "33S" "sda5__WINRE_DRV"
time hacer sda7 "34S" "sda7__LRS_ESP"

echo

echo "=== Ahora las particiones gordas (3, 4 y 6)"

echo
time hacer sda3 "161M" "sda3__Windows"

echo
time hacer sda4 "10M" "sda4__LENOVO"

echo
time hacer sda6 "11M" "sda6__LENOVO_PART"

echo
time hacer sda9 "10M" "sda9__Swap"
····································++-

This machine has evolved and now has more partitions, but you can get
the idea.

Another version of the script on another laptop:

+++····································
TIMESTAMPFILE=0_timestamp_dd
echo "==============================" >> $TIMESTAMPFILE

function hacer()
{ DATE=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
echo
echo "Haciendo la particion $1 ($2) en $3 ($DATE)" | tee -a
$TIMESTAMPFILE
echo "copiando, comprimiendo, y calculando md5..."
mkfifo mdpipe
dd if=/dev/$1 status=progress bs=16M | tee mdpipe | zstd > $3.zst &
md5sum -b mdpipe | tee -a md5checksum_expanded
wait
rm mdpipe
echo "$3" >> md5checksum_expanded

#Study:
# # --size-hint=#
# When handling input from a stream, zstd must guess how
large the source size will be when optimizing com
# parameters. If the stream size is relatively small, this
guess may be a poor one, resulting in a higher com
# ratio than expected. This feature allows for controlling
the guess when needed. Exact guesses result in bet
# pression ratios. Overestimates result in slightly
degraded compression ratios, while underestimates may re
# significant degradation.
# # --adapt[=min=#,max=#]
# zstd will dynamically adapt compression level to
perceived I/O conditions. Compression level adaptatio
# observed live by using command -v. Adaptation can be
constrained between supplied min and max levels. The
# works when combined with multi-threading and --long
mode. It does not work with --single-thread. It set
# size to 8 MB by default (can be changed manually, see
wlog). Due to the chaotic nature of dynamic adaptatio
# pressed result is not reproducible. note : at the time
of this writing, --adapt can remain stuck at low sp
# combined with multiple worker threads (>=2).

echo "Verificando ($DATE)..." | tee -a $TIMESTAMPFILE
zstd --test $3.zst
echo
echo "Hecho ($DATE)" | tee -a $TIMESTAMPFILE
echo "·········" | tee -a $TIMESTAMPFILE
}

echo "Tarda aproximadamente cinco horas. A ver con 'pigz --fast - no,
mucho mejor con zstd'"
echo "El problema era que pigz alterna lectura y escritura. Encima, zstd
comprime más."
echo

echo "-----------" >> md5checksum_expanded

DATE=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
echo "Start at $DATE" > $TIMESTAMPFILE

DATE2=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
echo "--- $DATE2 Haciendo sda mbr" | tee -a $TIMESTAMPFILE
dd if=/dev/sda of=sda_mbr count=1
echo

DATE2=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
echo "--- $DATE2 copiar tabla de particiones con sfdisk" | tee -a
$TIMESTAMPFILE
sfdisk -d /dev/sda > sda_partition_table_sfdisk.out
# recovery: % sfdisk /dev/hda < hda.out
echo

DATE2=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
echo "--- $DATE2 copiar tabla de particiones con fdisk" | tee -a
$TIMESTAMPFILE
fdisk -l /dev/sda > sda_partition_table_fdisk.out

DATE2=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
echo "--- $DATE2 Haciendo sda super_mbr" | tee -a $TIMESTAMPFILE
dd if=/dev/sda of=sda_super_mbr count=64
echo

DATE2=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
echo "--- $DATE2 Haciendo sda_1 WINBOOT" | tee -a $TIMESTAMPFILE
time hacer sda1 "5S" "sda1_WINBOOT"
echo

DATE2=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
echo "--- $DATE2 Haciendo sda_2 WINDOWS" | tee -a $TIMESTAMPFILE
time hacer sda2 "250M" "sda2_WINDOWS"
echo

DATE2=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
echo "--- $DATE2 Haciendo sda_3 Crypt" | tee -a $TIMESTAMPFILE
time hacer sda3 "21m" "sda3_Crypt"
echo

DATE2=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
echo "--- $DATE2 Haciendo sda4_ext_grub" | tee -a $TIMESTAMPFILE
dd if=/dev/sda4 of=sda4_ext_grub
echo

DATE2=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
echo "--- $DATE2 Haciendo sda4_ext_grub_super" | tee -a $TIMESTAMPFILE
dd if=/dev/sda4 of=sda4_ext_grub_super count=64
echo
DATE2=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
echo "--- $DATE2 Haciendo sda_5_swap" | tee -a $TIMESTAMPFILE
time hacer sda5 "6m" "sda5_swap"
echo

DATE2=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
echo "--- $DATE2 Haciendo sda6_boot" | tee -a $TIMESTAMPFILE
time hacer sda6 "8S" "sda6_boot"
echo

DATE2=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
echo "--- $DATE2 Haciendo sda7_root" | tee -a $TIMESTAMPFILE
time hacer sda7 "37" "sda7_root"
echo

DATE2=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
echo "--- $DATE2 Omitiendo sda_8_Home, muy grande, solo ficheros" | tee
-a $TIMESTAMPFILE
#echo "--- $DATE2 Haciendo sda_8_Home" | tee -a 0_timestamp_dd
#echo

DATE2=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
echo "--- $DATE2 Haciendo sda_9_Other" | tee -a $TIMESTAMPFILE
dd_rhelp /dev/sda9 sda9_Other
time hacer sda9 "8M" "sda9_Other"
echo

echo "Finalizado!"

DATE3=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
echo >> 0_timestamp_dd
echo "End at $DATE3" >> $TIMESTAMPFILE

····································++-

--
Cheers, Carlos.

bad sector wrote:

>I got me a used Lenovo T480 solely because my guitar board bundleware
>requires windows.

Are you sure it doesn't work with WINE? I am writing this on another
T480, great machine, running Ubuntu and Agent with WINE.
If it doesn't work with wine I would first try the VM if you need
Windows just for this one piece of software.

-jw-

--

And now for something completely different...

On 2/1/24 07:28, Joerg Walther wrote:
> bad sector wrote:
>
>> I got me a used Lenovo T480 solely because my guitar board bundleware
>> requires windows.
>
> Are you sure it doesn't work with WINE? I am writing this on another
> T480, great machine, running Ubuntu and Agent with WINE.

Yeah, I lucked-in with it; first I got a 470 but with the wrong
resolution and a 256gb ssd. I took out the four-letter dictionary and it
got me a 480 with 1tb :-)

> If it doesn't work with wine I would first try the VM if you need
> Windows just for this one piece of software.
>
> -jw-

Thanks for chiming in...

When it comes to sound-studio things I've had more issues with wine than
with vBox and that's why I migrated in spite of yet another learning
curve. My previous effects board was a Me-80 and IT worked like a charm
under vBox, zero complaints! This one is more modern and an entirely new
paradigm so at my level of expertise with it I'd be hard pressed to have
an opinion* (not a problem at other times). This approach is a solid
fallback seeing that I've done it before, but for the sake of adventure
I'm really prone to poke at a workaround with an external sata drive in
a usb port that I can boot.

What if. What if I make a bootable live usb toenail just to get me to a
grub shell? Any potential?

set root=??
linux /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/??
initrd /boot/initrd
boot

I suspect there's something of an fdisk function inside grub so if I can
pry that out I'm good. Once I know what the /dev is what's to stop me
from booting a kernmel off it?

*When it comes to new hardware/bundleware I'm minded of the wise drill
instructor's words "Son, the marines gave you a pair of good boots,
fatigues to cover your ass, a rifle and a good job; it we want you to
have an opinion you'll be issued one of those too".

On 2/1/24 00:38, Paul wrote:
> On 1/31/2024 10:16 PM, bad sector wrote:
>> On 1/31/24 21:23, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>>> On 2024-02-01 03:02, bad sector wrote:
>>>> How could I in such a case restore the laptop to as-it-was if I want to sell it for example?
>>>
>>> By doing a recovery imaging of the HD the first day to an external disk.
>>
>> I've already installed some drivers and bundleware but I think those can be taken out with a windows reset before the backup or before selling
>>
>> For the 'recovery imaging' you mean load rescue, connect an external drive and either
>>
>> dd if=internal-1tb-ssd of=/path-to-1tb file
>>
>> or
>>
>> dd if=internal-1tb-ssd of=/dev/external-1tb-ssd?
>>
>>
>> or do you mean some windows procedure?
>
> It might not even have a recovery partition on it. You're talking
> about a Refurbished T480, which will have Win10Pro Refurbisher on it
> (which is really a Retail image).

p1 100mb EFI
p2 16M Microsoft Reserved
p3 953G MS Basic Data
p4 522M Win Recovery Envelope

> The DVD you can download from Microsoft
> right now, is very very close to what is installed on the SSD in the laptop.
>
> https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/software-download/windows10

That iso file is too big and every time I'nbve tried to DL it it failed
(my connection is no screamning hell!)

> That's likely to be installed with a Win10 Refurbisher disc.
> And no recovery disc, or partition, for putting Refurbisher back, either.
> While Windows 10 can "make a Recovery USB key", this is largely a waste
> of a USB flash stick. I've made these a couple times, and the USB flash stick
> always gets reused a week later, and the considerable effort tossed on the floor :-)
>
> Kaby Lake Q3'17. UHD Graphics 620
>
> https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX00126327
>
> You can do a backup with this. This will not be available for download
> much longer. Could be only hours left for all I know. It was supposed
> to be gone in 2024. *Do this one right now*
>
> https://download.macrium.com/reflect/v7/v7.3.6391/reflect_setup_free_x64.exe
>
> Name: reflect_setup_free_x64.exe
> Size: 115,722,168 bytes (110 MiB)
> SHA256: 7F798A760C212D3131349DA39506DB8C367F2A883E1C6A0BC4214998900AE2BC

Thanks I dl'd it already, we'll see where that road goes. What does it
do exactly?

> This is one of my filmstrip pictures, "Working with Macrium and Rescue CD".
> It was intended for a Linux user having Windows in a VM, but it will work
> directly in Windows.
>
> [Picture] "Download original" for best resolution.
> If frame is blank, right-click and select "Reload"
>
> https://i.postimg.cc/054trNDv/make-rescue-cd-via-win-vm.gif
>
> The backup image created via booting the Macrium CD and making
> a MRIMG backup file, should be considerably smaller than a dd dump.
> It might only be 20GB.

You went to great lengths to make that one! DL'd it too, but doesn't a
rescue disk made with windows require windows to recover? What does the
product do?

My idea of a backup is dd, it needs nothing from the origional to
restore it.

> *******
>
> There are potentially two license keys.
>
> The Refurbisher *could* come with a unique key.
>
> This could have shown the key, except Windows Defender is set up
> to quarantine this download as "Hackerware". Something like MagicJellyBean
> could be used instead. The license key is 25 characters, but when
> stored in the Registry, it's a shorter sequence, and Produkey does
> the "decompression" (known pseudocode released in the WinXP USENET
> group eons ago).
>
> https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html
>
> The second key came with the T480 hardware. It's the ACPI MSDM table,
> and it can be dumped with the Linux ACPI table dumper. That will give
> 25 characters, as the only entry in that particular table.
>
> We don't really care about these license keys as such, but capturing
> them now is part of "maximizing value" of your new purchase. If someone
> asks "do you have the license keys?", as useless as they are, you can say "Yes".
>
> Treated as Boot Flag partition reagentc /info, winRE.wim
> +-----+--------------------------------+-+----------------------+-----------------------+ GPT
> | MBR | EFI System Partition 100MB | | Windows C: partition | System Reserved 600MB | Partitiond
> +-----+--------------------------------+-+----------------------+-----------------------+ Disk drive
> (Microsoft and Ubuntu folders) ^
> +---- MSR, 16MB, no file system, gparted hates this

All the above 'key'business is chinese to me. The BIOS in my 480 cites a
1- charactyer LIC# appended with a 'WIN'.

> The EFI System Partition is too small for Linux. Some Linux installers
> tell you to make it 500MB (but they don't tell you how).

I never made one yet but a couple weeks ago I decided to cover all
possibilities so my new partitioning scheme on all drives begins with

p1 1G EFI
p2 1G Bios Boot
p3 6G swap

> The System Reserved (Hidden NTFS) contains a boot image used
> when C: is not accessible. It too is too small as of Jan.2024 :-)
> We have a procedure for making that 1GB to shut up the
> Jan.2024 Patch Tuesday.
>
> There are no partitions with "14GB of files" like on Windows 7 laptops.
> There was an actual "Recovery" partition back then, with 14GB of stuff
> (that can be used to populate 3 DVDs or so). They have stopped doing that.
>
> With sudo gdisk /dev/sda, it's likely you could manufacture a lot
> of these things. The Windows "diskpart.exe" can also manufacturer
> special partitions such as "System Reserved 1GB in size" when you want
> one. In Windows, you need to know the GUID of the GPT partition type,
> while gdisk in Linux uses a fake four digit code such as "0x0700
> Visible NTFS" suited to the C: partition and its NTFS file system.
> System Reserved would nominally be 0x2700 in an ideal world, but there
> are likely a couple partition types that are hidden NTFS, so using
> a four digit shorthand might not be enough. When a code point is overloaded,
> they make 0x2700 and 0x2701 and then each of them is a custom of some sort.
>
> *******
>
> But these are small potatoes for a multibooter. Am I right, brother ? :-)
> In for a penny, in for $1.49.
>
> Working with these materials, you will be asking "Are we having fun yet",
> and that's normal.

Never fails, I come up with some clueless Qignorantum and Paul piles so
much academe over my freakin' head that I feel like the Titan before you
know what happened ti IT.

> And if you feel unsure of a lot of this, by all means do a "dd" to external
> media. If you have a lot of disks laying around, maybe this isn't an issue
> for you, to have one more copy. When I started out, without a known good
> backup system, I was using "dd" at first too. Because I knew it would work.
>
> Paul

That's why I became an addict too. Not long ago it would have been
unthinkable to dd 1tb :-)

I've been dd-ing my OS partitions to files for years. My current
multi-boot system disk is a 1tb ssd. The other day I got my hands on
another 1tb ssd to copy some stuff to for a friend so I decided to try a
full disk dd thinking 'what the hell, it'll be done by morning'. When I
went to bed (after my usual night-cap slurpfest) I checked in on the
skunkenvorken ....lo and be-holed, it was already long done!

On 2/1/24 07:14, Carlos E.R. wrote:
> On 2024-02-01 04:16, bad sector wrote:
>> On 1/31/24 21:23, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>>> On 2024-02-01 03:02, bad sector wrote:
>>>> How could I in such a case restore the laptop to as-it-was if I want
>>>> to sell it for example?
>>>
>>> By doing a recovery imaging of the HD the first day to an external disk.
>>
>> I've already installed some drivers and bundleware but I think those
>> can be taken out with a windows reset before the backup or before selling
>
> Me, I would do a factory restore of the computer, and then create an
> image on an external disk. I typically buy a rotating rust disk of at
> least double size the internal disk, install a small linux on it (I use
> plain Leap with xfce), and partition the rest of the disk as a huge data
> partition, encrypted + compressed, with btrfs (because it is the only
> one that has compression on the fly).
>
>
>
>> For the 'recovery imaging' you mean load rescue, connect an external
>> drive and either
>>
>> dd if=internal-1tb-ssd of=/path-to-1tb file
>>
>> or
>>
>> dd if=internal-1tb-ssd of=/dev/external-1tb-ssd?
>
> Yes.
>
> Actually, I do separate images per partition, and backp the partition
> table. For the initial image, it can be the entire disk.

Why separate images? That jus creates more files to mix up.

>
> This is the script I use - warning: some lines have wrapped:
>
> (sorry, some comments are in Spanish, ask for clarification if you need)
>
> +++····································
> #!/bin/bash
> echo "Tiempo total estimado, 3 hora(s)"

3 whores? That's sound about right :-)

> THEDEVICE=sda
>
> cd /backup/images/004
>
> echo "=== Copiando las tablas"
> dd if=/dev/$THEDEVICE of=MBR count=1
> sgdisk --backup=gpt_table /dev/$THEDEVICE
> parted --list > parted_list
> echo
>
> #restore: sgdisk --load-backup=gpt_table /dev/nvme0n1
>
>
> #http://www.tech-g.com/2014/11/28/backing-up-disk-with-dd-saving-space/
> # restore, podría ser: pigz -dc /hds/www/vzhost.img.gz | dd of=/dev/sdd
> status=progress
>
>
> function hacer()
> {
>     echo
>     echo "Haciendo la particion $1 ($2) en $3"
>     echo "copiando, comprimiendo, y calculando md5..."
>     mkfifo mdpipe
>     dd if=/dev/$1  status=progress  bs=16M | tee mdpipe | pigz -3 >
> $3.gz &
>     md5sum -b mdpipe | tee -a md5checksum_expanded
>     wait
>     rm mdpipe
>     echo "$3" >> md5checksum_expanded
>
>     echo "Verificando..."
>     pigz --test $3.gz
>     echo
>     echo "·········"
> }
>
>
> echo "-----------" >> md5checksum_expanded
> time hacer sda1 "8S" "sda1__SYSTEM_DRV"
> time hacer sda2 "1S" "sda2__RESERVED"
> time hacer sda5 "33S" "sda5__WINRE_DRV"
> time hacer sda7 "34S" "sda7__LRS_ESP"
>
>
> echo
>
> echo "=== Ahora las particiones gordas (3, 4 y 6)"
>
> echo
> time hacer sda3 "161M" "sda3__Windows"
>
> echo
> time hacer sda4 "10M" "sda4__LENOVO"
>
> echo
> time hacer sda6 "11M" "sda6__LENOVO_PART"
>
> echo
> time hacer sda9 "10M" "sda9__Swap"
> ····································++-
>
> This machine has evolved and now has more partitions, but you can get
> the idea.
>
> Another version of the script on another laptop:
>
> +++····································
> TIMESTAMPFILE=0_timestamp_dd
> echo "==============================" >> $TIMESTAMPFILE
>
> function hacer()
> {
>     DATE=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
>     echo
>     echo "Haciendo la particion $1 ($2) en $3 ($DATE)" | tee -a
> $TIMESTAMPFILE
>     echo "copiando, comprimiendo, y calculando md5..."
>     mkfifo mdpipe
>     dd if=/dev/$1  status=progress  bs=16M | tee mdpipe | zstd > $3.zst &
>     md5sum -b mdpipe | tee -a md5checksum_expanded
>     wait
>     rm mdpipe
>     echo "$3" >> md5checksum_expanded
>
> #Study:
> #
> #       --size-hint=#
> #              When  handling  input  from a stream, zstd must guess how
> large the source size will be when optimizing com
> #              parameters. If the stream size is relatively small, this
> guess may be a poor one, resulting in a higher com
> #              ratio than expected. This feature allows for controlling
> the guess when needed. Exact guesses result in bet
> #              pression ratios. Overestimates result in slightly
> degraded compression ratios, while underestimates may  re
> #              significant degradation.
> #
> #       --adapt[=min=#,max=#]
> #              zstd  will  dynamically  adapt  compression  level to
> perceived I/O conditions. Compression level adaptatio
> #              observed live by using command -v. Adaptation can be
> constrained between supplied min and max levels.  The
> #              works  when  combined  with  multi-threading and --long
> mode. It does not work with --single-thread. It set
> #              size to 8 MB by default (can be changed manually, see
> wlog). Due to the chaotic nature of dynamic adaptatio
> #              pressed  result is not reproducible. note : at the time
> of this writing, --adapt can remain stuck at low sp
> #              combined with multiple worker threads (>=2).
>
>
>
>     echo "Verificando ($DATE)..." | tee -a $TIMESTAMPFILE
>     zstd --test $3.zst
>     echo
>     echo "Hecho ($DATE)" | tee -a $TIMESTAMPFILE
>     echo "·········" | tee -a $TIMESTAMPFILE
> }
>
> echo "Tarda aproximadamente cinco horas. A ver con 'pigz --fast - no,
> mucho mejor con zstd'"
> echo "El problema era que pigz alterna lectura y escritura. Encima, zstd
> comprime más."
> echo
>
>
> echo "-----------" >> md5checksum_expanded
>
> DATE=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
> echo "Start at $DATE" > $TIMESTAMPFILE
>
> DATE2=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
> echo "--- $DATE2  Haciendo sda mbr" | tee -a $TIMESTAMPFILE
> dd if=/dev/sda of=sda_mbr count=1
> echo
>
> DATE2=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
> echo "--- $DATE2  copiar tabla de particiones con sfdisk" | tee -a
> $TIMESTAMPFILE
> sfdisk -d /dev/sda > sda_partition_table_sfdisk.out
> # recovery:    % sfdisk /dev/hda < hda.out
> echo
>
> DATE2=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
> echo "--- $DATE2  copiar tabla de particiones con fdisk" | tee -a
> $TIMESTAMPFILE
> fdisk -l /dev/sda > sda_partition_table_fdisk.out
>
> DATE2=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
> echo "--- $DATE2  Haciendo sda super_mbr" | tee -a $TIMESTAMPFILE
> dd if=/dev/sda of=sda_super_mbr count=64
> echo
>
> DATE2=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
> echo "--- $DATE2  Haciendo sda_1 WINBOOT" | tee -a $TIMESTAMPFILE
> time hacer sda1 "5S" "sda1_WINBOOT"
> echo
>
> DATE2=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
> echo "--- $DATE2  Haciendo sda_2 WINDOWS" | tee -a $TIMESTAMPFILE
> time hacer sda2 "250M" "sda2_WINDOWS"
> echo
>
> DATE2=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
> echo "--- $DATE2  Haciendo sda_3 Crypt" | tee -a $TIMESTAMPFILE
> time hacer sda3 "21m" "sda3_Crypt"
> echo
>
> DATE2=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
> echo "--- $DATE2  Haciendo sda4_ext_grub" | tee -a $TIMESTAMPFILE
> dd if=/dev/sda4 of=sda4_ext_grub
> echo
>
> DATE2=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
> echo "--- $DATE2  Haciendo sda4_ext_grub_super" | tee -a $TIMESTAMPFILE
> dd if=/dev/sda4 of=sda4_ext_grub_super count=64
> echo
> DATE2=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
> echo "--- $DATE2  Haciendo sda_5_swap" | tee -a $TIMESTAMPFILE
> time hacer sda5 "6m" "sda5_swap"
> echo
>
> DATE2=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
> echo "--- $DATE2  Haciendo sda6_boot" | tee -a $TIMESTAMPFILE
> time hacer sda6 "8S" "sda6_boot"
> echo
>
> DATE2=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
> echo "--- $DATE2  Haciendo sda7_root" | tee -a $TIMESTAMPFILE
> time hacer sda7 "37" "sda7_root"
> echo
>
> DATE2=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
> echo "--- $DATE2  Omitiendo sda_8_Home, muy grande, solo ficheros" | tee
> -a $TIMESTAMPFILE
> #echo "--- $DATE2  Haciendo sda_8_Home" | tee -a 0_timestamp_dd
> #echo
>
> DATE2=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
> echo "--- $DATE2  Haciendo sda_9_Other" | tee -a $TIMESTAMPFILE
> dd_rhelp /dev/sda9 sda9_Other
> time hacer sda9 "8M" "sda9_Other"
> echo
>
> echo "Finalizado!"
>
> DATE3=`date --rfc-3339=seconds`
> echo >>  0_timestamp_dd
> echo "End at $DATE3" >> $TIMESTAMPFILE
>
>
>
>
>
> ····································++-
>

On 2024-02-01 14:58, bad sector wrote:
> On 2/1/24 07:14, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>> On 2024-02-01 04:16, bad sector wrote:
>>> On 1/31/24 21:23, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>>>> On 2024-02-01 03:02, bad sector wrote:
>>>>> How could I in such a case restore the laptop to as-it-was if I
>>>>> want to sell it for example?
>>>>
>>>> By doing a recovery imaging of the HD the first day to an external
>>>> disk.
>>>
>>> I've already installed some drivers and bundleware but I think those
>>> can be taken out with a windows reset before the backup or before
>>> selling
>>
>> Me, I would do a factory restore of the computer, and then create an
>> image on an external disk. I typically buy a rotating rust disk of at
>> least double size the internal disk, install a small linux on it (I
>> use plain Leap with xfce), and partition the rest of the disk as a
>> huge data partition, encrypted + compressed, with btrfs (because it is
>> the only one that has compression on the fly).
>>
>>
>>
>>> For the 'recovery imaging' you mean load rescue, connect an external
>>> drive and either
>>>
>>> dd if=internal-1tb-ssd of=/path-to-1tb file
>>>
>>> or
>>>
>>> dd if=internal-1tb-ssd of=/dev/external-1tb-ssd?
>>
>> Yes.
>>
>> Actually, I do separate images per partition, and backp the partition
>> table. For the initial image, it can be the entire disk.
>
> Why separate images? That jus creates more files to mix up.

It facilitates restoring only the affected part. And there are
partitions I do not image but rsync.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

On 2/1/2024 8:58 AM, bad sector wrote:
> On 2/1/24 00:38, Paul wrote:
>> On 1/31/2024 10:16 PM, bad sector wrote:
>>> On 1/31/24 21:23, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>>>> On 2024-02-01 03:02, bad sector wrote:
>>>>> How could I in such a case restore the laptop to as-it-was if I want to sell it for example?
>>>>
>>>> By doing a recovery imaging of the HD the first day to an external disk.
>>>
>>> I've already installed some drivers and bundleware but I think those can be taken out with a windows reset before the backup or before selling
>>>
>>> For the 'recovery imaging' you mean load rescue, connect an external drive and either
>>>
>>> dd if=internal-1tb-ssd of=/path-to-1tb file
>>>
>>> or
>>>
>>> dd if=internal-1tb-ssd of=/dev/external-1tb-ssd?
>>>
>>>
>>> or do you mean some windows procedure?
>>
>> It might not even have a recovery partition on it. You're talking
>> about a Refurbished T480, which will have Win10Pro Refurbisher on it
>> (which is really a Retail image).
>
> p1 100mb EFI
> p2 16M  Microsoft Reserved
> p3 953G MS Basic Data
> p4 522M Win Recovery Envelope
>
>
>
>> The DVD you can download from Microsoft
>> right now, is very very close to what is installed on the SSD in the laptop.
>>
>>     https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/software-download/windows10
>
> That iso file is too big and every time I'nbve tried to DL it it failed (my connection is no screamning hell!)
>
>
>
>> That's likely to be installed with a Win10 Refurbisher disc.
>> And no recovery disc, or partition, for putting Refurbisher back, either.
>> While Windows 10 can "make a Recovery USB key", this is largely a waste
>> of a USB flash stick. I've made these a couple times, and the USB flash stick
>> always gets reused a week later, and the considerable effort tossed on the floor :-)
>>
>>     Kaby Lake Q3'17.   UHD Graphics 620
>>
>>     https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX00126327
>>
>> You can do a backup with this. This will not be available for download
>> much longer. Could be only hours left for all I know. It was supposed
>> to be gone in 2024. *Do this one right now*
>>
>>     https://download.macrium.com/reflect/v7/v7.3.6391/reflect_setup_free_x64.exe
>>
>>     Name: reflect_setup_free_x64.exe
>>     Size: 115,722,168 bytes (110 MiB)
>>     SHA256: 7F798A760C212D3131349DA39506DB8C367F2A883E1C6A0BC4214998900AE2BC
>
> Thanks I dl'd it already, we'll see where that road goes. What does it do exactly?
>
>
>
>> This is one of my filmstrip pictures, "Working with Macrium and Rescue CD".
>> It was intended for a Linux user having Windows in a VM, but it will work
>> directly in Windows.
>>
>>     [Picture]  "Download original" for best resolution.
>>                If frame is blank, right-click and select "Reload"
>>
>>     https://i.postimg.cc/054trNDv/make-rescue-cd-via-win-vm.gif
>>
>> The backup image created via booting the Macrium CD and making
>> a MRIMG backup file, should be considerably smaller than a dd dump.
>> It might only be 20GB.
>
> You went to great lengths to make that one! DL'd it too, but doesn't a rescue disk made with windows require windows to recover? What does the product do?
>
> My idea of a backup is dd, it needs nothing from the origional to restore it.
>
>
>
>
>> *******
>>
>> There are potentially two license keys.
>>
>> The Refurbisher *could* come with a unique key.
>>
>> This could have shown the key, except Windows Defender is set up
>> to quarantine this download as "Hackerware". Something like MagicJellyBean
>> could be used instead. The license key is 25 characters, but when
>> stored in the Registry, it's a shorter sequence, and Produkey does
>> the "decompression" (known pseudocode released in the WinXP USENET
>> group eons ago).
>>
>> https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html
>>
>> The second key came with the T480 hardware. It's the ACPI MSDM table,
>> and it can be dumped with the Linux ACPI table dumper. That will give
>> 25 characters, as the only entry in that particular table.
>>
>> We don't really care about these license keys as such, but capturing
>> them now is part of "maximizing value" of your new purchase. If someone
>> asks "do you have the license keys?", as useless as they are, you can say "Yes".
>>
>>          Treated as Boot Flag partition                          reagentc /info, winRE.wim
>> +-----+--------------------------------+-+----------------------+-----------------------+   GPT
>> | MBR | EFI System Partition 100MB     | | Windows C: partition | System Reserved 600MB |   Partitiond
>> +-----+--------------------------------+-+----------------------+-----------------------+   Disk drive
>>          (Microsoft and Ubuntu folders)  ^
>>                                          +---- MSR, 16MB, no file system, gparted hates this
>
> All the above 'key'business is chinese to me. The BIOS in my 480 cites a 1- charactyer LIC# appended with a 'WIN'.
>
>
>
>
>> The EFI System Partition is too small for Linux. Some Linux installers
>> tell you to make it 500MB (but they don't tell you how).
>
> I never made one yet but a couple weeks ago I decided to cover all possibilities so my new partitioning scheme on all drives begins with
>
> p1 1G EFI
> p2 1G Bios Boot
> p3 6G swap
>
>
>> The System Reserved (Hidden NTFS) contains a boot image used
>> when C: is not accessible. It too is too small as of Jan.2024 :-)
>> We have a procedure for making that 1GB to shut up the
>> Jan.2024 Patch Tuesday.
>>
>> There are no partitions with "14GB of files" like on Windows 7 laptops.
>> There was an actual "Recovery" partition back then, with 14GB of stuff
>> (that can be used to populate 3 DVDs or so). They have stopped doing that.
>>
>> With sudo gdisk /dev/sda, it's likely you could manufacture a lot
>> of these things. The Windows "diskpart.exe" can also manufacturer
>> special partitions such as "System Reserved 1GB in size" when you want
>> one. In Windows, you need to know the GUID of the GPT partition type,
>> while gdisk in Linux uses a fake four digit code such as "0x0700
>> Visible NTFS" suited to the C: partition and its NTFS file system.
>> System Reserved would nominally be 0x2700 in an ideal world, but there
>> are likely a couple partition types that are hidden NTFS, so using
>> a four digit shorthand might not be enough. When a code point is overloaded,
>> they make 0x2700 and 0x2701 and then each of them is a custom of some sort.
>>
>> *******
>>
>> But these are small potatoes for a multibooter. Am I right, brother ? :-)
>> In for a penny, in for $1.49.
>>
>> Working with these materials, you will be asking "Are we having fun yet",
>> and that's normal.
>
> Never fails, I come up with some clueless Qignorantum and Paul piles so much academe over my freakin' head that I feel like the Titan before you know what happened ti IT.
>
>
>> And if you feel unsure of a lot of this, by all means do a "dd" to external
>> media. If you have a lot of disks laying around, maybe this isn't an issue
>> for you, to have one more copy. When I started out, without a known good
>> backup system, I was using "dd" at first too. Because I knew it would work.
>>
>>     Paul
>
>
> That's why I became an addict too. Not long ago it would have been unthinkable to dd 1tb :-)
>
> I've been dd-ing my OS partitions to files for years. My current multi-boot system disk is a 1tb ssd. The other day I got my hands on another 1tb ssd to copy some stuff to for a friend so I decided to try a full disk dd thinking 'what the hell, it'll be done by morning'. When I went to bed (after my usual night-cap slurpfest) I checked in on the skunkenvorken    ....lo and be-holed, it was already long done!
>
>

The Macrium converts a disk full of stuff, into an efficient image format.
It's a "full backup for free". The software can handle NTFS, FAT32, EXT4.
If it spots a Swap partition, it will "dd" that itself (any file system
it does not know, can be dd transferred). It would not know what to do with
BTRFS or ZFS.

On 2/1/2024 7:14 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:
> On 2024-02-01 04:16, bad sector wrote:
>> On 1/31/24 21:23, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>>> On 2024-02-01 03:02, bad sector wrote:
>>>> How could I in such a case restore the laptop to as-it-was if I want to sell it for example?
>>>
>>> By doing a recovery imaging of the HD the first day to an external disk.
>>
>> I've already installed some drivers and bundleware but I think those can be taken out with a windows reset before the backup or before selling
>
> Me, I would do a factory restore of the computer, and then create an image on an external disk.

Refurbs don't come with a factory image.

The disk drive has been wiped, and has no recollection at all, of
the original Lenovo (royalty) software.

That's the whole purpose of the Microsoft refurbisher kit.
It's to wipe all commercial content, and start a new
stream of content which is "refurbisher".

And the current refurbisher is as bare-bones as they could make it.
It's the grocery store "No Frills" version of OS.

*******

When you receive a Refurbisher laptop, you back it up.
that's about the best you can do, in terms of preparing
a "Bare Metal Recovery" strategy.

When I got the Optiplex 780 Refurb, I got it from a computer
store downtown. The shop owner was doing refurbs himself.
The Windows 7 Refurb kit, used to include a Hologram DVD.
They've stopped doing that. A lot of Win7 era refurbs,
came with no DVD. When I bought the refurb, I wasn't leaving
the store without a Hologram DVD (as a collectors item) :-)
There is nothing special about that DVD, except it evokes
another time, where people cared enough to deliver restoration
media with a product. The DVD is practically the same as a
downloadable Retail DVD.

[Picture] How Picasso would portray a DVD...

https://i.postimg.cc/fR4m5Y9g/win7-refurbisher-DVD.jpg

As far as I know, no refurb kit for Win10 Refurbisher,
ever came with a DVD.

Paul

On Thu, 01 Feb 2024 08:58:16 -0500, bad sector <forgetski@_invalid.net> wrote:
> On 2/1/24 00:38, Paul wrote:
<snip>
>> The DVD you can download from Microsoft
>> right now, is very very close to what is installed on the SSD in the laptop.
>>
>> https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/software-download/windows10
>
> That iso file is too big and every time I'nbve tried to DL it it failed
> (my connection is no screamning hell!)
<snip>

Make sure the file system, the iso image is being downloaded to, supports
having a file size of 5.7GB.

Regards, Dave Hodgins

On Wed, 31 Jan 2024 22:16:10 -0500, bad sector <forgetski@_invalid.net> wrote:

> On 1/31/24 21:23, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>> On 2024-02-01 03:02, bad sector wrote:
>>> How could I in such a case restore the laptop to as-it-was if I want
>>> to sell it for example?
>>
>> By doing a recovery imaging of the HD the first day to an external disk.
>
> I've already installed some drivers and bundleware but I think those can
> be taken out with a windows reset before the backup or before selling
>
> For the 'recovery imaging' you mean load rescue, connect an external
> drive and either
>
> dd if=internal-1tb-ssd of=/path-to-1tb file
>
> or
>
> dd if=internal-1tb-ssd of=/dev/external-1tb-ssd?
>
>
> or do you mean some windows procedure?

dd is available for windows.
http://www.chrysocome.net/dd

I never suggest a dd command without including the bs parameter. The block
size defaults to 512 bytes, which results in rewriting blocks on the output
device multiple times.

Regards, Dave Hodgins

On 2/1/2024 8:58 AM, bad sector wrote:
> On 2/1/24 00:38, Paul wrote:

>> The DVD you can download from Microsoft
>> right now, is very very close to what is installed on the SSD in the laptop.
>>
>>     https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/software-download/windows10
>
> That iso file is too big and every time I'nbve tried to DL it it failed (my connection is no screamning hell!)

Name: Win10_22H2_English_x64v1.iso
Size: 6,140,975,104 bytes (5856 MiB)
SHA256: A6F470CA6D331EB353B815C043E327A347F594F37FF525F17764738FE812852E <=== Linux download, fixed hash

Name: Win10-22H2-x64-Dec2023.iso
Size: 4,893,900,800 bytes (4667 MiB)
SHA256: 4540A202FE7D8DC1034B3DE408FC005EE2549127EF15441D169140ED3CA91658 <=== Win via MediaCreationTool22H2.exe, variable hash

The Linux method, while big, is a fixed image on the Microsoft server.
It allows using different types of downloaders if you want. Try aria2c (available for Win and Linux).

cd ~/Downloads
mkdir workdir
cd workdir

sudo apt install aria2

aria2c -x5 https://www.microsoft.com/... # -x is "Max connections per server", byterange download, should pick up
# from failed sections.

The URL comes from using the web page of the download link above.

Should leave a 5.7GB ISO file in workdir.

*******

The method here, allows shrinking the DVD a bit, as long as the DVD will only
be using the one SKU of Windows.

<u7r69b$38g8q$1@dont-email.me>

http://al.howardknight.net/?STYPE=msgid&MSGI=%3Cu7r69b%2438g8q%241%40dont-email.me%3E

<IMAGE INDEX="6">
<EDITIONID>Professional</EDITIONID>

11GB of RAM, 70% CPU. Will take several minutes (similar to 7ZIP Ultra compression)
The starting material in this case, is from the Sources directory of the downloaded ISO9660 file. Renamed installorig.wim

dism /Export-Image /SourceImageFile:D:\installorig.wim /SourceIndex:6 /DestinationImageFile:D:\install.wim /DestinationName:"W11Pro64" /compress:recovery

Original ISO: 6,140,975,104
installorig.wim 5,181,270,654 bytes (11 OS SKUs in the DVD)
install.wim 3,616,815,800 bytes (A single OS SKU, Win10 22H2 Professional)

Now that looks promising. I replaced install.wim in D:\DVD unpacked image, then this command is next.
First, we need to copy an executable that is not in the path, to the work partition.

C:\ProgramData\Macrium\Reflect\Windows AIK\Tools\amd64\oscdimg.exe 131,984 bytes (arrives when you make the Macrium Rescue CD)

The command is like this. Administrator window probably best, like for the other command.
This command doesn't take nearly as long to run as the DISM compressor run.

oscdimg.exe -m -o -u2 -udfver102 -bootdata:2#p0,e,bd:\dvd\boot\etfsboot.com#pEF,e,bd:\dvd\efi\microsoft\boot\efisys.bin d:\dvd d:\new.iso

new.iso 4,562,388,992 bytes (A single OS SKU, Win10 22H2 Professional)

That means, even if either the Linux download flavor or the MediaCreationTool22H2
flavor are too large, you can shrink them down to a custom disc for Win10Pro.
I could burn that ISO now with K3B if I wanted.

[Picture]

https://i.postimg.cc/9FS6gf4J/proof-the-new-iso-works-ok.gif

Paul

"Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> writes:
> On 2024-02-01 03:02, bad sector wrote:
>> How could I in such a case restore the laptop to as-it-was if I want
>> to sell it for example?

> By doing a recovery imaging of the HD the first day to an external disk.

An alternative approach could be replacing the HD and storing the
original one somewhere.

--
Jukka Lahtinen

On 2024-02-01 23:16, Jukka Lahtinen wrote:
> "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> writes:
>> On 2024-02-01 03:02, bad sector wrote:
>>> How could I in such a case restore the laptop to as-it-was if I want
>>> to sell it for example?
>
>> By doing a recovery imaging of the HD the first day to an external disk.
>
> An alternative approach could be replacing the HD and storing the
> original one somewhere.

I only do that if I want to install a better disk.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

On 2/1/24 17:16, Jukka Lahtinen wrote:
> "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> writes:
>> On 2024-02-01 03:02, bad sector wrote:
>>> How could I in such a case restore the laptop to as-it-was if I want
>>> to sell it for example?
>
>> By doing a recovery imaging of the HD the first day to an external disk.
>
> An alternative approach could be replacing the HD and storing the
> original one somewhere.

Good idea, especially since these refurbs have often been on 7/24; I'll
check the smart data about the hours on it.

On 2/1/24 16:58, Paul wrote:
> On 2/1/2024 8:58 AM, bad sector wrote:
>> On 2/1/24 00:38, Paul wrote:
>
>>> The DVD you can download from Microsoft
>>> right now, is very very close to what is installed on the SSD in the laptop.
>>>
>>>     https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/software-download/windows10
>>
>> That iso file is too big and every time I'nbve tried to DL it it failed (my connection is no screamning hell!)
>
> Name: Win10_22H2_English_x64v1.iso
> Size: 6,140,975,104 bytes (5856 MiB)
> SHA256: A6F470CA6D331EB353B815C043E327A347F594F37FF525F17764738FE812852E <=== Linux download, fixed hash
>
> Name: Win10-22H2-x64-Dec2023.iso
> Size: 4,893,900,800 bytes (4667 MiB)
> SHA256: 4540A202FE7D8DC1034B3DE408FC005EE2549127EF15441D169140ED3CA91658 <=== Win via MediaCreationTool22H2.exe, variable hash
>
> The Linux method, while big, is a fixed image on the Microsoft server.
> It allows using different types of downloaders if you want. Try aria2c (available for Win and Linux).
>
> cd ~/Downloads
> mkdir workdir
> cd workdir
>
> sudo apt install aria2
>
> aria2c -x5 https://www.microsoft.com/... # -x is "Max connections per server", byterange download, should pick up
> # from failed sections.
>
> The URL comes from using the web page of the download link above.
>
> Should leave a 5.7GB ISO file in workdir.
>
> *******
>
> The method here, allows shrinking the DVD a bit, as long as the DVD will only
> be using the one SKU of Windows.
>
> <u7r69b$38g8q$1@dont-email.me>
>
> http://al.howardknight.net/?STYPE=msgid&MSGI=%3Cu7r69b%2438g8q%241%40dont-email.me%3E
>
> <IMAGE INDEX="6">
> <EDITIONID>Professional</EDITIONID>
>
> 11GB of RAM, 70% CPU. Will take several minutes (similar to 7ZIP Ultra compression)
> The starting material in this case, is from the Sources directory of the downloaded ISO9660 file. Renamed installorig.wim
>
> dism /Export-Image /SourceImageFile:D:\installorig.wim /SourceIndex:6 /DestinationImageFile:D:\install.wim /DestinationName:"W11Pro64" /compress:recovery
>
> Original ISO: 6,140,975,104
> installorig.wim 5,181,270,654 bytes (11 OS SKUs in the DVD)
> install.wim 3,616,815,800 bytes (A single OS SKU, Win10 22H2 Professional)
>
> Now that looks promising. I replaced install.wim in D:\DVD unpacked image, then this command is next.
> First, we need to copy an executable that is not in the path, to the work partition.
>
> C:\ProgramData\Macrium\Reflect\Windows AIK\Tools\amd64\oscdimg.exe 131,984 bytes (arrives when you make the Macrium Rescue CD)
>
> The command is like this. Administrator window probably best, like for the other command.
> This command doesn't take nearly as long to run as the DISM compressor run.
>
> oscdimg.exe -m -o -u2 -udfver102 -bootdata:2#p0,e,bd:\dvd\boot\etfsboot.com#pEF,e,bd:\dvd\efi\microsoft\boot\efisys.bin d:\dvd d:\new.iso
>
> new.iso 4,562,388,992 bytes (A single OS SKU, Win10 22H2 Professional)
>
> That means, even if either the Linux download flavor or the MediaCreationTool22H2
> flavor are too large, you can shrink them down to a custom disc for Win10Pro.
> I could burn that ISO now with K3B if I wanted.
>
> [Picture]
>
> https://i.postimg.cc/9FS6gf4J/proof-the-new-iso-works-ok.gif
>
> Paul

I'm working on some of this, the compression bit is neat but all that
footwork is a bity over my head. Gonna be busy with many things today,
starting with snow removal. I downloaded the 4.7gb iso and my laptop
reset to factory is just about completely backed up (was dd-ing all
night on its own to an old spinner). I made a bootable USB with dd also,
will test it when I get back in the study :-)

Noticed somethiong in the BIOS though that I had missed before; it's a
boot device selection and has a long list of options, one of themm being
a USB-HDD, just wondering.

On 2/2/2024 7:38 AM, bad sector wrote:
> On 2/1/24 16:58, Paul wrote:
>> On 2/1/2024 8:58 AM, bad sector wrote:
>>> On 2/1/24 00:38, Paul wrote:
>>
>>>> The DVD you can download from Microsoft
>>>> right now, is very very close to what is installed on the SSD in the laptop.
>>>>
>>>>      https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/software-download/windows10
>>>
>>> That iso file is too big and every time I'nbve tried to DL it it failed (my connection is no screamning hell!)
>>
>> Name: Win10_22H2_English_x64v1.iso
>> Size: 6,140,975,104 bytes (5856 MiB)
>> SHA256: A6F470CA6D331EB353B815C043E327A347F594F37FF525F17764738FE812852E  <=== Linux download, fixed hash
>>
>> Name: Win10-22H2-x64-Dec2023.iso
>> Size: 4,893,900,800 bytes (4667 MiB)
>> SHA256: 4540A202FE7D8DC1034B3DE408FC005EE2549127EF15441D169140ED3CA91658  <=== Win via MediaCreationTool22H2.exe, variable hash
>>
>> The Linux method, while big, is a fixed image on the Microsoft server.
>> It allows using different types of downloaders if you want. Try aria2c (available for Win and Linux).
>>
>> cd ~/Downloads
>> mkdir workdir
>> cd workdir
>>
>> sudo apt install aria2
>>
>> aria2c -x5   https://www.microsoft.com/...            # -x is "Max connections per server", byterange download, should pick up
>>                                                        # from failed sections.
>>
>> The URL comes from using the web page of the download link above.
>>
>> Should leave a 5.7GB ISO file in workdir.
>>
>> *******
>>
>> The method here, allows shrinking the DVD a bit, as long as the DVD will only
>> be using the one SKU of Windows.
>>
>> <u7r69b$38g8q$1@dont-email.me>
>>
>> http://al.howardknight.net/?STYPE=msgid&MSGI=%3Cu7r69b%2438g8q%241%40dont-email.me%3E
>>
>>      <IMAGE INDEX="6">
>>      <EDITIONID>Professional</EDITIONID>
>>
>> 11GB of RAM, 70% CPU. Will take several minutes (similar to 7ZIP Ultra compression)
>> The starting material in this case, is from the Sources directory of the downloaded ISO9660 file. Renamed installorig.wim
>>
>> dism /Export-Image /SourceImageFile:D:\installorig.wim /SourceIndex:6 /DestinationImageFile:D:\install.wim /DestinationName:"W11Pro64" /compress:recovery
>>
>> Original ISO:    6,140,975,104
>> installorig.wim  5,181,270,654 bytes  (11 OS SKUs in the DVD)
>> install.wim      3,616,815,800 bytes  (A single OS SKU, Win10 22H2 Professional)
>>
>> Now that looks promising. I replaced install.wim in D:\DVD unpacked image, then this command is next.
>> First, we need to copy an executable that is not in the path, to the work partition.
>>
>> C:\ProgramData\Macrium\Reflect\Windows AIK\Tools\amd64\oscdimg.exe   131,984 bytes   (arrives when you make the Macrium Rescue CD)
>>
>> The command is like this. Administrator window probably best, like for the other command.
>> This command doesn't take nearly as long to run as the DISM compressor run.
>>
>> oscdimg.exe -m -o -u2 -udfver102 -bootdata:2#p0,e,bd:\dvd\boot\etfsboot.com#pEF,e,bd:\dvd\efi\microsoft\boot\efisys.bin d:\dvd d:\new.iso
>>
>> new.iso          4,562,388,992 bytes  (A single OS SKU, Win10 22H2 Professional)
>>
>> That means, even if either the Linux download flavor or the MediaCreationTool22H2
>> flavor are too large, you can shrink them down to a custom disc for Win10Pro.
>> I could burn that ISO now with K3B if I wanted.
>>
>>      [Picture]
>>
>>       https://i.postimg.cc/9FS6gf4J/proof-the-new-iso-works-ok.gif
>>
>>     Paul
>
> I'm working on some of this, the compression bit is neat but all that footwork is a bity over my head. Gonna be busy with many things today, starting with snow removal. I downloaded the 4.7gb iso and my laptop reset to factory is just about completely backed up (was dd-ing all night on its own to an old spinner). I made a bootable USB with dd also, will test it when I get back in the study :-)
>
> Noticed somethiong in the BIOS though that I had missed before; it's a boot device selection and has a long list of options, one of themm being a USB-HDD, just wondering.

Legacy BIOS always used to "convert" foreign devices like USB sticks
or even optical drives, to be "Hard Drives" of a particular size.
This means the handling method is considered to be "emulation".

A UEFI BIOS can have a very large collection of graphical icons for boot order.
It's such a mess, I just ignore it :-) My Sanskrit is too poor to be translating
that mess into meaningful action.

I use the Popup Boot key, when I want to access a device "my way".

On retail motherboards (Asus,MSI,...), there would be two entries in the Popup Boot key:

DVD Drive GH22

UEFI DVD Drive GH22

If I want to install Windows 10 in UEFI mode, I boot the DVD using
the bottom entry. If I want to install Windows 10 in legacy MSDOS mode,
I select the top entry. That's enough selection for my purposes.

The bottom one may also convince "Secure Boot" setting to configure
boot so "the trust is measured" during the boot cycle. A TPM can be
used as part of Secure Boot. At least one generation of BIOS,
had a page with things like the MOK in it (Linux at one time
wanted you to visit the BIOS page with the secure boot keys!).
Today, they have other means (signed shims) which may reduce
the rocket science required. The people handling signed shims
for Linux, actually fly to a particular location, for their
materials handling, that's how seriously signing is taken
(as it should be).

There are various issues with Secure Boot. One issue, the plan of
record is that it will take one year to fix (the solution is
dribbled out in "phases"). Another security mistake made,
it's unclear they can fix it! And that's what I love about
these whizzy computer features, constantly busted. Secure
enclaves, where the malware gets into it, and you can't get
it out, being an example of "clever". That one is pinned off
in silicon now.

Paul

On 1/31/24 21:02, bad sector wrote:
>
> I got me a used Lenovo T480 solely because my guitar board bundleware
> requires windows. At present I want to explore ways to boot any one of
> many Linux installations OR windows-10 (laptop came with just w10).
>
> MY 1st pref would be an external sata drive connected via
> USB/Thunderbolt/Sata adapter-something for Linux leaving the internal
> one for w10 as it was installed and as it came with the laptop (and as
> it may have to be in a w10 recovery situation). This is not likely to be
> a success in 2024 as I see no way to boot from a sata ssd connected to a
> USB port.
>
> Options 2 & 3 are to reduce windows jurisdiction on the internal ssd and
> take 2/3-3/4 of it over for Linux and my data; in one case booting Linux
> or windows by grub in the EFI, and in the other case letting the windows
> booter boot linux optionally though I'm really not familiar with windows.
>
> 4th option is all Linux with w10 running in vBox but I'm not sure just
> how that arrangement would cater to a windows disaster forcing recovery
> from its own backup no longer on the drive on one hand and no longer
> having jusrisdiction over the drive as it did when sold. How could I in
> such a case restore the laptop to as-it-was if I want to sell it for
> example?

The more I get into this *microcancer swamp* the fewer the answers and
the more the questions. My previous guitar effects-board was the Roland
Me-80 and its bundleware ran under w7 which I had running in a dedicated
otherwise dual booting partition (later in vBox) on both of my machines.
The replacement is a gx-100 and its bundleware runs only under w10/11
(BTW I still have the original retail w65, w68, wxp & w7 dvds). But you
can no longer just buy windows 10 or 11, you have to buy a computer with
one of those on it! My previous laptop crapped out so I bought this
refurb T480 only for this purpose. The plan was to do like before and
run w10 or 11 either as a dually with Linux on the laptop and in vBox on
the desktop, or in vBox on both.

First of all I did a factory reset and dd'd the entire 1tb ssd to a file
stored on an old 2tb spinner. I also downloaded the w10 iso, I made a
supposedly bootable USB stick with "dd if=/path-to/w10.iso
of=/dev/usbstick". This usb stick fails to boot either machine and even
trying to get vBox to create a hosted system using the iso fails because
I don't have a "key".

According to rumor if I were to attempt a (re) install (not a vBox) on
the T480 then the installer would automatically transfer the existing
"key" to any the new installation. The problem with this is that I will
not potentially destroy the refurb-hosted w10 relying on hearsay, and
the microcancer website is so secretive that I can't get a single
straight answer out of it about anything! The license number shown in
the laptop bios doesn't even resemble the format of the key required in
vBox. Buying w10 is impossible, and the once available upgrade from w7
ended in 2016 or so.

So at this point it looks like option 2/3. I'll have to split the
onboard ssd from withing windows and claim a large part of it for Linux,
all of this becoming toast when I do a factory reset but continued
images of the entire ssd should provide some protection (a backup being
a backup only if it can restore the original without any other remnant
of it). Don't know how such images would work if restored to a new disk
because the original died, as they sometimes just do.

On 2/2/24 15:15, Paul wrote:
> On 2/2/2024 7:38 AM, bad sector wrote:
>> On 2/1/24 16:58, Paul wrote:
>>> On 2/1/2024 8:58 AM, bad sector wrote:
>>>> On 2/1/24 00:38, Paul wrote:
>>>
>>>>> The DVD you can download from Microsoft
>>>>> right now, is very very close to what is installed on the SSD in the laptop.
>>>>>
>>>>>      https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/software-download/windows10
>>>>
>>>> That iso file is too big and every time I'nbve tried to DL it it failed (my connection is no screamning hell!)
>>>
>>> Name: Win10_22H2_English_x64v1.iso
>>> Size: 6,140,975,104 bytes (5856 MiB)
>>> SHA256: A6F470CA6D331EB353B815C043E327A347F594F37FF525F17764738FE812852E  <=== Linux download, fixed hash
>>>
>>> Name: Win10-22H2-x64-Dec2023.iso
>>> Size: 4,893,900,800 bytes (4667 MiB)
>>> SHA256: 4540A202FE7D8DC1034B3DE408FC005EE2549127EF15441D169140ED3CA91658  <=== Win via MediaCreationTool22H2.exe, variable hash
>>>
>>> The Linux method, while big, is a fixed image on the Microsoft server.
>>> It allows using different types of downloaders if you want. Try aria2c (available for Win and Linux).
>>>
>>> cd ~/Downloads
>>> mkdir workdir
>>> cd workdir
>>>
>>> sudo apt install aria2
>>>
>>> aria2c -x5   https://www.microsoft.com/...            # -x is "Max connections per server", byterange download, should pick up
>>>                                                        # from failed sections.
>>>
>>> The URL comes from using the web page of the download link above.
>>>
>>> Should leave a 5.7GB ISO file in workdir.
>>>
>>> *******
>>>
>>> The method here, allows shrinking the DVD a bit, as long as the DVD will only
>>> be using the one SKU of Windows.
>>>
>>> <u7r69b$38g8q$1@dont-email.me>
>>>
>>> http://al.howardknight.net/?STYPE=msgid&MSGI=%3Cu7r69b%2438g8q%241%40dont-email.me%3E
>>>
>>>      <IMAGE INDEX="6">
>>>      <EDITIONID>Professional</EDITIONID>
>>>
>>> 11GB of RAM, 70% CPU. Will take several minutes (similar to 7ZIP Ultra compression)
>>> The starting material in this case, is from the Sources directory of the downloaded ISO9660 file. Renamed installorig.wim
>>>
>>> dism /Export-Image /SourceImageFile:D:\installorig.wim /SourceIndex:6 /DestinationImageFile:D:\install.wim /DestinationName:"W11Pro64" /compress:recovery
>>>
>>> Original ISO:    6,140,975,104
>>> installorig.wim  5,181,270,654 bytes  (11 OS SKUs in the DVD)
>>> install.wim      3,616,815,800 bytes  (A single OS SKU, Win10 22H2 Professional)
>>>
>>> Now that looks promising. I replaced install.wim in D:\DVD unpacked image, then this command is next.
>>> First, we need to copy an executable that is not in the path, to the work partition.
>>>
>>> C:\ProgramData\Macrium\Reflect\Windows AIK\Tools\amd64\oscdimg.exe   131,984 bytes   (arrives when you make the Macrium Rescue CD)
>>>
>>> The command is like this. Administrator window probably best, like for the other command.
>>> This command doesn't take nearly as long to run as the DISM compressor run.
>>>
>>> oscdimg.exe -m -o -u2 -udfver102 -bootdata:2#p0,e,bd:\dvd\boot\etfsboot.com#pEF,e,bd:\dvd\efi\microsoft\boot\efisys.bin d:\dvd d:\new.iso
>>>
>>> new.iso          4,562,388,992 bytes  (A single OS SKU, Win10 22H2 Professional)
>>>
>>> That means, even if either the Linux download flavor or the MediaCreationTool22H2
>>> flavor are too large, you can shrink them down to a custom disc for Win10Pro.
>>> I could burn that ISO now with K3B if I wanted.
>>>
>>>      [Picture]
>>>
>>>       https://i.postimg.cc/9FS6gf4J/proof-the-new-iso-works-ok.gif
>>>
>>>     Paul
>>
>> I'm working on some of this, the compression bit is neat but all that footwork is a bity over my head. Gonna be busy with many things today, starting with snow removal. I downloaded the 4.7gb iso and my laptop reset to factory is just about completely backed up (was dd-ing all night on its own to an old spinner). I made a bootable USB with dd also, will test it when I get back in the study :-)
>>
>> Noticed somethiong in the BIOS though that I had missed before; it's a boot device selection and has a long list of options, one of themm being a USB-HDD, just wondering.
>
> Legacy BIOS always used to "convert" foreign devices like USB sticks
> or even optical drives, to be "Hard Drives" of a particular size.
> This means the handling method is considered to be "emulation".
>
> A UEFI BIOS can have a very large collection of graphical icons for boot order.
> It's such a mess, I just ignore it :-) My Sanskrit is too poor to be translating
> that mess into meaningful action.
>
> I use the Popup Boot key, when I want to access a device "my way".
>
> On retail motherboards (Asus,MSI,...), there would be two entries in the Popup Boot key:
>
> DVD Drive GH22
>
> UEFI DVD Drive GH22
>
> If I want to install Windows 10 in UEFI mode, I boot the DVD using
> the bottom entry. If I want to install Windows 10 in legacy MSDOS mode,
> I select the top entry. That's enough selection for my purposes.
>
> The bottom one may also convince "Secure Boot" setting to configure
> boot so "the trust is measured" during the boot cycle. A TPM can be
> used as part of Secure Boot. At least one generation of BIOS,
> had a page with things like the MOK in it (Linux at one time
> wanted you to visit the BIOS page with the secure boot keys!).
> Today, they have other means (signed shims) which may reduce
> the rocket science required. The people handling signed shims
> for Linux, actually fly to a particular location, for their
> materials handling, that's how seriously signing is taken
> (as it should be).
>
> There are various issues with Secure Boot. One issue, the plan of
> record is that it will take one year to fix (the solution is
> dribbled out in "phases"). Another security mistake made,
> it's unclear they can fix it! And that's what I love about
> these whizzy computer features, constantly busted. Secure
> enclaves, where the malware gets into it, and you can't get
> it out, being an example of "clever". That one is pinned off
> in silicon now.
>
> Paul

My Crosshair-IV Formula desktop is BIOS only, the T480 laptop is either
or both and its w10 partitioning shows a UEFI partition so it must be
using EFI. The downloaded w10.iso file as written to USB doesn't boot
either one so I can only presume that it's not a bootable image. After
cycling throught BIOS options long enough for the USB stick to be
recognized and listed as a possible candidate, and assigning boot to it,
it will not boot. It's a moot point anyway cause I've since found out
that a vBox install at least will not go past the "key" dialog without a
"key". Maybe the physical installation would, if the USB booted at all
that is.

Meanwhile I've shrunk the large partition and liberated about 800gb
which I have cut up into 7 100GB partitions for my preferred Linux
distros leaving about 90gb for a fat or ntfs sharable data partition.
Next will be copying one of my linux partitions, editing fstab as
required, booting it with SuperGrub and getting its software manager to
deploy proper grub boot code to the disk root whatever it's called in
the case of no BIOS Legacy MBR. Once that (probabaly Suse-Tumbleweed)
point-OS in aboard I'll get the other six, format the shared data
partition to something making another backup image of the entire disk.

Plan-N :-)

On 2/2/2024 4:54 PM, bad sector wrote:
> On 1/31/24 21:02, bad sector wrote:
>>
>> I got me a used Lenovo T480 solely because my guitar board bundleware requires windows. At present I want to explore ways to boot any one of many Linux installations OR windows-10 (laptop came with just w10).
>>
>> MY 1st pref would be an external sata drive connected via USB/Thunderbolt/Sata adapter-something for Linux leaving the internal one for w10 as it was installed and as it came with the laptop (and as it may have to be in a w10 recovery situation). This is not likely to be a success in 2024 as I see no way to boot from a sata ssd connected to a USB port.
>>
>> Options 2 & 3 are to reduce windows jurisdiction on the internal ssd and take 2/3-3/4 of it over for Linux and my data; in one case booting Linux or windows by grub in the EFI, and in the other case letting the windows booter boot linux optionally though I'm really not familiar with windows.
>>
>> 4th option is all Linux with w10 running in vBox but I'm not sure just how that arrangement would cater to a windows disaster forcing recovery from its own backup no longer on the drive on one hand and no longer having jusrisdiction over the drive as it did when sold. How could I in such a case restore the laptop to as-it-was if I want to sell it for example?
>
> The more I get into this *microcancer swamp* the fewer the answers and the more the questions. My previous guitar effects-board was the Roland Me-80 and its bundleware ran under w7 which I had running in a dedicated otherwise dual booting partition (later in vBox) on both of my machines. The replacement is a gx-100 and its bundleware runs only under w10/11 (BTW I still have the original retail w65, w68, wxp & w7 dvds). But you can no longer just buy windows 10 or 11, you have to buy a computer with one of those on it!  My previous laptop crapped out so I bought this refurb T480 only for this purpose. The plan was to do like before and run w10 or 11 either as a dually with Linux on the laptop and in vBox on the desktop, or in vBox on both.
>
> First of all I did a factory reset and dd'd the entire 1tb ssd to a file stored on an old 2tb spinner. I also downloaded the w10 iso, I made a supposedly bootable USB stick with "dd if=/path-to/w10.iso of=/dev/usbstick". This usb stick fails to boot either machine and even trying to get vBox to create a hosted system using the iso fails because I don't have a "key".

https://rufus.ie # USB stick maker. No, you don't just "dd" an MS ISO to a USB key :-)
# Everything has a ceremony. The stick maker uses SYSLINUX materials to boot!

You did see my sample picture, of me installing Win10 from my
modified ISO. I didn't need a key. Just "skip" that section and "carry on".
Windows 8 ISO would have stopped you. W10 and W11 won't stop you.
I did that install in a VBOX VM.
>
> According to rumor if I were to attempt a (re) install (not a vBox) on the T480 then the installer would automatically transfer the existing "key" to any the new installation. The problem with this is that I will not potentially destroy the refurb-hosted w10 relying on hearsay, and the microcancer website is so secretive that I can't get a single straight answer out of it about anything! The license number shown in the laptop bios doesn't even resemble the format of the key required in vBox. Buying w10 is impossible, and the once available upgrade from w7 ended in 2016 or so.

Sigh :-)

Using Linux, do an ACPI Dump of the MSDM table. That's a license key. 25 characters.
That's the license the machine had when the business lease-person received it.

While the microcancer OS is running, use ProduKey to extract whatever key is there.
The Key could be just about anything. Maybe I should pop over to the other machine
and see what my key is. I will take the five letters off the end and do a Google
search looking for "bogus placeholder keys" and see if it's one of those. For example,
a bogus one in the past, was 3V66T. If you see such a key value, that is NOT a real key.

I will test, until I find an extractor that does not set off Windows Defender. Actually,
I'll turn off Real Time Protection and give Nir's ProduKey a try :-)

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/3569-turn-off-real-time-protection-microsoft-defender-antivirus.html

https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html # Download at the bottom

md C:\temp
produkey.exe /shtml "c:\temp\pk.html" # Ran this unelevated in a terminal window

# The key I got, happens to be the useless one :-)

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1180296/windows-10-pro-generic-key

(Next, throw out ProduKey, empty recycle bin, turn on WD Realtime again...)

That's the 3V66T "free upgrade" key.

Your refurb should have a *real* key. Since it is Pro, your "winver.exe" tells you,
then the key should NOT end in 3V66T.

>
> So at this point it looks like option 2/3. I'll have to split the onboard ssd from withing windows and claim a large part of it for Linux, all of this becoming toast when I do a factory reset but continued images of the entire ssd should provide some protection (a backup being a backup only if it can restore the original without any other remnant of it). Don't know how such images would work if restored to a new disk because the original died, as they sometimes just do.
>

Carry on, multibooter. Your exam awaits :-)
Come on, swing that light saber, put some willy into it.

Paul

On 2/2/24 20:30, Paul wrote:
> On 2/2/2024 4:54 PM, bad sector wrote:
>> On 1/31/24 21:02, bad sector wrote:
>>>
>>> I got me a used Lenovo T480 solely because my guitar board bundleware requires windows. At present I want to explore ways to boot any one of many Linux installations OR windows-10 (laptop came with just w10).
>>>
>>> MY 1st pref would be an external sata drive connected via USB/Thunderbolt/Sata adapter-something for Linux leaving the internal one for w10 as it was installed and as it came with the laptop (and as it may have to be in a w10 recovery situation). This is not likely to be a success in 2024 as I see no way to boot from a sata ssd connected to a USB port.
>>>
>>> Options 2 & 3 are to reduce windows jurisdiction on the internal ssd and take 2/3-3/4 of it over for Linux and my data; in one case booting Linux or windows by grub in the EFI, and in the other case letting the windows booter boot linux optionally though I'm really not familiar with windows.
>>>
>>> 4th option is all Linux with w10 running in vBox but I'm not sure just how that arrangement would cater to a windows disaster forcing recovery from its own backup no longer on the drive on one hand and no longer having jusrisdiction over the drive as it did when sold. How could I in such a case restore the laptop to as-it-was if I want to sell it for example?
>>
>> The more I get into this *microcancer swamp* the fewer the answers and the more the questions. My previous guitar effects-board was the Roland Me-80 and its bundleware ran under w7 which I had running in a dedicated otherwise dual booting partition (later in vBox) on both of my machines. The replacement is a gx-100 and its bundleware runs only under w10/11 (BTW I still have the original retail w65, w68, wxp & w7 dvds). But you can no longer just buy windows 10 or 11, you have to buy a computer with one of those on it!  My previous laptop crapped out so I bought this refurb T480 only for this purpose. The plan was to do like before and run w10 or 11 either as a dually with Linux on the laptop and in vBox on the desktop, or in vBox on both.
>>
>> First of all I did a factory reset and dd'd the entire 1tb ssd to a file stored on an old 2tb spinner. I also downloaded the w10 iso, I made a supposedly bootable USB stick with "dd if=/path-to/w10.iso of=/dev/usbstick". This usb stick fails to boot either machine and even trying to get vBox to create a hosted system using the iso fails because I don't have a "key".
>
> https://rufus.ie # USB stick maker. No, you don't just "dd" an MS ISO to a USB key :-)
> # Everything has a ceremony. The stick maker uses SYSLINUX materials to boot!
>
> You did see my sample picture, of me installing Win10 from my
> modified ISO. I didn't need a key. Just "skip" that section and "carry on".
> Windows 8 ISO would have stopped you. W10 and W11 won't stop you.
> I did that install in a VBOX VM.
>>
>> According to rumor if I were to attempt a (re) install (not a vBox) on the T480 then the installer would automatically transfer the existing "key" to any the new installation. The problem with this is that I will not potentially destroy the refurb-hosted w10 relying on hearsay, and the microcancer website is so secretive that I can't get a single straight answer out of it about anything! The license number shown in the laptop bios doesn't even resemble the format of the key required in vBox. Buying w10 is impossible, and the once available upgrade from w7 ended in 2016 or so.
>
> Sigh :-)
>
> Using Linux, do an ACPI Dump of the MSDM table. That's a license key. 25 characters.
> That's the license the machine had when the business lease-person received it.
>
> While the microcancer OS is running, use ProduKey to extract whatever key is there.
> The Key could be just about anything. Maybe I should pop over to the other machine
> and see what my key is. I will take the five letters off the end and do a Google
> search looking for "bogus placeholder keys" and see if it's one of those. For example,
> a bogus one in the past, was 3V66T. If you see such a key value, that is NOT a real key.
>
> I will test, until I find an extractor that does not set off Windows Defender. Actually,
> I'll turn off Real Time Protection and give Nir's ProduKey a try :-)
>
> https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/3569-turn-off-real-time-protection-microsoft-defender-antivirus.html
>
> https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html # Download at the bottom
>
> md C:\temp
> produkey.exe /shtml "c:\temp\pk.html" # Ran this unelevated in a terminal window
>
> # The key I got, happens to be the useless one :-)
>
> https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1180296/windows-10-pro-generic-key
>
> (Next, throw out ProduKey, empty recycle bin, turn on WD Realtime again...)
>
> That's the 3V66T "free upgrade" key.
>
> Your refurb should have a *real* key. Since it is Pro, your "winver.exe" tells you,
> then the key should NOT end in 3V66T.
>
>> So at this point it looks like option 2/3. I'll have to split the onboard ssd from withing windows and claim a large part of it for Linux, all of this becoming toast when I do a factory reset but continued images of the entire ssd should provide some protection (a backup being a backup only if it can restore the original without any other remnant of it). Don't know how such images would work if restored to a new disk because the original died, as they sometimes just do.
>>
>
> Carry on, multibooter. Your exam awaits :-)
> Come on, swing that light saber, put some willy into it.
>
> Paul

Tumbleweed would not install because the microcancer EFI partition was
too tight for a big dick. I'll be 80 in a couple of weeks but I ain't
roadkill yet, so I made me another EFI partition and a biosboot just to
be sure, I mean tomorrow I might just plug a copy of this drive into my
desktop to seen what comes loose. Linux TW is installed in parti 15 and
operational, so is w10. That's dual-boot in any dictionary, it'll be 8
systems before a week. That will be detail footwork AFTER a few guitar
sessions left suspended over the last few days because of this
whorehouse. Thanks for all the advice, as usual :-)

# fdisk -l
Disk /dev/nvme0n1: 953.87 GiB, 1024209543168 bytes, 2000409264 sectors
Disk model: SPCC M.2 PCIe SSD
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 1F5BF8E3-EF76-4A16-BF3E-78B891EAB2B3

Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/nvme0n1p1 2048 206847 204800 100M EFI System
/dev/nvme0n1p2 206848 239615 32768 16M Microsoft res
/dev/nvme0n1p3 239616 319975908 319736293 152.5G Microsoft bdata
/dev/nvme0n1p4 1999337472 2000406527 1069056 522M Windows recenv
/dev/nvme0n1p5 319977472 322074623 2097152 1G EFI System
/dev/nvme0n1p6 322074624 324171775 2097152 1G BIOS boot
/dev/nvme0n1p7 324171776 336754687 12582912 6G Linux swap
/dev/nvme0n1p8 336754688 378697727 41943040 20G Microsoft bdata
/dev/nvme0n1p9 378697728 504526847 125829120 60G Linux filesystem
/dev/nvme0n1p10 504526848 504528895 2048 1M Linux filesystem
/dev/nvme0n1p11 504528896 714244095 209715200 100G Linux filesystem
/dev/nvme0n1p12 714244096 923959295 209715200 100G Linux filesystem
/dev/nvme0n1p13 923959296 1133674495 209715200 100G Linux filesystem
/dev/nvme0n1p14 1133674496 1343389695 209715200 100G Linux filesystem
/dev/nvme0n1p15 1343389696 1553104895 209715200 100G Linux filesystem
/dev/nvme0n1p16 1553104896 1762820095 209715200 100G Linux filesystem
/dev/nvme0n1p17 1762820096 1972535295 209715200 100G Linux filesystem
Partition table entries are not in disk order.

--
"Self-dependent power can time defy, as rocks resist the billows and the
sky" ..old english

On 2/2/2024 8:09 PM, bad sector wrote:
> On 2/2/24 15:15, Paul wrote:
>> On 2/2/2024 7:38 AM, bad sector wrote:
>>> On 2/1/24 16:58, Paul wrote:
>>>> On 2/1/2024 8:58 AM, bad sector wrote:
>>>>> On 2/1/24 00:38, Paul wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>> The DVD you can download from Microsoft
>>>>>> right now, is very very close to what is installed on the SSD in the laptop.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>       https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/software-download/windows10
>>>>>
>>>>> That iso file is too big and every time I'nbve tried to DL it it failed (my connection is no screamning hell!)
>>>>
>>>> Name: Win10_22H2_English_x64v1.iso
>>>> Size: 6,140,975,104 bytes (5856 MiB)
>>>> SHA256: A6F470CA6D331EB353B815C043E327A347F594F37FF525F17764738FE812852E  <=== Linux download, fixed hash
>>>>
>>>> Name: Win10-22H2-x64-Dec2023.iso
>>>> Size: 4,893,900,800 bytes (4667 MiB)
>>>> SHA256: 4540A202FE7D8DC1034B3DE408FC005EE2549127EF15441D169140ED3CA91658  <=== Win via MediaCreationTool22H2.exe, variable hash
>>>>
>>>> The Linux method, while big, is a fixed image on the Microsoft server.
>>>> It allows using different types of downloaders if you want. Try aria2c (available for Win and Linux).
>>>>
>>>> cd ~/Downloads
>>>> mkdir workdir
>>>> cd workdir
>>>>
>>>> sudo apt install aria2
>>>>
>>>> aria2c -x5   https://www.microsoft.com/...            # -x is "Max connections per server", byterange download, should pick up
>>>>                                                         # from failed sections.
>>>>
>>>> The URL comes from using the web page of the download link above.
>>>>
>>>> Should leave a 5.7GB ISO file in workdir.
>>>>
>>>> *******
>>>>
>>>> The method here, allows shrinking the DVD a bit, as long as the DVD will only
>>>> be using the one SKU of Windows.
>>>>
>>>> <u7r69b$38g8q$1@dont-email.me>
>>>>
>>>> http://al.howardknight.net/?STYPE=msgid&MSGI=%3Cu7r69b%2438g8q%241%40dont-email.me%3E
>>>>
>>>>       <IMAGE INDEX="6">
>>>>       <EDITIONID>Professional</EDITIONID>
>>>>
>>>> 11GB of RAM, 70% CPU. Will take several minutes (similar to 7ZIP Ultra compression)
>>>> The starting material in this case, is from the Sources directory of the downloaded ISO9660 file. Renamed installorig.wim
>>>>
>>>> dism /Export-Image /SourceImageFile:D:\installorig.wim /SourceIndex:6 /DestinationImageFile:D:\install.wim /DestinationName:"W11Pro64" /compress:recovery
>>>>
>>>> Original ISO:    6,140,975,104
>>>> installorig.wim  5,181,270,654 bytes  (11 OS SKUs in the DVD)
>>>> install.wim      3,616,815,800 bytes  (A single OS SKU, Win10 22H2 Professional)
>>>>
>>>> Now that looks promising. I replaced install.wim in D:\DVD unpacked image, then this command is next.
>>>> First, we need to copy an executable that is not in the path, to the work partition.
>>>>
>>>> C:\ProgramData\Macrium\Reflect\Windows AIK\Tools\amd64\oscdimg.exe   131,984 bytes   (arrives when you make the Macrium Rescue CD)
>>>>
>>>> The command is like this. Administrator window probably best, like for the other command.
>>>> This command doesn't take nearly as long to run as the DISM compressor run.
>>>>
>>>> oscdimg.exe -m -o -u2 -udfver102 -bootdata:2#p0,e,bd:\dvd\boot\etfsboot.com#pEF,e,bd:\dvd\efi\microsoft\boot\efisys.bin d:\dvd d:\new.iso
>>>>
>>>> new.iso          4,562,388,992 bytes  (A single OS SKU, Win10 22H2 Professional)
>>>>
>>>> That means, even if either the Linux download flavor or the MediaCreationTool22H2
>>>> flavor are too large, you can shrink them down to a custom disc for Win10Pro.
>>>> I could burn that ISO now with K3B if I wanted.
>>>>
>>>>       [Picture]
>>>>
>>>>        https://i.postimg.cc/9FS6gf4J/proof-the-new-iso-works-ok.gif
>>>>
>>>>      Paul
>>>
>>> I'm working on some of this, the compression bit is neat but all that footwork is a bity over my head. Gonna be busy with many things today, starting with snow removal. I downloaded the 4.7gb iso and my laptop reset to factory is just about completely backed up (was dd-ing all night on its own to an old spinner). I made a bootable USB with dd also, will test it when I get back in the study :-)
>>>
>>> Noticed somethiong in the BIOS though that I had missed before; it's a boot device selection and has a long list of options, one of themm being a USB-HDD, just wondering.
>>
>> Legacy BIOS always used to "convert" foreign devices like USB sticks
>> or even optical drives, to be "Hard Drives" of a particular size.
>> This means the handling method is considered to be "emulation".
>>
>> A UEFI BIOS can have a very large collection of graphical icons for boot order.
>> It's such a mess, I just ignore it :-) My Sanskrit is too poor to be translating
>> that mess into meaningful action.
>>
>> I use the Popup Boot key, when I want to access a device "my way".
>>
>> On retail motherboards (Asus,MSI,...), there would be two entries in the Popup Boot key:
>>
>>      DVD Drive GH22
>>
>>      UEFI DVD Drive GH22
>>
>> If I want to install Windows 10 in UEFI mode, I boot the DVD using
>> the bottom entry. If I want to install Windows 10 in legacy MSDOS mode,
>> I select the top entry. That's enough selection for my purposes.
>>
>> The bottom one may also convince "Secure Boot" setting to configure
>> boot so "the trust is measured" during the boot cycle. A TPM can be
>> used as part of Secure Boot. At least one generation of BIOS,
>> had a page with things like the MOK in it (Linux at one time
>> wanted you to visit the BIOS page with the secure boot keys!).
>> Today, they have other means (signed shims) which may reduce
>> the rocket science required. The people handling signed shims
>> for Linux, actually fly to a particular location, for their
>> materials handling, that's how seriously signing is taken
>> (as it should be).
>>
>> There are various issues with Secure Boot. One issue, the plan of
>> record is that it will take one year to fix (the solution is
>> dribbled out in "phases"). Another security mistake made,
>> it's unclear they can fix it! And that's what I love about
>> these whizzy computer features, constantly busted. Secure
>> enclaves, where the malware gets into it, and you can't get
>> it out, being an example of "clever". That one is pinned off
>> in silicon now.
>>
>>     Paul
>
> My Crosshair-IV Formula desktop is BIOS only, the T480 laptop is either or both and its w10 partitioning shows a UEFI partition so it must be using EFI. The downloaded w10.iso file as written to USB doesn't boot either one so I can only presume that it's not a bootable image. After cycling throught BIOS options long enough for the USB stick to be recognized and listed as a possible candidate, and assigning boot to it, it will not boot. It's a moot point anyway cause I've since found out that a vBox install at least will not go past the "key" dialog without a "key". Maybe the physical installation would, if the USB booted at all that is.
>
> Meanwhile I've shrunk the large partition and liberated about 800gb which I have cut up into 7 100GB partitions for my preferred Linux distros leaving about 90gb for a fat or ntfs sharable data partition. Next will be copying one of my linux partitions, editing fstab as required, booting it with SuperGrub and getting its software manager to deploy proper grub boot code to the disk root whatever it's called in the case of no BIOS Legacy MBR. Once that (probabaly Suse-Tumbleweed) point-OS in aboard I'll get the other six, format the shared data partition to something making another backup image of the entire disk.
>
> Plan-N :-)

Rufus can make a bootable USB stick for you.

Maybe the license key response was because the VM network connection was off ?
I'm still not able to reproduce. See picture at the bottom of post, for the thing to click.