Official MediCat USB - A Multiboot Linux USB for PC Repair

[RandomUser]

EDIT: Idea! H2testw is already included in the "Programs" folder in MediCat, so for a "full-fat installation process", why not have the user run that on their destination drive before actually installing MediCat onto their drive? The idea is that the users having MediCat seemingly "kill their drives" are semi-likely to be the type to either blindly follow instructions and H2testw will catch the issue first, or they're the type that don't fully read and follow instructions at which point you can say "did you follow the instructions where it says to run H2testw first?" or the like.

FakeFlashTest is much faster, but is destructive. Probably why false positives happens on some AV. But to think on this now, will probably create more users complaint of killing the drive. Yeah, better to stay with H2testw idea. Perhaps another tool that could be added to MediCat if it isn't already.

 

[MON5TERMATT]

I recently added a few docs to the website to kinda distance myself from these failed drives.

https://medicatusb.com/docs/medicat/legal/dataloss/
https://medicatusb.com/docs/medicat/hardware/fakedrive/

Eventually I need to restructure the docs again to better sort them.

 

[Nintendo Maniac]

This might be too "advanced" of a suggestion, but under "Capacity Testing" there's always the manual way of just making SHA checksums of a bunch of files, copying said files onto the flash drive and then, after unplugging and reconnecting the flash drive, reading back the checksums (this is what I did for a bit before I realized that h2testw actually works under wine)

Also I'd actually add "Inland" to the reputable brands since they're the Microcenter brand, and buying things in-store from a place like there is one of the best ways to guarantee a genuine product (see also: they're one of the best ways to get a GPU in stock for close to MSRP).

Technically I would have also considered something like Toshiba or Kioxia, but I don't think Toshiba-branded flash memory is a thing anymore (last one I saw was the 2GB SD card that came with the original Nintendo 3DS), and I think Kioxia only tends to deal with server & workstation-grade stuff anyway?

EDIT: OH I did just realize you specifically titled the heading "Trusted USB brands", so I guess that rules out more SSD-focused brands like Micron/Crucial? Also that is one way to possibly "cheat" - use USB adapters combined with an actual internal SSD (which has actually become my preference nowadays since I can connect the disk via e/SATA and such too, not to mention a much better guarantee of quality).

 

[MON5TERMATT]

This might be too "advanced" of a suggestion, but under "Capacity Testing" there's always the manual way of just making SHA checksums of a bunch of files, copying said files onto the flash drive and then, after unplugging and reconnecting the flash drive, reading back the checksums (this is what I did for a bit before I realized that h2testw actually works under wine)

The installer uses QuickSFV to do this on completed drives.

Also I'd actually add "Inland" to the reputable brands since they're the Microcenter brand, and buying things in-store from a place like there is one of the best ways to guarantee a genuine product (see also: they're one of the best ways to get a GPU in stock for close to MSRP).

Inland is great, but has a tendency to use cheap controllers that throttle pretty quickly.

EDIT: OH I did just realize you specifically titled the heading "Trusted USB brands", so I guess that rules out more SSD-focused brands like Micron/Crucial? Also that is one way to possibly "cheat" - use USB adapters combined with an actual internal SSD (which has actually become my preference nowadays since I can connect the disk via e/SATA and such too, not to mention a much better guarantee of quality).

Not really. I had a LLM write up a draft and thought it did pretty decent. I can easily go back and write something up about SSD's

 

[Nintendo Maniac]

Inland is great, but has a tendency to use cheap controllers that throttle pretty quickly.

Oh right, I was thinking more from the angle of reliability rather than performance, which is rich considering that even 2 of the 3 Inland SSDs I have seem to be DRAM-less! (disclaimer: I did not buy either of the 2 DRAMless SSDs)

 

[SylverReZ]

Warning to everyone using iVentoy! The iVentoy tool has unsafe kernel drivers that are considered to be malicious. https://github.com/ventoy/PXE/issues/106

EDIT: The Ventoy program is separate from iVentoy, so you're perfectly safe using it normally.

 

[llmc13]

Bonjour

Vous pouvez mettre le lien de téléchargement pour medicat.16.10.stable.iso l'ancien ne fonctionne plus

Merci

 

[llmc13]

Hello

You can put the download link to medicat.16.10.stable.iso the old one doesn't work anymore

Thank you

 

[Coldblackice]

Question -- On "Mini Windows 10", how can I make its system X:\ drive ("Boot", where "Windows/Users/ProgFiles" dirs are) larger than its 1 GB size?

I assume there's a "Mini Windows 10" config file somewhere that sets this size but I can't find it.

Anyone know where that config/setting is, and/or how I can make MiniWin10's X:\ drive larger than default 1GB?

Windows Computer/Disk Management tools can do this, nor can partition software, given it's a virtual/RAM disk.

At the base of the X:\ drive is a "reflect.cfg" file, however it's a non-text/binary data file. Wondering if this is a "Macrium Reflect" file, used to create this X:\ drive, and if so, how I can edit it to enlargen X:\.

The limited size of X:\ prevents a number of tools from working, nor allowing drivers to be installed (temporarily) on this live Windows distro.

 

[raxadian]

Will do you something with Windows 11 gamer mode?

 

[Jayro]

Question -- On "Mini Windows 10", how can I make its system X:\ drive ("Boot", where "Windows/Users/ProgFiles" dirs are) larger than its 1 GB size?

I assume there's a "Mini Windows 10" config file somewhere that sets this size but I can't find it.

Anyone know where that config/setting is, and/or how I can make MiniWin10's X:\ drive larger than default 1GB?

Windows Computer/Disk Management tools can do this, nor can partition software, given it's a virtual/RAM disk.

At the base of the X:\ drive is a "reflect.cfg" file, however it's a non-text/binary data file. Wondering if this is a "Macrium Reflect" file, used to create this X:\ drive, and if so, how I can edit it to enlargen X:\.

The limited size of X:\ prevents a number of tools from working, nor allowing drivers to be installed (temporarily) on this live Windows distro.

The "Programs" folder on the root of the USB drive exists to be used as Program Files. You can install whatever you want in there, and it can hold as much as your USB or SSD can. Just know that any registry changes and things installed to X:\* won't stay after a reboot. Portable applications are preferred in this regard.

 

[raxadian]

A shame portable steam is not a thing then.

 

[Nintendo Maniac]

A same portable steam is not a thing then.

If you desperately want to run Steam from a USB drive, consider looking into Linux instead - you can have the OS itself be installed onto USB media.

 

[raxadian]

Linux

Sadly a lot of stuff just doesn't run on wine/proton. I already have steam on Linux.

 

[Wolvenreign]

Sadly a lot of stuff just doesn't run on wine/proton. I already have steam on Linux.

Such as? Lemme see if I can help you.

 

[raxadian]

Such as? Lemme see if I can help you.

Eh, the list is way too long but Sonic CD 2011 that's currently delisted does not work for me on proton and I ever followed a guide!

 

[Nintendo Maniac]

Eh, the list is way too long but Sonic CD 2011 that's currently delisted does not work for me on proton and I ever followed a guide!

While unconventional, you could always emulate the PS3 version since console emulation has been a first-class citizen on Linux for many years now. I can't imagine that the likes of Sonic CD would be anywhere near as demanding to emulate as the likes of Uncharted 3.

 

[raxadian]

Sonic CD

Is Sonic CD 2011, not the Sega CD game.

There is a Vita port but it has some problems.

 

[Nintendo Maniac]

More on-topic... is it just me or does MediCat (v21.12) always have a BSoD that says "KMODE Exception not handled" after exactly 3 hours and 6 minutes of uptime? I've had this happen on at least two different PCs, though they admittedly used rather similar hardware...

Is Sonic CD 2011, not the Sega CD game.

So this article is incorrect about there being a PS3 version via PSN?
https://info.sonicretro.org/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_CD_(2011)

 

[Jayro]

More on-topic... is it just me or does MediCat (v21.12) always have a BSoD that says "KMODE Exception not handled" after exactly 3 hours and 6 minutes of uptime? I've had this happen on at least two different PCs, though they admittedly used rather similar hardware...


So this article is incorrect about there being a PS3 version via PSN?
https://info.sonicretro.org/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_CD_(2011)

The MediCat VHD will probably yield better results for staying booted.