Official MediCat USB - A Multiboot Linux USB for PC Repair

[Jayro]

Hi Jayro and thank you for the job !

You mean MBR?

I went forward and set GPT as the default now, as more and more computers are going UEFI only. But if MBR works better for you, by all means, use what works.

 

[Deleted User]

I don't know exactly what to use this for, but I assume that this will help me with troublesome Windows installations.
Knock on wood that never happens, but with this size being as small as it is for 2021, it's easy enough for me to download and take a look at.

I already use PortableApps on my Windows 7 Laptops, so this should be familiar in that regard.

That said, if I could suggest anything it would be to put down Examples of when this USB Solution would be needed.
I understand it's obvious to those in the know, but it will help those that aren't in the IT Business, including myself.

 

[Jayro]

I don't know exactly what to use this for, but I assume that this will help me with troublesome Windows installations.
Knock on wood that never happens, but with this size being as small as it is for 2021, it's easy enough for me to download and take a look at.

I already use PortableApps on my Windows 7 Laptops, so this should be familiar in that regard.

That said, if I could suggest anything it would be to put down Examples of when this USB Solution would be needed.
I understand it's obvious to those in the know, but it will help those that aren't in the IT Business, including myself.

It aims to be the most complete PC repair toolkit in the world, because the ones in the past (Hiren's boot disk) have really dropped the ball lately, or get locked behind a donation paywall (Gandalf's Win10PESE). It's a bootable toolkit that lets you prettymuch fix any kind of computer problem. Anything from virus scans, to ransomware removal, partitioning tools, making and restoring backups, etc. It's an ambitious project, and support really has grown in the last 9 years.

 

[auqs10]

Yeah, sorry about that, I didn't warn anyone about the change to GPT. But it's going to stay GPT going forward. Less and less computers are supporting MBR booting now, so it just seemed right to move forward.

hi Jayro, as I promised here are some details about the progress in getting working an external 120GB SSD that is placed inside a USB3 rack, with your latest Medicat v21.05 copied on MBR partition (that is the only way your other project Medicat VHD is working as instructed). From within the BIOS menu almost everything I placed on the drive, mostly ISO's, are working flawlessly, but none of them from within UEFI menu (menus are starting with no problems, show the packages but after launching appears a black screen with the freezing gray black cursor and no other further activity). The former versions 21.01 and 21.03 have worked with no problems. Would it be due to the GPT switch from MBR? Even your latest Mini Windows 10 iso is not launching under UEFI menu.
I will provide a full list of the tools and other bootable utilities, including some free linux live or full distro's, few of them very useful for diagnostics, repair and recovery.
All the tests that I performed were on a MacBook Pro 15 (early 2013) yet, but I will also do those tests on a ThinkPad X201t that I own.
Thank you for this best ever package of available tools brought together on a single bootable device.

 

[neofita]

Ventoy v1.0.46 has been released
https://github.com/ventoy/Ventoy/releases/

 

[madbomb122]

for people that are interested, i combined the 2 theme folders so it takes a little less space (yeah i know it's ~1mb).. but its easier to manage if you want to add icons or change something.

Here is how you can do it...

1. Change the file names of the files (listed bellow) in both folders in '\ventoy\theme\' (I added a L for Legacy, and U for Uefi to the file names)
select_c.png
slider_c.png
slider_n.png
slider_s.png
background.png
theme.txt

2. Edit "theme.txt" (both) and change the following lines to match the new filename
desktop-image: "background.png"
selected_item_pixmap_style = "select_*.png"
scrollbar_thumb = "slider_*.png"

3. Combine both folders, if done properly the only overlapping files should be the same images

4. And finally edit the following lines in '\ventoy\ventoy.json' and point to both newly names/moved "theme.txt" files (the lines with the theme.txt)
"theme_legacy": {
"file": "/ventoy/theme/legacy/theme.txt",

"theme_uefi": {
"file": "/ventoy/theme/uefi/theme.txt"

 

[Mister158]

Thank's for your hard work, but I don't know how to copy medicat on my USB key because when I expand your files I don't get an ISO.

do I have to copy all the file on the key ? If so, it will not boot the miniwindows ?

 

[MarioMasta64]

Thank's for your hard work, but I don't know how to copy medicat on my USB key because when I expand your files I don't get an ISO.

do I have to copy all the file on the key ? If so, it will not boot the miniwindows ?

the files from both the torrent and the mega link (as well as the other hosts) contain an instruction guide in a folder called "INSTRUCTIONS"

 

[MarioMasta64]

all the launchers have now been updated so when you mass-write quicklaunchers from the main launcher it will no longer require you to press enter (update both the main launcher and all other launchers to use this)

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

much nicer

 

[tgp1994]

Hey Jayro, love MediCat. We're having a problem with it though. I don't think the problem is necessarily a problem with MediCat specifically, but perhaps you know the fix. We're trying to boot in to HDAT2 and are not having any luck getting it to boot. We've tried both 7.1 (included) and put in a 7.0 version, and they just come up saying "No boot device". Any idea what's going on?

I just started using MediCat, and I also needed HDAT2. The one included with MediCat also did not work for me, no matter what I tried (booting BIOS, Memdisk mode). There are two versions of HDAT2 released, one is a full CD and the other is a Lite version (sorry, I'm not allowed to link to it). I had to delete the full version from MediCat, then copy over the Lite ISO, load with Memdisk and USB support, and it's working fine now. OP may want to consider replacing it or offering this as an alternative. Thank you for making this pack! (I never would've thought to look on GBATemp of all places, lol).

 

[Jayro]

MediCat v21.06 has just been released!
​

In short, I've completely rebuilt Jayro's Lockpick, Malwarebytes Bootable, and Mini Windows 10 from the ground up. They support better trackpad and Wi-Fi adapters, native resolutions, they're more responsive, and based on Windows 10 v2004 (The highest version WinBuilder officially supports right now).
This was a huge collaborative effort between @AAA3A and I, as well as MON5TERMATT#9999 and ijahangard#8048 helping with some smaller things. Have a read at the changelog for all the sweet QoL changes.

Here's the magnet link:

magnet:?xt=urn:btih:7353D034CC7354D81F9B2DC4586921943855B498

 

[Chansm]

MediCat v21.06 has just been released!
​

View attachment 268517

View attachment 268518 View attachment 268519 View attachment 268521 View attachment 268520 View attachment 268522

In short, I've completely rebuilt Jayro's Lockpick, Malwarebytes Bootable, and Mini Windows 10 from the ground up. They support better trackpad and Wi-Fi adapters, native resolutions, they're more responsive, and based on Windows 10 v2004 (The highest version WinBuilder officially supports right now).
This was a huge collaborative effort between @AAA3A and I, as well as MON5TERMATT#9999 and ijahangard#8048 helping with some smaller things. Have a read at the changelog for all the sweet QoL changes.

Here's the magnet link:

magnet:?xt=urn:btih:7353D034CC7354D81F9B2DC4586921943855B498

Under Win10, The DeaseUS Partition Master 12 seem not working.
I get error message "Disk device not detected ....."

 

[Jayro]

Under Win10, The DeaseUS Partition Master 12 seem not working.
I get error message "Disk device not tected ....."

Thanks for the feedback, I'll add that to my notes for the next release.

 

[Jayro]

The file hosts are ready on page 1.

 

[jadog]

What is the best way to update from an older version such as 21.03?

 

[Jayro]

What is the best way to update from an older version such as 21.03?

Just to format and start fresh, honestly.

 

[Deleted member 373223]

Is there any way to "personalise" one's install and remove images to save space? When I tried, they still showed up in the boot menu

 

[Jayro]

Is there any way to "personalise" one's install and remove images to save space? When I tried, they still showed up in the boot menu

If you open the ventoy folder, you can edit ventoy.json with a JSON editor or Notepad++, and remove any entries you don't want. Then delete the ISOs you don't want, and they'll be gone.

 

[monkeypwned]

Hello I have a small problem. I often use the medicat USB for installing windows, but during the reboot process during installation, it boots to medicat rather than continuing the windows installation. How can I prevent this?

 

[jadog]

Just to format and start fresh, honestly.

That wouldn't normally be an issue but I customized the Portable Apps menu enough that it would take a while to redo all those changes. I guess I'll just plan on completing this process a few times per year.