topic Norton Recovery Tool: How to correctly write iso to usb (Linux/Windows) in Norton Internet Security / Norton AntiVirus

Norton Recovery Tool: How to correctly write iso to usb (Linux/Windows)

szczypmen — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 21:15:22 GMT

I wanted to write this Norton Bootable Recovery Tool's .iso to usb stick. On Windows i've opened .iso image with Daemon Tools Lite and copied files from iso to usb. Made the boot and nothing happened.

On Linux, copied .iso image to usb stick with dd if= of= parametres and also made boot - got the error: "Missing operating system" and nothing else.

I don't have none CD's, because i'm using only pendrives (which are more cost-effective and comfortable than traditional CD's) and want to use Norton Recovery Tool from usb flash.

If anyone knows how could i propely write this iso on pendrive, and boot it up without any errors? In the era of pendrive's popularity and ubiquitous availability, such option should be available. Maybe Symantec could write application that does it (write Recovery Tool on usb flash)?

Re: Norton Recovery Tool: How to correctly write iso to usb (Linux/Windows)

huwyngr — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:03:38 GMT

szczypmen wrote:
I wanted to write this Norton Bootable Recovery Tool's .iso to usb stick. On Windows i've opened .iso image with Daemon Tools Lite and copied files from iso to usb. Made the boot and nothing happened.
On Linux, copied .iso image to usb stick with dd if= of= parametres and also made boot - got the error: "Missing operating system" and nothing else.

[ ... ]

I tried this a while ago using the basic route I followed to put the WIndows 7 Enterprise Free Trail 64 bit version a thumbdrive -- I had a spare 8GB one so I used that but I think it will fit on a 4GB one -- and found it quite easy following instructions published on the Internet in a number of places.

I think the secret may be the preparation of the thumbdrive before copying files.

Unfortunately although I had no problems with WIndows 7 and successfully installed it on my computer for testing I did not succeed the first time with the Norton Bootable Recovery Tool and I have not had a chance to try again.

Here's a link to about the simplest explanation of how to prepare the thumbdrive complete with a video!

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/dd535816.aspx

and I used isobuster to extract the files from the ISO and put them on the drive since that is what I have and like using.

But note that that simple procedure did not work with the NBRT possibly because it did not have the necessary bootsector code when extracting from an ISO that is not Windows itself.

There is much more about making bootable thumbdrives at www.bootdisk.com/pendrive.htm from which I followed up a reference at http://kmwoley.com/blog/?p=345

Here's perhaps the missing bit:

Step 2: Make the Drive Bootable
Next we’ll use the bootsect utility that comes on the Vista or Windows 7 disk to make the flash drive bootable. In the same command window that you were using in Step 1:

Insert your Windows Vista / 7 DVD into your drive.
Change directory to the DVD’s boot directory where bootsect lives:
d:
cd d:\boot
Use bootsect to set the USB as a bootable NTFS drive prepared for a Vista/7 image. I’m assuming that your USB flash drive has been labeled disk G:\ by the computer:
bootsect /nt60 g:
You can now close the command prompt window, we’re done here.

Hopefully someone here knows if there is a Norton Document on doing this since they have netbook veresions of the security programs that come on thumbdrives -- I wonder if they include the NBRT?

Re: Norton Recovery Tool: How to correctly write iso to usb (Linux/Windows)

dbrisendine — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:01:43 GMT

The latest version of WinZIP (v14) will also extract files from an iso image. Just FYI....

Re: Norton Recovery Tool: How to correctly write iso to usb (Linux/Windows)

huwyngr — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:07:08 GMT

Thanks dbrisendine -- I'm still using WINZIP 9 SR1 ..... although under WIN 7 I'm using 7-zip especially for opening archives.

Re: Norton Recovery Tool: How to correctly write iso to usb (Linux/Windows)

PieterV — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 01:02:57 GMT

See: A "How-To" on Manually Updating the Norton Recovery Tool:

http://community.norton.com/t5/Norton-Protection-Blog/A-quot-How-To-quot-on-Manually-Updating-the-Norton-Recovery-Tool/ba-p/34749/message-uid/34749

http://community.norton.com/norton/attachments/norton/uploads/42/2/MakeNewNRD.pdf

The section "Run the NRD from a USB key" on page 12 discusses booting from USB instead of ISO.

Regards

Pieter

Re: Norton Recovery Tool: How to correctly write iso to usb (Linux/Windows)

huwyngr — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 01:16:52 GMT

Many thanks, Pieter --

I never realized you had written how to make the bootable USB thumbdrive. I had not tried the updating since I had hoped not to have to use it!

Just a suggestion -- the document has no ID code and no date on it although you can get a creation date by looking at the pdf properties. I do think both are important to include in all documents.

Re: Norton Recovery Tool: How to correctly write iso to usb (Linux/Windows)

szczypmen — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 12:38:23 GMT

Tried both ways:

First way --> Operation done on Win XP Prof SP3: made bootsector with BOOTSECT.EXE from Windows 7 Ultimate RC1 DVD on thumbdrive formatted to FAT32, then copied NBRT.iso content onto thumb. While booting, get the error: "Missing BOOTMGR" o0

Second way --> Operation done on Win 7 Ultimate RC1: formatted thumb with DISKPART.EXE (using Pieter's tutorial ) on Windows 7 Ultimate RC1 and then copied Norton Boot Recovery Tool content to thumb using ROBOCOPY.EXE - got nothing, thumb drive wasn't even seen by BIOS.

Not mentioning that copying NBRT.iso to thumb on Linux Ubuntu, using dd if= of= command, during boot i get error: "Missing operating system". So, at this point still don't know how to boot this stuff.

Thanks.

Re: Norton Recovery Tool: How to correctly write iso to usb (Linux/Windows)

PieterV — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 15:42:02 GMT

szczypmen wrote:

Second way --> Operation done on Win 7 Ultimate RC1: formatted thumb with DISKPART.EXE (using Pieter's tutorial ) on Windows 7 Ultimate RC1 and then copied Norton Boot Recovery Tool content to thumb using ROBOCOPY.EXE - got nothing, thumb drive wasn't even seen by BIOS.

If the USB drive is not seen by the BIOS it may be a hardware problem, are you sure your hardware supports booting from USB keys?

I have seen (older) machines that do not support booting from USB keys, and I have seen machines that do not detect certain models of USB keys, and I have seen machines that fail to boot certain models of USB keys, but work fine with other models.

A simple test to rule out a problem with NBRT is to copy the contents of your Vista/Win7 install DVD to the USB key, using the same diskpart/robocopy technique as described in the guide, or several online resources, and boot your Vista/Win7 install from the USB key.

If you can't boot the Vista/Win7 install, you won't be able to boot NBRT.

Pieter

Re: Norton Recovery Tool: How to correctly write iso to usb (Linux/Windows)

huwyngr — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 16:45:41 GMT

szczypmen

The article Pieter linked us to contains the missing link that I encountered when I tried previously -- the need to transfer the WinPE OS to the drive.

Re your finding that your PC will not see the USB stick -- depending on your BIOS this my need a setting in the BIOS SETUP changed and you you get in there depends on the PC/BIOS system used. Do you know this?

Is your PC a commercially built one or a custom or self built one? If Commercial could you give the make and exact model designation so I can do some searching.

My PC is self built and uses an ASUS mother board with an Award BIOS. Depending on your make you may or may not see what I see but it may help by indicating what to watch for.

Most commercial PCs and even custom built ones start up with a "flash screen" which "advertises" the PC make and then goes to the start up of Windows.

Do you see any statements on that flash screen like " DEL for BIOS Setup" or even "Press F8 for BBS start up" That weird BBS had me stumped until I found out be accident that it invokes a drive startup menu from which you can select which drive you want to start up from and in my case the bootable thumbdrive is identified as a Sans Disk Cruzer so selecting that will force the computer to try to boot from it.

In setting up my computer I go into BIOS Setup by pressing DEL when told and make two changed: I find and turn off that advertising screen -- may be referred to as "flash screen" -- and I select a "Verbose" setting in the Bootup sequence. This Verbose means it tells you a lot about what is going on while booting up so if you are techie minded you may like to have that.

If you go into BIOS setup you should fine a section concerning Boot up and in a section for setting the boot drive sequence at startup. If you look in that when you have booted up with the USB stick plugged into the computer then if your computer accepts to boot from USB you can move that up to first place and exit saving changes. As the computer starts up again it should try to boot from the USB stick.

I hope that is not all stuff you know already!

If there is still a problem please answer the questions about the computer make and model and what you see during start up.

There may be some other settings in BIOS to check up depending on the make of BIOS and how the PC maker configured it -- one that is under Advanced on my Award BIOS is Enable Legacy USB setting which may be needed to see USB devices before WIndows is loaded -- mine is enabled and so it lists the keyboard, mouse, USB drive (in this case a memory stick that happened to be plugged in when I started up the PC -- actually it has Windows 7 Enterprise on it and I used it to install that version on my testbed)

Re: Norton Recovery Tool: How to correctly write iso to usb (Linux/Windows)

szczypmen — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 16:46:02 GMT

Nah, my BIOS can see my usb flash. Many times later i was able to make bootable linux live cd's like Slax, Debian netinstall or Ubuntu. Also, if BIOS couldn't boot from thumb drive, i wouldn't have seen such error, like "Missing operating system" or "Missing BOOTMBR". So i think it's the Norton Rescue Disk's mbr fault. Both NBRT or Norton Recovery Toolkit (NRD) didn't want to boot from USB flash.

Re: Norton Recovery Tool: How to correctly write iso to usb (Linux/Windows)

szczypmen — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 16:50:47 GMT

huwyngr wrote:
szczypmen

The article Pieter linked us to contains the missing link that I encountered when I tried previously -- the need to transfer the WinPE OS to the drive.

The WinPE OS - haven't tried yet this. So i must first copy WinPE OS into thumb and then NBRT iso, right?

Re: Norton Recovery Tool: How to correctly write iso to usb (Linux/Windows)

huwyngr — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 16:53:51 GMT

szczypmen

I'm sorry but I was answering based on your earlier statement:

<< got nothing, thumb drive wasn't even seen by BIOS. >>

Re: Norton Recovery Tool: How to correctly write iso to usb (Linux/Windows)

huwyngr — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 17:03:01 GMT

szczypmen wrote:

The WinPE OS - haven't tried yet this. So i must first copy WinPE OS into thumb and then NBRT iso, right?

I am not certain but that is what I read into the document that Pieter linked to -- if you have not I suggest you print it out (it's 12 pages but I can print double sided) and follow what it says. It treats VISTA as the latest version of Windows I think but I imagine it applies to WIN 7 also.

I just checked on my WIN 7 64 bit by typing robocopy into the search/help box at START and it is there.

Perhaps wait until Pieter gives us some more advice? Certainly the exact sequence in which one carries out the operations is important.

Re: Norton Recovery Tool: How to correctly write iso to usb (Linux/Windows)

PieterV — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 17:51:48 GMT

szczypmen wrote:

huwyngr wrote:

szczypmen

The article Pieter linked us to contains the missing link that I encountered when I tried previously -- the need to transfer the WinPE OS to the drive.

The WinPE OS - haven't tried yet this. So i must first copy WinPE OS into thumb and then NBRT iso, right?

You should follow hte instructions in the doc, do not manually try to copy a bootsector.

You do not need to first copy WinPE, NBRT is a custom WinPE plus Norton software.

By following the DISKPART instructions Windows is correctly preparing the drive for booting.

All you need to do is copy the contents of the ISO to the drive using robocopy.

And just to double check, copy the contents of the ISO, not the ISO.

Did you try to boot your Vista/Win7 install (also a custom WinPE environment)?

If my instructions are not clear, search the internet for "install windows from usb".

If this does not work, NBRT will not work.

Pieter

Re: Norton Recovery Tool: How to correctly write iso to usb (Linux/Windows)

cgoldman — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 18:09:50 GMT

PieterV wrote:
You should follow hte instructions in the doc, do not manually try to copy a bootsector.
You do not need to first copy WinPE, NBRT is a custom WinPE plus Norton software.
By following the DISKPART instructions Windows is correctly preparing the drive for booting.
All you need to do is copy the contents of the ISO to the drive using robocopy.
And just to double check, copy the contents of the ISO, not the ISO.
.

Pieter

I hope you do not mind even more questions but I have been following this thread and would very much like to create a usb recovery key. My system is XP SP3. I am using SanDisk 4gb and 8gb Cruzer micro.

Apologies for my confusion, but if I understand the above, the first thing I need to do is use diskpart.

I tried but it only shows my two NTFS drives 0 and 1 and does not list the cruzer. Yet when I run "list volume" is lists as volume 7 the Cruzer FAt32 and 7656MB.

Am I doing something wrong or have I missed a step?

Thank you

Re: Norton Recovery Tool: How to correctly write iso to usb (Linux/Windows)

PieterV — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 18:31:33 GMT

cgoldman wrote:

I tried but it only shows my two NTFS drives 0 and 1 and does not list the cruzer. Yet when I run "list volume" is lists as volume 7 the Cruzer FAt32 and 7656MB.

If diskpart shows the volume, then there needs to be a disk to back that volume.

Maybe doublecheck the results for "list disk"?

Pieter

Re: Norton Recovery Tool: How to correctly write iso to usb (Linux/Windows)

szczypmen — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 17:58:18 GMT

PieterV wrote:
See: A "How-To" on Manually Updating the Norton Recovery Tool:
http://community.norton.com/t5/Norton-Protection-Blog/A-quot-How-To-quot-on-Manually-Updating-the-Norton-Recovery-Tool/ba-p/34749/message-uid/34749
http://community.norton.com/norton/attachments/norton/uploads/42/2/MakeNewNRD.pdf

The section "Run the NRD from a USB key" on page 12 discusses booting from USB instead of ISO.

Regards
Pieter

I tried one more time with this tutorial and finally i've succeeded. Norton Boot Recovery Tool have started.

While playing with DISKPART.EXE, i've formatted thumb to NTFS instead of FAT32. Then robocopied the directory received after unzipping this iso image, like it is in the doc. Already made full scan with NBRT and everything seems fine.

Too bad You haven't made point about preparing thumb drive under Windows XP and Linux. It would be nice :)

Anyway, thanks.

Re: Norton Recovery Tool: How to correctly write iso to usb (Linux/Windows)

cgoldman — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 18:18:01 GMT

PieterV wrote:

If diskpart shows the volume, then there needs to be a disk to back that volume.
Maybe doublecheck the results for "list disk"?

well thats the problem

Re: Norton Recovery Tool: How to correctly write iso to usb (Linux/Windows)

PieterV — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 18:43:10 GMT

Hmm, don't know, this is what I get when I have a 8GB Cruzer plugged in:

DISKPART> list disk

  Disk ###  Status         Size     Free     Dyn  Gpt
  --------  -------------  -------  -------  ---  ---
  Disk 0    Online          238 GB      0 B
  Disk 1    Online          931 GB      0 B
  Disk 2    Online         7663 MB      0 B

After searching the web I did find some articles saying that diskpart on XP does not list removable drives.

See: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/300415

"The removable drives are not displayed.

Are using Windows Vista/Win7 or XP, my instructions were written for Vista?

Pieter

Re: Norton Recovery Tool: How to correctly write iso to usb (Linux/Windows)

cgoldman — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 19:40:45 GMT

PieterV wrote:

Are using Windows Vista/Win7 or XP, my instructions were written for Vista?

Pieter

XP. I wonder if you cruzer is FAT32 and has NOT had diskpart already applied.