Creating Acronis Bootable Media on a USB Flash Drive Using SYSLINUX

These instructions apply to:

• Windows XP
• Windows 2000
• Windows 2000 Server
• Windows Server 2003
• Windows Vista
• Windows Server 2008

(!) For Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 see Creating Acronis Bootable Media on a USB Flash Drive, which has simpler instructions.

Visit the following web pages to learn more about SYSLINUX:

• http://syslinux.zytor.com/wiki/index.php/The_Syslinux_Project
• http://syslinux.zytor.com/wiki/index.php/SYSLINUX

Prepare your USB flash drive

• USB Flash Drive/Card must be formatted as FAT32 and not NTFS or any other file system;
• USB Flash Drive/Card must be listed as a Device with Removable Storage under My Computer in Windows.

For example:

Create Acronis Bootable Media on USB flash drive

1. Download the latest version of the SYSLINUX package (e.g. syslinux-3.72.zip) from http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/boot/syslinux/

2. Extract the syslinux.exe file located in the Win32 folder in the downloaded ZIP archive;

3. Go to Start -> Run, type cmd and press Enter;

4. At the Windows Command Line prompt run the following command in the folder where the syslinux.exe file was placed:

   syslinux.exe -ma [drive letter]

   where [drive letter] is the drive letter of the FAT32-formatted USB Flash Drive/Card you wish to place Acronis Bootable Rescue Media to.

   For example:

   syslinux.exe -ma G:

   

   The above command will place the SYSLINUX boot loader onto the USB Flash Drive/Card to make it bootable.

5. Copy the kernel.dat and ramdisk.dat files from one of the following folders (depending on what version of Acronis True Image you have installed) into the root directory of the USB Flash Drive/Card:
   • \Program Files\Common Files\Acronis\TrueImageEchoEnterpriseServer
   • \Program Files\Common Files\Acronis\TrueImageEchoWorkstation
   • \Program Files\Common Files\Acronis\TrueImageEchoServer
   • \Program Files\Common Files\Acronis\TrueImageHome\
   • \Program Files\Common Files\Acronis\BackupAndRecoveryAgent\

   (!) In Acronis True Image Home 2009/2010 the files are kernel.dat and ramdisk_merged.dat

   (!) In Acronis Backup & Recovery 10 the files are kernel.dat and agent_ramdisk.dat

   (!) If you wish to create a bootable USB Flash Drive/Card with Acronis Bootable Agent, then you should use the agent_ramdisk.dat file located in the \Program Files\Common Files\Acronis\TrueImage folder instead of the regular ramdisk.dat file.

6. Make sure that the Hide extensions for known file types option is unchecked in Tools -> Folder options. Use Notepad or any other text editor to create a file named SYSLINUX.CFG (note the extension) with the following contents:

   timeout 100
   default ati
   label ati
   kernel kernel.dat
   append initrd=ramdisk.dat vga=0x314 ramdisk_size=40000 quiet

   For example:

   

7. Place the newly created SYSLINUX.CFG file into the root directory of the USB Flash Drive/Card prepared with syslinux.exe.

   For example:

   

8. Test your USB Flash Drive/Card for bootability.