2.11.2010

truecrypt rescue disk on usb

http://forums.truecrypt.org/viewtopic.php?t=18882&postdays=0&postorder=asc

and to skip iso check use the /noisocheck or /n  switches on truecrypt or mount the ISO using a virtual cd driver


contents of first link:
Here is how:

1. Format your USB stick from Windows: FAT, Quick, Default Allocation Size.

2. Download Grub4DOS from: http://download.gna.org/grub4dos/
Choose latest version. Here is the one I got: http://download.gna.org/grub4dos/grub4dos-0.4.4-2009-06-20.zip

3. Download Grub Installer from: http://download.gna.org/grubutil/
Choose latest version. Here is the one I got: http://download.gna.org/grubutil/grubinst-1.1-bin-w32-2008-01-01.zip

4. Extract them on your hard disk. Run: grubinst_gui.exe

5. Click DISK. Choose your USB stick. Go 2 boxes down and click REFRESH. On the PART list, choose "WHOLE DISK (MBR)". Make sure everything else is unchecked below.

If it says something about --skip-mbr-test, type: "--skip-mbr-test" without quotes in EXTRA box.

Click INSTALL. DOS box should pop up and tell you it transfered MBR.

6. Copy: file "grldr" from your extracted files to your USB stick.

7. Create a text file in the root of your USB stick and name it: menu.lst

Put inside:

title TRUECRYPT RESCUE DISK
find --set-root /tc.iso
map --mem /tc.iso (hd32)
map (hd0) (hd1)
map (hd1) (hd0)
map --hook
root (hd32)
chainloader (hd32)

And save the file.

8. Copy TrueCrypt Rescue Disk (the iso you created during system encryption) to root of USB and rename it to: tc.iso

If you don't have the iso, go to TrueCrypt program: SYSTEM > CREATE RESCUE DISK... Follow hte prompts and copy that file to USB and rename it to tc.iso

That is all.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

ok, I'm trying as you described, but nothing happens. After reboot I just see command line "grub>" and that's all. Please, write, what's next?

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this, really helped me out. I ended up using Universal USB installer with an iso of Ultimate Boot CD to create the bootable flash drive as this takes care of installing grub4dos and I'd been having having problems with grubinst. I could then use steps 7 and eight to let me start the rescue cd iso.

Anonymous said...

Thanks ! You saved my day ! Works like a charm on my eeePC notebook :)

Anonymous said...

Thank you. That was awesome!!

I stupidly loaded a Windows installer without first cloning my physical drive.

The bootloader vanished in due course.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, you are a LEGEND, restored my truecrypt boot loader! :)

Anonymous said...

Under Windows 7 SP1, I was not able to see any disks until i ran grubinst_gui.exe as administrator. Hope this might help future visitors from utter frustration.

Anonymous said...

You are amazing mann... u rule!

Anonymous said...

Thanks! Worked like a charm. Other guides for TC rescue disk on usb fail to map the drives properly (or maybe the failure is just with respect to modern computers and how they treat usb flash drives).

Anonymous said...

To the guy who posted that he just got a grub> prompt, be sure you name the file menu.lst, not menu.lst.txt (click file properties to see, and go to organize -> folder and search options -> view and uncheck hide extensions for known file types, to change it).

Anonymous said...

Thanks !

Mad Marv said...

Thank you, you saved my day.

Anonymous said...

You made my day too! Sitting in Russia with my Lenovo X220 when windows 7 did not boot anymore. I managed to download a Windows, started from USB Stick to find out that will not work as whole drive is encrypted ... Started looking for solutions for making a bootable USB stick to boot an ISO... Well, finally I found your page. Awesome! One thing for the dummies as me - there is a grldr and a grldr.mbr file. I choose the grldr one and that work fine. Thanks again!

Anonymous said...

Hello, here Nixxon writing.

Thank you very much. This was very helpfull.

When I booted with the usb drive, i realized that the options where various. Tryed all of them and in one moment, It taked the old password I Knew as valid.
Best regards.

Anonymous said...

This worked very well thanks. Also thanks to the person who commented regarding Windows 7, saved me a lot of grief! It's April 2013, I used the same grub files as listed and it worked fine.

Anonymous said...

Did not work for me:( I get a "Missing mbr helper" message when booting.


Anonymous said...

Formatting your USB flash drive in Windows 7 imposes a 4GB limit on the USB drive's size when using FAT, aka FAT16. If your USB flash drive is larger than 4GB, Windows will not list FAT as a formatting option. On the Part List, "WHOLE DISK (MBR)" does not show up if the USB drive is formatted as FAT32.

Anonymous said...

Great, thanks mate. I had problems with it not booting, so I used BootICE to set the mbr for Grub4DOS, then it worked perfectly.

Anonymous said...

You saved my ass man. Thnk you so much!

Anonymous said...

thank you.

Anonymous said...

Thank you, you saved 7years of work!