• RMPrepUSB - Version History
RMPrepUSB Version History
v1.9.70 download also includes the extra standalone RMBootSect and RMFormat utilities which are not used by RMPrepUSB or RMPartUSB (the other downloads do not include these two utilities).
v1.9.75 - added randomised disk signature and patched boot code for better compatibility.
v2.0.602:
FORCELBA option and Format as USB-FDD (large floppy) function. (512MB ZIP radio button removed)
USBtoFile and FiletoUSB image functions added. USBInfo and FileInfo (displays bytes and partition info).
QuickTest USB Drive for bad/duplicate blocks - use on new USB drives bought from dodgy eBay sellers!
Extensive context sensitive help added and PDF help file.
Uses MiB rather than MB.
Includes Vista manifests to run with admin rights and FreeDos boot files.
v2.0.710/2.0.720/2.0.730
Added syslinux and grub support
Desktop now minimized and restored to prevent file copy and cmd windows being obscured.
Quicktest improved - now suggests maximum usable good memory. Tests 1GiB in 4 seconds.
To quicktest a Flash drive
1. Run Quicktest (if you get write errors CLEAN the drive first and try again)
2. If it suggests a usable size of say 1098MiB, then reformat using RMPrepUSB to 1098Mib size
3. Now test with H2TESTW to ensure all bytes are readable in the volume.
If you re-partition the drive, remember to set the size to the 'good' size.
Also remember that the memory may develop bad blocks with age!
v710 replaced with v720 as NTFS format in 710 was unreliable.
v720 replaced with v730 (fixed fat32 format hanging bug on large >16GB drives, fix NTFS format sometimes reports errors, GUI improved + 1-6 steps numbered, improved volume locking and speed. Lots of small GUI tweaks.
v2.0.733 includes support for BartPE (PEtoUSB type function).
Two steps to make BartPE:
1. Use PE-Builder.
2. Use RMPrepUSB - you can have FAT16, FAT32 (any size) or NTFS.
Also added improved syslinux options and force-mba-test grubinst cmd line parameter added. Looks for up to 26 drives.
Only called 'Beta' as PEtoUSB function is new.
v2.0.734- few small bug fixes around BartPE function when cancelling, etc., removed winbom.ini file, new PDF help file.
v2.0.735
Include the TESTMBR files and instructions on how to use them
Suppresses the 'format drive' and 'Autoplay' pop-ups that Windows displays during partitioning.
Changed RMPartUSB to v735
Change grdldr to version 0.4.5a (fixes bug in 'write' function to --mem images)
Small doc changes.
v2.0.735a
Changed RMPartUSB to v736 - Now wipes first 100 sectors when it partitions and formats a drive to remove any old PBRs.
v2.0.736
RMPrepUSB version number changed to match RMPartUSB. TESTMBR files and instructions changed as RMPartUSB now wipes sectors!
No need to upgrade to this version unless you want to use the new TESTMBR files.
v2.0.737
Added quotes around app path so can use a folder with spaces in the pathname - e.g. Desktop
v2.0.80x multi-language support Betas
v2.1.0 Full Release 10 July 2010
v2.1.1 Release - 11 July 2010 - small bugfix for USBInfo and FileInfo
v2.1.2 Beta - Changed USB device detection method - may show USB storage devices which did not appear before
V2.1.2a Beta - RMPartUSB changed USB device detection method
v2.1.3 Beta - added Grub4dos PBR or MBR install option
v2.1.4 Beta - improved USB listbox selection so keeps same USB drive after an operation.
v2.1.5 Beta - added delay to prevent new drives from being detected as 'unmounted'.
v2.1.501 Beta - extra delay when detecting new drives, form disabled whilst copying, USBInfo and FileInfo tweaked.
v2.1.502 Beta - fixed bug (detected drive size as 512bytes smaller than it actually was) + speed improvement on usb detection on first load
v2.1.503 Beta - fixed bug (empty card reader slots appearing as 512byte devices!) + speed test now writes .csv file + saves in correct locale for Excel (and 2nd file for OpenOffice Calc)
v2.1.504 - GETDRV command added to RMPartUSB - allows a batch file to obtain the drive letter of a physical drive.
v2.1.505 - ALLDRIVES command line switch now allows access to all drives (not just USB drives) - use with caution! German.ini file added - thanks to René Prieß for sending it in!
v2.1.506 - USB drive detection improved yet again! German language support+pdf added. RMPREPUSBXP.CMD for BartPE now run a language version (e.g. RMPrepUSBxp_German.cmd if German selected as language). Now near to final release.
v2.1.507 - Small bugfix, USBtoFile if length=0 entered now uses DALL instead of PALL.
v2.1.600 - 8 October 2010 - Release version. Small text change in RMPartUSB.
v2.1.601 - Beta - New RMPrepUSB.ini file feature added. You can now store your favourite configurations in an ini file and load them when RMPrepUSB first runs.
v2.1.602 - Beta - Small bugfix if no ini file and click on Prepare Drive.
v2.1.603 - graphics bits around checkboxes removed. Language box font changed, syslinux options in ini file
v2.1.604 - detects locale and sets as default (syslinux 4.03 now used), Ext2 using mke2fs added.
v2.1.605 - syslinux button added + INI file has 'make specific button invisible' options
v2.1.606 - new homebrew version of grubinst.exe to fix MS-DOS boot issue when grub4dos installed to the PBR. Installing grub4dos to PBR on NTFS partitions now works. Latest chenall version 0.4.5b of grldr used. Dutch language support added.
v2.1.606a - newer version of grubinst.exe to fix boot bug on Acer laptops when installing grub4dos code to MBR See here for details (also includes MS-DOS PBR bug fix in 606 version).
v2.1.607 - Partition type numbers for FAT16/FAT32 changed for better compatibility 06/0E and 0B/0C for FAT16 and FAT32 CHS/ForceLBA respectively. Start CHS parameters not changed when ForceLBA used. More compatible with Dell systems (and possibly others).
v2.1.608 - Some GUI features improved thanks to feedback from TheK of Reboot-pro. Syslinux 'stupid' question removed. Bold font in INI file now only affects help text. Syslinux folder included so user can copy the version they want to use to the RMPrepUSB main folder (3.86, 4.01 or 4.03). 'Lite' version now available which reduces size of download.
v2.1.608a - grubinst.exe version changed back to that used in v606. The code change in grubinst Acer fix v2.1.606a does not work in some cases and is unreliable/bad code.
v2.1.608b - new version of grubinst with both code changes in.
v2.1.609NOWMI - Experimental and not fully tested version which does not use WMI calls (except for listing OS in CSV file of speed test results). This appears to work fine under Hirens PE except that the drive is not remounted by the OS after partitioning and formatting. This means that the copy files process fails after a format because the new volume is not automatically remounted by the OS. It should work under WinPE v2/v3 however. Please report any bugs (not fully tested yet by me so there will probably be some!).
2.1.610 BUG - still tests for RICHTX32! - removed dependency on RICHTX32.OCX and WMI support. Includes a fix to remount a formatted drive when used under Hirens Boot CD - it calls ShowDrive.exe which must be present in either the RMPrepUSB folder or a pathed folder (e.g. \Windows\System32) to remount drives after partitioning and formatting. Thanks to TheK for the programming tips!2.1.610a BUG - still tests for RICHTX32! - as 2.1.610 but includes showdrive.exe in the download.
2.1.611 - BUG IN NTFS FORMAT IN RMPARTUSB - the test for RICHTX32.OCX being installed is now removed! So no dependency on RICHTX32.OCX (honest!).
2.1.612 - Fixed bug in NTFS FORMAT - volume lock was not working correctly (new non-wmi code now fixed).
2.1.613 - all features tested and checked. More support for hirens/bartPE. surplus code removed. No msvbvm60.dll now as should already be in OS (full version of RMPrepUSb installer has it in a DLL folder in case you need it).
2.1.614 - Function hotkeys added. Many bugfixes. If use config file, it will autorun grubinst or ext2 FS without needing to prompt user. 2 days spent on snagging and testing. Seems pretty solid (not done much testing on Bart/Hirens though!).
2.1.614a - bug in 614 (only a few downloads were done in about an hour) - if you have no rmprepusb.ini file it always prompted you to run grubinst and exe2 FS after a format! Fixed in 614a.
2.1.615 - added ability to specify .\xxx in RMPrepUSB.ini to reference a folder under the RMPrepUSB.exe folder.
2.1.616 - added F12 = present user config menu again. RMPartUSB command line FIND bugfix (echo'd command line). Also Drive string when echo'd has 0 byte chars from some drives.
2.1.616a - small bugfix to speedtest - model and size not saved to csv file. RMPartUSB 2.1.617.
2.1.617 - TESTMBR code in folder re-written. Some 'sleep' delays removed to speed up the process!
2.1.618 - QEMU boot from USB emulation feature added - press function key F11
2.1.619 - extra LANG INI entries for EXT2 FS button and Help - Update button. Some small GUI changes.
2.1.619a - small changes made to Italian.ini, FileInfo and USBInfo now always show output in Notepad. NTFS minor bug fixed. 13 March 2011.
2.1.620 RELEASE APRIL 2011 - grub4dos behaviour when used with rmprepusb.ini file changed
2.1.621 Bugfix for Make Ext2FS - did not work if RMPrepUSB was launched from the Start Menu or a shortcut. Also new Russian language ini file added.
2.1.622 New grub4dos version with better numbered menu item support. Small changes to RMPrepUSB GUI.
2.1.623 New grub4dos version which treats text after ## in any menu as a comment so you can add comments to each line. RMPartUSB FAT16 NTLDR/Bootmgr MBR code tweaked for better compatibility. Syslinux 4.04 now default version and other versions added to syslinux folder.
2.1.625 Added QEMU button, set form focus after Prepare, qemu-img used to convert filetousb images to raw, warn user if drive=0 selected, Alt+F5 toggles ALLDRIVES setting so you can use it on hard drives too. Some versions of Syslinux removed from Syslinux folder. New QEMU version used. Improve FAT16/FAT32 bootability by using LBA type B/C partition types always (was only when Force LBA was used previously).
2.1.625a Replaced new qemu-img v0.15.0 with old one 0.11.0 as new one cannot convert large vdi files to raw format (bug in new qemu-img)
2.1.626 - 15-08-2011 - New grub4dos version (recognises ' # ' or '## ' as in-line comment tags), small changes to FiletoUSB and QEMU button now grey not blue.
2.1.627 - 15-08-2011 - Added 7z.exe extract function. When you click on the Choose Copy Folder button, you can now choose either a folder OR an archive file to extract from (e.g. ISO,CAB,IMG,VHD,LZH,GZIP,IMA). Then instead of copying files from a folder after it has formatted the drive, it will extract the files from the chosen archive file instead.
2.1.628 New qemu-img.exe. Buttons re-arranged (now 1-6 are top to bottom), other buttons have border. URLs in Help links changed to new site.
2.1.630 Improved volume locking - fixes bug where some USB HDDs could not be formatted (got write error).
2.1.631 Added Alt+F2 hotkey MD5 feature. Updated a few language files (thanks to the authors who sent me them!)
2.1.632 Removed behaviour of minimizing Windows Desktop during operation. Newer version of grldr used.
2.1.633 New grub4dos 0.4.5c, new Update MBR command (CTRL+ALT+F2), now prompts to set FreeDOS folder if FreeDos option chosen so can make a bootable FreeDos.
2.1.634 - Added DiskDoctor ALT+CTRL+F5
2.1.635 - Added Alt+F12 WEESetup
2.1.636 - Added CTRL+F2 CONTIG.exe (contig.exe must be added to RMPrepUSB folder)
2.1.637 - Use WinContig instead of CONTIG.exe (not released)
2.1.638 Includes WinContig 1.5.1 to defrag whole USB drive using CTRL+F2 - thanks to Marco of WinContig for allowing me to include it
2.1.640 Menu bar added. Change Disk Signature feature. BPB params displayed with Drive Info. Drive Type detection bug fixed (reported card reader as fixed disk). QEMU version changed.
2.1.641 Check drive letter assigned when formatting as NTFS. Showdrive bug fixed. Assign drive letters now actually runs showdrive (use with caution as showdrive seems to screw up Windows drive letter assignment!)
2.1.642 Added 'Create MSDOS floppy image file' to File menu.
2.1.643 Improved NTFS formatting for HDDs (hopefully!)
2.1.644 17-03-2012 Small Bugfix - if extracted files from XP ISO and BartPE check box was ticked then rmprepusbxp.cmd file did not run - this is now fixed. Snapshot mode used in QEMU for USB drives. Eject Media now removes Flash drives from the Drive List completely.
2.1.645 25-04-2012 - Tab Stop for drive selection box enabled so can use tab key to select a drive.
2.1.647 28-04-2012 RELEASED on 2012-05-22 - FAT32 format now starts first cluster at 1MB boundary. NTFS format will start 1st partition at sector 2048 instead of 63. Both these changes lead to >10% speed advantage when copying small files to a USB flash drive. Changed status to fully released, non-Beta on 2012-05-25. Uses grldr grub4dos version 0.4.6a
2.1.647 28-04-2012 RE-RELEASED on 2012-05-28 - now uses latest grub4dos 0.4.5c 2012-05-22 which was just released on same day I decided to release RMPrepUSB v2.1.647!
2.1.648 04-06-2012 RELEASED on 10-06-2012 as released version - F11 shortcut key now works!
2.1.648 qemu - contains more compatible version of QEMU
2.1.648 wee - new qemu + bugfix for wee install
2.1.650 Function to select any one of four primary partitions on a USB Flash drive to be the visible one under Windows.
2.1.651 Added QEMU boot direct from ISO and QEMU boot direct from HDD image options to File menu.
2.1.652 Can now install std mbr to non-USB drive (bugfix) + install grub4dos button tries floppy install if hdd install fails, new RMPartUSB.exe with Drive Info FAT16 BPB bugfix. new grub4dos version.
2.1.653 Prevent QEMU from trying to use more than 1160MB of virtual memory, fix minor WinContig bug (did not show drive letter in confirmation prompt)
2.1.654 30-12-2012 RELEASED WinContig (Shift+F2) function added so the user can just run WinContig on any drive manually. Updated grub4dos version included.
2.1.655 - Added Drive menu option to clear Read Only attributes on a drive and volume - useful if Win8ToGo has set the RO attribute on your USB drive!
2.1.656 - F4 (open menu.lst in Notepad), now will also open \grub\menu.lst and \boot\grub\menu.lst if they exist.
2.1.657 - RMPartusb File Info now displays BPB parameters if a PBR file is detected. Latest grub4dos. New Wincontig. F4 now only loads one menu.lst (whichever one has highest precedence when grub4dos boots).
2.1.658 - The version of grubinst.exe that I have been using for over a year now, was specially changed and recompiled so that the first few bytes of the MBR are more compatible than the existing version. However, if the drive number is > 9 (e.g. (hd10), then due to a long standing bug, it will fail to install grub4dos. I have added a new version (grubinst_new.exe) which fixes this drive number issue, but it does not have the MBR fix (the MBR is expected to start with a jump instruction 33 C0 by some odd BIOSes!). So now if you install grub4dos to a drive no. < 10 then my modified version is used as it is the most 'bootable' - however, if the drive number is > 9, RMPrepUSB will use grubinst_new.exe instead.
2.1.659 - BUG IN SWAP PARTITION - New command in File Menu CTRL+M - makes a bootable ISO from the selected grub4dos bootable drive + few minor tweaks. More FreeDos files added. New grub4dos version.
2.1.660 - RMPartUSB console window now centred on RMPrepUSB Window, bugfix in make DOS 1.44MB FDD (DOS.IMA made was 1 byte too large!). Bug fix for 659 in re-order partition. Adding warning if large USB drives found in system and prompt to press Ctrl.z to see them. Slight re-arrange of some buttons to make options 5 an 6 more obvious.
2.1.661 - RMPartUSB has FAT32 bugfix - it seems there has always been a strange bug in FAT32 format used by RMPrepUSB which affects grubd4dos and DOS accessing the root folder if more than 64 files are present! see here for more details.
2.1.662 - RMPartUSB now will format FAT32 up to 2TB! RMPrepUSB can load /grub/menu.lst or /boot/grub/menu.lst in Edit menu.
2.1.663 2013-03-24 Changed some fonts to use MS Sans Serif TTF (fix for 1920x1080 monitors). Added alternate English.ini file (English204.ini) charset 238 not supported by some PE distros,
2.1.664 - Can now install NTLDR (XP) or BOOTMGR (Vista/7/8) bootloader to the PBR (uses RMBootSect.exe). Can also install a FAT16 MS-DOS bootloader.
2.1.665 - Language scroll arrows now auto-select the language without needing to click on the selection.
2.1.700 - 2013-04-30 - Added exFAT format support to RMPartUSB and RMPrepUSB. XP needs exFAT update installed. Vista needs SP1. Bootmgr boot is only option for exFAT.
2.1.701 - 2013-04-30 - Added grldr_x bootloader support for exFAT
2.1.702 - 2013-04-30 - grldr patched for exFAT bootloader - can now boot grub4dos from exFAT.
2.1.704 - 2013-05-18 - Full Release - RMPrepUSB.exe 704 is the same as RMPrepUSB.exe 702 but just the revision number was changed to match RMPartUSB 704 and two language files updated.
2.1.704a - 2013-05-23 - Re-Release - command line parsing changed (if a file has the word 'find' in it then RMPartUSB would interpret this as the FIND command). RMPartUSB 2.1.705 fixes that. This was a long-standing bug.
2.1.706 - 2013-05-24 - Re-Release to fix shortened volume name bug in RMPartUSB and WinContig issue with Portable version. Thanks det for reporting this!
2.1.706 - 2013-05-27 - Re-Release - new grub4dos + fix for PEtoUSB folder not copied when BartPE->Drive is ticked (thanks to Keith E for spotting this)..
2.1.707 - 2013-06-15 - DavidB's QEMU launcher added - now QEMU has rd/wr access when booting from USB drive
2.1.708 - new grub4dos version (compatible with E2B) and new RMPrepUSB menu command to change a primary partition table type number - e.g. change 0c to ee.
2.1.709 - 2013-08-04 - form centred in display on launch
2.1.709a - 2013-08-21 - Full Release - bugfix in Search function of DiskDoctor. New grldr version for grub4dos. Otherwise same as 2.1.709.
2.1.710 - 2013-09-08 - maximum partition size slightly reduced to cater for strange behaviour with some BIOSes (slow access).
2.1.711 - 2013-09-18 - Make ext2 file now asks for the volume name as well as the filename. This means you can make an ext2 file called say ubuntu-rw but with a volume name of casper-rw. Useful for persistence files.
2.1.712 - 2013-09-20 - Install Grub4Dos now always asks if you want MBR or PBR even if 'No user prompts' is ticked.
2.1.713 - 2013-09-28 - Small changes for Configuration Sets to remember ext2 filesystem settings.
2.1.714 - 2013-10-05 - 7zip uses windows 7zG, make ISO from drive improved to make WinPE ISO, chinese language file updated.
2.1.714(a) - 2013-10-07 - RMPartUSB is v 2.1.715 - small changes to Quick Size Test.
2.1.714b - 2013-10-17 - Full Release - Latest grub4dos added.
2.1.716 - 2013-12-17 - Full Release - bugfix for Drive->File and File->Drive functions in RMPartUSB, changed to grub4dos 2013-11-30 version of grldr.
2.1.717 2014-03-24 - Fix issue with Win 8.1 FAT32 format in RMPartUSB, new grub4dos grldr version.
2.1.718 2014-03-25 - Allow paths with spaces in Makegrub4dosISo (Ctrl+M) function
2.1.719 2014-04-12 - Changed eject drive function to truly remove drive.
2.1.719a 2014-04-21 - RMPartUSB v2.1.720 - minor bugfix in LIST command, first digit missing of size if drive size > 1TB.
2.1.720 2014-05-19 - Netherlands language file updated. Fixes for XP. Fix Help box appearing when click on language box.
2.1.721 2014-05-20 - Fix text on Update button changing when hit F1 for 2nd time after using X to cancel it.
2.1.722 2014-06-08 - Can run WinContig by right-clicking on drive in selection box or right-click on Refresh button. Double-click a drive in selection box to open Explorer for that drive. New versions of WinContig and HashMyFiles.
2.1.723 2014-08-10 - bugfix - if format as exFAT and then re-format as NTFS without quitting RMPrepUSB, then format always fails.
2.1.724 2014-08-18 - if click on empty drive list box then got error. New grubdos grldr version (has several bug fixes).
2.1.725 2014-10-28 - new grub4dos, when installing grub4dos, always asks if OK to copy grldr file and always asks if OK to overwrite existing \grldr file if one is present.
2.1.728 2015-02-28 - new grubinst, grub4dos 0.4.6a
2.1.730 2015-11-03 - new grub4dos grldr 04.6a, QEMU virtual memory warning if >900MB, RMPartUSB 2.1.730 reduces size of partition by 1 cylinder for better behaviour with 'bad' BIOSes that hang if try to access last sectors of disk under grub4dos.
2.1.731 2016-06-20 - new RMPartUSB v2.1.731 with small bugfix for multi-volume HDDs sometimes not formatting first time.
2.1.732 2016-08-21 - add ext3 and ext4 file format options
2.1.733 2016-09-20 - Beta - Latest grub4dos 0.4.6a 2016-09-20 (grldr). Can install grub2 to MBR (BootLoaders tab). FAT partitions now start at LBA 2048 instead of LBA63 (RMPartUSB v2.1.733)
2.1.734 - Stable release - Fix QEMU >900MB memory, RMPartUSB test for > 0 fixed (now <> 0)
2.1.735 2017-02-23 - Add LARGEDRIVES command line parameter for RMPrepUSB.exe to show all USB drives on startup. Fix double 'press ctrl+z' pop-up message bug.
2.1.739 - For Windows Creator editions
2.1.739B 2017-12-13 - Same as 2.1.739A except 7z changed to latest version for .rar support and FreeDos boot files improved.
2.1.740 2018-01-13 - latest WinContig, grub4dos now uses 0.4.6a boot code for improved booting with exFAT drives
2.1.741 - bugfix for make ext2/3/4 to allow spaces in filename
2.1.743 2019-06 - add .iso to File>disk browse function and latest grub4dos
2.1.743c 2019-10-16 - Uses RMPartUSB v2.1.744 with change to USB FDD FAT32 formatting for drives between 4GB and 8GB now 255x63, improve display of BPB parameters if LBA0 has BPB (floppy formatted drive)
2.1.744 2019 - small fixes, FDD FAT32 format BPB params changed
2.1.745 2020-03-28 - use RMPartUSB 2.1.750 - fix FIND commanline command to list drive descriptions.