Not versed with the file so need help. I removed AOMEI Backup and it
did not remove >Line device ramdisk<
The reason it is in the boot menu and don't have to search for a usb
stick if needed. I do keep one around !
How do I remove it ?

Thanks

KenW

On Tue, 24 Oct 2023 17:52:57 -0600, KenW <ken1943@invalid.net> wrote:

>Not versed with the file so need help. I removed AOMEI Backup and it
>did not remove >Line device ramdisk<
>The reason it is in the boot menu and don't have to search for a usb
>stick if needed. I do keep one around !
>How do I remove it ?
>
>Thanks
>
>
>KenW
looking closer, there are THREE lines to be killed

KenW

device
ramdisk=[C:]\AomeiRecovery\AomeiBoot.wim,{b16c9d12-dbd2-49e3-bce9-aa1cdfb2f74c}
description Enter into AOMEI Backupper
osdevice
ramdisk=[C:]\AomeiRecovery\AomeiBoot.wim,{b16c9d12-dbd2-49e3-bce9-aa1cdfb2f74c}

KenW

KenW <ken1943@invalid.net> wrote:

> Not versed with the file so need help. I removed AOMEI Backup and it
> did not remove >Line device ramdisk<
> The reason it is in the boot menu and don't have to search for a usb
> stick if needed. I do keep one around !
> How do I remove it ?

While an OS is loaded, you cannot delete it. You can delete other
entries.

Have you tried to run msconfig.exe, and select its Boot tab? Other than
the currently running OS, you can select another entry, and click
Delete.

When running bcdedit.exe on a command shell, were you logged in under an
adminstrator account (one of those listed under Administrators security
group, like Administrator)?

bcdedit.exe is a command-line tool. You specify arguments for what
actions you want it to commit. To get help, run:

bcdedit /?

To get help on a directive, like delete, run:

bcdedit /? /delete

If you run bcdedit with no arguments, you get a list of boot entries.
Notice each has an identifier. You use that identifier with the /delete
directive.

There are boot entries you don't want to delete, and may not be allowed
to delete, like the currently load OS, and its boot manager.

KenW <ken1943@invalid.net> wrote:

> device
> ramdisk=[C:]\AomeiRecovery\AomeiBoot.wim,{b16c9d12-dbd2-49e3-bce9-aa1cdfb2f74c}
> description Enter into AOMEI Backupper
> osdevice
> ramdisk=[C:]\AomeiRecovery\AomeiBoot.wim,{b16c9d12-dbd2-49e3-bce9-aa1cdfb2f74c}
>
> KenW

That output came from what? Doesn't look like what I get when running
bcdedit (with no args) for the list of boot entries. In my setup when I
run bcdedit, I see:

c:\>bcdedit

Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {bootmgr}
device partition=\Device\HarddiskVolume4
path \EFI\MICROSOFT\BOOT\BOOTMGFW.EFI
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-US
inherit {globalsettings}
default {current}
resumeobject {93db0b77-b7b0-11e9-8457-c422263ccb27}
displayorder {current}
{457fbfc6-6d27-11eb-915d-48f17fd1afaa}
toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}
timeout 10

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {current}
device partition=C:
path \WINDOWS\system32\winload.efi
description Windows 10
locale en-US
inherit {bootloadersettings}
recoverysequence {93db0b7a-b7b0-11e9-8457-c422263ccb27}
displaymessageoverride Recovery
recoveryenabled Yes
isolatedcontext Yes
allowedinmemorysettings 0x15000075
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \WINDOWS
resumeobject {93db0b77-b7b0-11e9-8457-c422263ccb27}
nx OptIn
bootmenupolicy Standard

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {457fbfc6-6d27-11eb-915d-48f17fd1afaa}
device
ramdisk=[C:]\boot\macrium\WinREFiles\media\sources\boot.wim,{ramdiskoptions}
path \windows\system32\boot\winload.efi
description Macrium Reflect System Recovery
osdevice
ramdisk=[C:]\boot\macrium\WinREFiles\media\sources\boot.wim,{ramdiskoptions}
systemroot \Windows
detecthal Yes
winpe Yes

The first 2 entries are for Windows 10 Home x64 22H2. The third entry
is for Macrium Reflect's boot image in a .wim file (Windows PE image
with Macrium Reflect added to the image). For some boot loaders, a .dat
file is the image file with which to boot.

When I install Reflect's boot image into the boot list, and I plan to
uninstall Reflect, I first use Reflect to remove the boot entry, [and
uninstall Macrium Guardian, a file I/O stacked driver to protect the
backup files from ransomware,] and then uninstall Refect. I go
backwards in the order that I added Macrium's boot image and driver
before I do the uninstall. Instead of using bcdedit, might be safer for
you to reinstall AOMEI Backupper, use its options to remove its boot
image from the boot list, and then uninstall Backupper.

Or use msconfig.exe as mentioned in my other reply.

On 10/24/2023 10:45 PM, VanguardLH wrote:
> KenW <ken1943@invalid.net> wrote:
>
>> Not versed with the file so need help. I removed AOMEI Backup and it
>> did not remove >Line device ramdisk<
>> The reason it is in the boot menu and don't have to search for a usb
>> stick if needed. I do keep one around !
>> How do I remove it ?
>
> While an OS is loaded, you cannot delete it. You can delete other
> entries.
>
> Have you tried to run msconfig.exe, and select its Boot tab? Other than
> the currently running OS, you can select another entry, and click
> Delete.
>
> When running bcdedit.exe on a command shell, were you logged in under an
> adminstrator account (one of those listed under Administrators security
> group, like Administrator)?
>
> bcdedit.exe is a command-line tool. You specify arguments for what
> actions you want it to commit. To get help, run:
>
> bcdedit /?
>
> To get help on a directive, like delete, run:
>
> bcdedit /? /delete
>
> If you run bcdedit with no arguments, you get a list of boot entries.
> Notice each has an identifier. You use that identifier with the /delete
> directive.
>
> There are boot entries you don't want to delete, and may not be allowed
> to delete, like the currently load OS, and its boot manager.
>

Yes, that's a good way to remove that section.

Administrator shell : msconfig

and that entire entry should be filed under

Boot Tab
--------

Windows 10 <=== A typical regular OS entry
Windows 11 <=== A typical regular OS entry
Enter into AOMEI Backupper <=== Custom WinPE/WinRE entry

It uses the "description" field, to name the section.
The "Windows Boot Manager" is not listed, because you're not
working at that level ("creating chaos" level). I can
reach into the EFI System Partition (ESP) which is FAT and
remove entire sections in there and make them go away.
I can turn a dual boot Windows/Linux into a Windows-only,
by working inside the ESP.

Highlight the item and select the Delete button just below.
The current OS you're booting from, cannot be deleted.

So if you want to "clean house" and drop the Boot Manager to
showing just one OS entry, you should be booted into that OS
you will be keeping, while you are messing around.

Some of the commands, take an optional "store" identifier,
which is useful when working in Offline mode and making edits.
This allows you to boot a Windows Installer DVD, enter Troubleshooting
and Command Prompt, and make your changes there, to make a
disk-based store work again.

*******

An operation like this, adds an item and assigns a value.

bcdedit /set {bootmgr} displaybootmenu Yes

The {bootmgr} is an Identifier value, and it identifies
which section of the BCD you want that added to. Note that
some items will be coerced a bit, so [Yes,No] could be
stored as [True,False] as the software likes.

To remove an entry:

bcdedit /deletevalue {bootmgr} displaybootmenu

Sections can be added like this:

bcdboot C:\Windows /s C:

but BCDBoot does not seem to have a section delete function.

There is also a separate command for entirely rebuilding
the BCD, but that is a bit risky.

*******

The BCD file is a file of type "registry", so it might also
be parsed with a registry tool. Presumably you would load it
as a hive or something. One way to evaluate such a file for
its type, is to use Linux and

file bcd

and sniff it for file type. There is a Windows version of "file.exe"
but the magic file that goes with the package, is fifteen years old
and useless for modern work.

Linux might even have a tool for displaying a registry, after
a fashion.

There is also a registry editor that runs in Linux, the claim
was it was FOSS, but I can't find source, or track down who
wrote it.

Paul

On Tue, 24 Oct 2023 17:52:57 -0600, KenW <ken1943@invalid.net> wrote:

>Not versed with the file so need help. I removed AOMEI Backup and it
>did not remove >Line device ramdisk<
>The reason it is in the boot menu and don't have to search for a usb
>stick if needed. I do keep one around !
>How do I remove it ?
>
>Thanks
>
>
>KenW

Thanks guys, I used msconfig to delete the Aomei junk.
I went back to Macrium paid. Have one setting in there to change.The
first image was 365 GIG !!!!!

KenW

On 10/25/2023 3:01 AM, KenW wrote:
> On Tue, 24 Oct 2023 17:52:57 -0600, KenW <ken1943@invalid.net> wrote:
>
>> Not versed with the file so need help. I removed AOMEI Backup and it
>> did not remove >Line device ramdisk<
>> The reason it is in the boot menu and don't have to search for a usb
>> stick if needed. I do keep one around !
>> How do I remove it ?
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>>
>> KenW
>
> Thanks guys, I used msconfig to delete the Aomei junk.
> I went back to Macrium paid. Have one setting in there to change.The
> first image was 365 GIG !!!!!
>
>
> KenW
>

Compared to how-much-data on the partitions in question ?

Did it back up every sector for some reason ("dumb backup") ?

Or did it back up just the data file clusters ("smart backup") ?

Macrium for example, I think it has a tick box for dumb backups,
if you want to try that. And of course you can do your own dumb backups.

To back up the computer room here, is 12TB of drives, and 4TB of backups.
That tells you how full the drives are.

*******

Say we have a disk like this:

+-----+----------------------+
| MBR | D: DATA (NTFS) 1TB | Disk 0
+-----+----------------------+

Say that D: only has 20GB of files in it, but it has room for 1TB of files.
980GB is empty space.

A smart backup would be 20GB or less (compression maybe).

A dumb backup would be 1TB, because all the white space is recorded.

If you do a dumb backup, you can run File Undelete software and
things you deleted by accident, could be recovered. The dumb backup
"has all the evidence".

If you do a smart backup, the old files littering the white space
are not recorded, so a File Undelete utility (Recuva) cannot
recover files after a restoration.

And to make doubly certain of the condition of your white space,
before you do a Restoration from backup, you can erase the entire surface of
a disk.

From a Windows Installer boot DVD, Troubleshooting, Command Prompt:
(Macrium also has a Command Prompt, that I've used for this.)

diskpart
list disk
select disk 0
clean all <=== This erases the entire drive, and writes zeros over it, 1TB of writes
exit

Then, when you do a Restore, the white space, really is white :-)

When you do a Smart Restore, normally, it only does 20GB of writes,
so the 980GB of white space, does not get "reconditioned" or "zeroed".
That's why I am zeroing the drive and writing 1000GB of zeros, followed
by writing 20GB of restored data.

And this is also part of prepping disks for resale or donation,
you want some amount of hygiene and erasure, to prevent the
recipient from scraping the disk for passwords or account information
sitting in some random sectors.

You can zero out the drive, and then either restore something
relatively clean, or do a clean install and it is sparkling clean.

*******

A dumb backup, is like this:

dd.exe if=/dev/sda of=/home/kenw/a-really-big-file-1TB-in-size.dd

And that would be an example of backing up every sector. You might
do it that way, if you were a forensic examiner and did not want
to risk losing some disk contents you'd been given.

You can also chain commands, like this:

dd.exe if=/dev/sda of=- | compress > /home/kenw/a-900GB-file.dd.Z

Compression can sometimes make a project do-able, with the caveat
that you still need to access that file, to get anything off it.

7Zip, if you right-click the compressed file, you can "open as archive"
and you can drill down to the file level. So it doesn't necessarily
have to be re-inflated, to gain random access. 7Zip can be pesky though,
because sometimes it attempts to make a "temporary" file on your C: drive,
while it is "examining" something you gave it. I usually "cancel" when it
does that. That can also be a version-specific problem.

For archives created by Macrium or AOMEI, they normally come with
a mounter that accesses the drive, and puts a drive letter on your
desktop. That's because 7ZIP cannot be expected to have parsers for
30 different backup products :-) 7ZIP cannot even open the 30 EXE
packers that exist (like UPX).

Paul

On Wed, 25 Oct 2023 03:42:26 -0400, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid>
wrote:

>On 10/25/2023 3:01 AM, KenW wrote:
>> On Tue, 24 Oct 2023 17:52:57 -0600, KenW <ken1943@invalid.net> wrote:
>>
>>> Not versed with the file so need help. I removed AOMEI Backup and it
>>> did not remove >Line device ramdisk<
>>> The reason it is in the boot menu and don't have to search for a usb
>>> stick if needed. I do keep one around !
>>> How do I remove it ?
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>>
>>>
>>> KenW
>>
>> Thanks guys, I used msconfig to delete the Aomei junk.
>> I went back to Macrium paid. Have one setting in there to change.The
>> first image was 365 GIG !!!!!
>>
>>
>> KenW
>>
>
>Compared to how-much-data on the partitions in question ?
>
>Did it back up every sector for some reason ("dumb backup") ?
>
>Or did it back up just the data file clusters ("smart backup") ?
>
>Macrium for example, I think it has a tick box for dumb backups,
>if you want to try that. And of course you can do your own dumb backups.
>
>To back up the computer room here, is 12TB of drives, and 4TB of backups.
>That tells you how full the drives are.
>
>*******
>
>Say we have a disk like this:
>
>+-----+----------------------+
>| MBR | D: DATA (NTFS) 1TB | Disk 0
>+-----+----------------------+
>
>Say that D: only has 20GB of files in it, but it has room for 1TB of files.
>980GB is empty space.
>
>A smart backup would be 20GB or less (compression maybe).
>
>A dumb backup would be 1TB, because all the white space is recorded.
>
>If you do a dumb backup, you can run File Undelete software and
>things you deleted by accident, could be recovered. The dumb backup
>"has all the evidence".
>
>If you do a smart backup, the old files littering the white space
>are not recorded, so a File Undelete utility (Recuva) cannot
>recover files after a restoration.
>
>And to make doubly certain of the condition of your white space,
>before you do a Restoration from backup, you can erase the entire surface of
>a disk.
>
>From a Windows Installer boot DVD, Troubleshooting, Command Prompt:
>(Macrium also has a Command Prompt, that I've used for this.)
>
> diskpart
> list disk
> select disk 0
> clean all <=== This erases the entire drive, and writes zeros over it, 1TB of writes
> exit
>
>Then, when you do a Restore, the white space, really is white :-)
>
>When you do a Smart Restore, normally, it only does 20GB of writes,
>so the 980GB of white space, does not get "reconditioned" or "zeroed".
>That's why I am zeroing the drive and writing 1000GB of zeros, followed
>by writing 20GB of restored data.
>
>And this is also part of prepping disks for resale or donation,
>you want some amount of hygiene and erasure, to prevent the
>recipient from scraping the disk for passwords or account information
>sitting in some random sectors.
>
>You can zero out the drive, and then either restore something
>relatively clean, or do a clean install and it is sparkling clean.
>
>*******
>
>A dumb backup, is like this:
>
> dd.exe if=/dev/sda of=/home/kenw/a-really-big-file-1TB-in-size.dd
>
>And that would be an example of backing up every sector. You might
>do it that way, if you were a forensic examiner and did not want
>to risk losing some disk contents you'd been given.
>
>You can also chain commands, like this:
>
> dd.exe if=/dev/sda of=- | compress > /home/kenw/a-900GB-file.dd.Z
>
>Compression can sometimes make a project do-able, with the caveat
>that you still need to access that file, to get anything off it.
>
>7Zip, if you right-click the compressed file, you can "open as archive"
>and you can drill down to the file level. So it doesn't necessarily
>have to be re-inflated, to gain random access. 7Zip can be pesky though,
>because sometimes it attempts to make a "temporary" file on your C: drive,
>while it is "examining" something you gave it. I usually "cancel" when it
>does that. That can also be a version-specific problem.
>
>For archives created by Macrium or AOMEI, they normally come with
>a mounter that accesses the drive, and puts a drive letter on your
>desktop. That's because 7ZIP cannot be expected to have parsers for
>30 different backup products :-) 7ZIP cannot even open the 30 EXE
>packers that exist (like UPX).
>
> Paul

I just forgot to untick my 2t backup drive. Everything ok now.

TNX

KenW

KenW wrote:
> On Wed, 25 Oct 2023 03:42:26 -0400, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid>
> wrote:
>
>> On 10/25/2023 3:01 AM, KenW wrote:
>>> On Tue, 24 Oct 2023 17:52:57 -0600, KenW <ken1943@invalid.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Not versed with the file so need help. I removed AOMEI Backup and it
>>>> did not remove >Line device ramdisk<
>>>> The reason it is in the boot menu and don't have to search for a usb
>>>> stick if needed. I do keep one around !
>>>> How do I remove it ?
>>>>
>>>> Thanks
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> KenW
>>>
>>> Thanks guys, I used msconfig to delete the Aomei junk.
>>> I went back to Macrium paid. Have one setting in there to change.The
>>> first image was 365 GIG !!!!!
>>>
>>>
>>> KenW
>>>
>>
>> Compared to how-much-data on the partitions in question ?
>>
>> Did it back up every sector for some reason ("dumb backup") ?
>>
>> Or did it back up just the data file clusters ("smart backup") ?
>>
>> Paul
>
> I just forgot to untick my 2t backup drive. Everything ok now.
>
> TNX
>
>
> KenW
>

How large(size) is a normal Macrium image without 'imaging; the 2T disk.

Are you storing your data on the main Windows partition(i.e. in the
Windows system data folders(Document, Pictures, Music, etc)?

--
....w¡ñ§±¤ñ

On Wed, 25 Oct 2023 11:25:50 -0400, "...winston"
<winstonmvp@gmail.com> wrote:

>KenW wrote:
>> On Wed, 25 Oct 2023 03:42:26 -0400, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On 10/25/2023 3:01 AM, KenW wrote:
>>>> On Tue, 24 Oct 2023 17:52:57 -0600, KenW <ken1943@invalid.net> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Not versed with the file so need help. I removed AOMEI Backup and it
>>>>> did not remove >Line device ramdisk<
>>>>> The reason it is in the boot menu and don't have to search for a usb
>>>>> stick if needed. I do keep one around !
>>>>> How do I remove it ?
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> KenW
>>>>
>>>> Thanks guys, I used msconfig to delete the Aomei junk.
>>>> I went back to Macrium paid. Have one setting in there to change.The
>>>> first image was 365 GIG !!!!!
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> KenW
>>>>
>>>
>>> Compared to how-much-data on the partitions in question ?
>>>
>>> Did it back up every sector for some reason ("dumb backup") ?
>>>
>>> Or did it back up just the data file clusters ("smart backup") ?
>>>
>>> Paul
>>
>> I just forgot to untick my 2t backup drive. Everything ok now.
>>
>> TNX
>>
>>
>> KenW
>>
>
>How large(size) is a normal Macrium image without 'imaging; the 2T disk.
>
>Are you storing your data on the main Windows partition(i.e. in the
>Windows system data folders(Document, Pictures, Music, etc)?

On this machine > 500g C: Image 55g used 84g
Each machine has own backup drive. 2 have WD Elements and 2 have 500g
SSD.

KenW

If I let the Aomei program do complete uninstall, It removed the stuff
it put into the BCD.

KenW

KenW wrote:
> On Wed, 25 Oct 2023 11:25:50 -0400, "...winston"
> <winstonmvp@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> KenW wrote:
>>> On Wed, 25 Oct 2023 03:42:26 -0400, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 10/25/2023 3:01 AM, KenW wrote:
>>>>> On Tue, 24 Oct 2023 17:52:57 -0600, KenW <ken1943@invalid.net> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Not versed with the file so need help. I removed AOMEI Backup and it
>>>>>> did not remove >Line device ramdisk<
>>>>>> The reason it is in the boot menu and don't have to search for a usb
>>>>>> stick if needed. I do keep one around !
>>>>>> How do I remove it ?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> KenW
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks guys, I used msconfig to delete the Aomei junk.
>>>>> I went back to Macrium paid. Have one setting in there to change.The
>>>>> first image was 365 GIG !!!!!
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> KenW
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Compared to how-much-data on the partitions in question ?
>>>>
>>>> Did it back up every sector for some reason ("dumb backup") ?
>>>>
>>>> Or did it back up just the data file clusters ("smart backup") ?
>>>>
>>>> Paul
>>>
>>> I just forgot to untick my 2t backup drive. Everything ok now.
>>>
>>> TNX
>>>
>>>
>>> KenW
>>>
>>
>> How large(size) is a normal Macrium image without 'imaging; the 2T disk.
>>
>> Are you storing your data on the main Windows partition(i.e. in the
>> Windows system data folders(Document, Pictures, Music, etc)?
>
> On this machine > 500g C: Image 55g used 84g
> Each machine has own backup drive. 2 have WD Elements and 2 have 500g
> SSD.
>
>
> KenW
>
Quite manageable. Thanks for the info.
I've seen systems where music and pictures are close to 0.5 TB, and also
data being stored on the Windows partition...those images are huge and
take a long time to create and restore.

--
....w¡ñ§±¤ñ

On Fri, 27 Oct 2023 01:35:13 -0400, "...winston"
<winstonmvp@gmail.com> wrote:

>KenW wrote:
>> On Wed, 25 Oct 2023 11:25:50 -0400, "...winston"
>> <winstonmvp@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> KenW wrote:
>>>> On Wed, 25 Oct 2023 03:42:26 -0400, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On 10/25/2023 3:01 AM, KenW wrote:
>>>>>> On Tue, 24 Oct 2023 17:52:57 -0600, KenW <ken1943@invalid.net> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Not versed with the file so need help. I removed AOMEI Backup and it
>>>>>>> did not remove >Line device ramdisk<
>>>>>>> The reason it is in the boot menu and don't have to search for a usb
>>>>>>> stick if needed. I do keep one around !
>>>>>>> How do I remove it ?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Thanks
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> KenW
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks guys, I used msconfig to delete the Aomei junk.
>>>>>> I went back to Macrium paid. Have one setting in there to change.The
>>>>>> first image was 365 GIG !!!!!
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> KenW
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Compared to how-much-data on the partitions in question ?
>>>>>
>>>>> Did it back up every sector for some reason ("dumb backup") ?
>>>>>
>>>>> Or did it back up just the data file clusters ("smart backup") ?
>>>>>
>>>>> Paul
>>>>
>>>> I just forgot to untick my 2t backup drive. Everything ok now.
>>>>
>>>> TNX
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> KenW
>>>>
>>>
>>> How large(size) is a normal Macrium image without 'imaging; the 2T disk.
>>>
>>> Are you storing your data on the main Windows partition(i.e. in the
>>> Windows system data folders(Document, Pictures, Music, etc)?
>>
>> On this machine > 500g C: Image 55g used 84g
>> Each machine has own backup drive. 2 have WD Elements and 2 have 500g
>> SSD.
>>
>>
>> KenW
>>
>Quite manageable. Thanks for the info.
>I've seen systems where music and pictures are close to 0.5 TB, and also
>data being stored on the Windows partition...those images are huge and
>take a long time to create and restore.

I have all the music OLDIES I want and do not download movies. Most of
my stuff is about ham radio and computers. I purchased all my original
SSD as 128g so no room for what most other people download.

KenW