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Is there a way to edit an El Torito *.iso file without going through FBA again and rebuilding the whole image from scratch?

     The system in question is currently booting from an El Torito CD and has no internal HD.  It works great.  One small problem is that I did not add a font which one of the applications needed, so that application is difficult to read.  I still have a copy of the original *.iso file used to burn the CD so that I could make other copies if needed.  Perhaps there is a way that I can access the files in the .iso image so that I can add the needed font file and add the registry entry for that font?

     Everything I have tried can not see any files in the image.  I've tried a few image file readers like UltraISO, but they say the image is 0 bytes.  I've tried to mount the image as well, but it simply shows an empty drive, just like if you try to load the CD up in XP Pro.  I've tried BBIE and it too extracts an image of 0 bytes.  I would hate to have to run the system through FBA and configure everything again if all I need to do is add a file and a registry entry.  Especially if this problem pops up again on other similar systems.  Any help is appreciated!

 Thanks,

Jon

Leodox:

Is there a way to edit an El Torito *.iso file without going through FBA again and rebuilding the whole image from scratch?

     The system in question is currently booting from an El Torito CD and has no internal HD.  It works great.  One small problem is that I did not add a font which one of the applications needed, so that application is difficult to read.  I still have a copy of the original *.iso file used to burn the CD so that I could make other copies if needed.  Perhaps there is a way that I can access the files in the .iso image so that I can add the needed font file and add the registry entry for that font?

     Everything I have tried can not see any files in the image.  I've tried a few image file readers like UltraISO, but they say the image is 0 bytes.  I've tried to mount the image as well, but it simply shows an empty drive, just like if you try to load the CD up in XP Pro.  I've tried BBIE and it too extracts an image of 0 bytes.  I would hate to have to run the system through FBA and configure everything again if all I need to do is add a file and a registry entry.  Especially if this problem pops up again on other similar systems.  Any help is appreciated!

 Thanks,

Jon

Hi Jon,

Unfortunately, there is not a way to edit the ISO after you have created it. Typically what I will do is keep a copy of the Post-FBA files around for just such an occasion. Then, if I need to edit them I can and re-run hd2iso.

HTH,
Brad

bcombs:

Hi Jon,

Unfortunately, there is not a way to edit the ISO after you have created it. Typically what I will do is keep a copy of the Post-FBA files around for just such an occasion. Then, if I need to edit them I can and re-run hd2iso.

HTH,
Brad

     I kept a copy of the pre-FBA files just in case, but I guess I should also keep a copy of the post-FBA files.  I see what you are saying, if all I need to do is add a file and edit the registry, then I should be able to make those changes on the post-FBA files and run HD2ISO without ever booting up into the image again.  Guess I'll have to add that step to my procedures.  Thanks Brad.

Jon

Just an update:  I found a way to salvage files from an El Torito image after it has been burned to the CD.

 1)  You must have a second PC that is running an XPE image on the HD, with El Torito enabled.

2)  Put the El Torito CD with the image you want to salvage into the CD-ROM.

3)  Boot to the XPE image on the hard drive.

4)  El Torioto will detect the El Torito CD in the drive and assign it another drive letter.

5)  Since the CD is not the boot device, you have access to copy all the files to a folder on the hard drive.  Edit the files or registry, then repackage them into an ISO, and make a new CD.

 This method worked great because I did not have the original Post-FBA files and did not have access to the original hardware to run FBA again.  I also had another PC already set up with an El Torito image on my bench.  It saved a lot of time to just make one change in the registry.  However, as Brad said it is always a great idea to make a complete backup of Post-FBA files!  I will definately start doing that every time, just in case.

Jon

Nice tip Jon! I'll put a link to this thread in my blog so that other people might find it.