Automating the BIOS boot order

[standard149]

I posted this under the programming lounge because I beleived this to be more of a question of writing a script then dealing with the OS itself, but id really like some feedback so after an suggestion im posting it here.

Basically, what im attempting to do is add some preliminary procedures onto my usb drive. Currently I have a distro of linux, knoppix in my case, which will boot and run entirely from the drive. I really would like to streamline the entire process of booting a machine into knoppix (Shutting down, rebooting into bios, changing boot order).

What I have so far is an autorun to open my batch file containg psshutdown. I chose this app as it allows multiple windows enviroments to all be shutdown, as opposed to plugging in a script for XP, 9*, etc. I know its not much, but this is all I have.

My AUTORUN.INF
[autorun]
open=launch.bat
(Btw, should I include/substitute for shellexecute?)

and in the launch.bat
psshutdown -r -v 0

Psshutdown in this instance displays no timer, and will reboot upon shutdown. Now heres where I dont have the slightest, even in so far as what language this can/should be done in. The intent is that this autorun will also enter the bios on startup, enter the boot order, choose to boot from any selectable USB device (USB_HDD or USB_ZIP), and save&exit the bios. Is this even possible from a batch script? Heck how feasable is this at all? Perhaps there an app out there that will give a device like this(or a cd and play with the script) the primary boot option?

Being able to streamline all of this would just be that much more conveinent, and im really curious as to how it could done. My knowledge of actual programming is nearly nonexistant. Id like to get this script running and explore how it actually works at the same time, but if I could at least get some general guidlines and tips to get me closer id really appreciate it.

Cheers!

[Colloid Snake]

I posted this under the programming lounge because I beleived this to be more of a question of writing a script then dealing with the OS itself, but id really like some feedback so after an suggestion im posting it here.

Basically, what im attempting to do is add some preliminary procedures onto my usb drive. Currently I have a distro of linux, knoppix in my case, which will boot and run entirely from the drive. I really would like to streamline the entire process of booting a machine into knoppix (Shutting down, rebooting into bios, changing boot order).

What I have so far is an autorun to open my batch file containg psshutdown. I chose this app as it allows multiple windows enviroments to all be shutdown, as opposed to plugging in a script for XP, 9*, etc. I know its not much, but this is all I have.

My AUTORUN.INF
[autorun]
open=launch.bat
(Btw, should I include/substitute for shellexecute?)

and in the launch.bat
psshutdown -r -v 0

Psshutdown in this instance displays no timer, and will reboot upon shutdown. Now heres where I dont have the slightest, even in so far as what language this can/should be done in. The intent is that this autorun will also enter the bios on startup, enter the boot order, choose to boot from any selectable USB device (USB_HDD or USB_ZIP), and save&exit the bios. Is this even possible from a batch script? Heck how feasable is this at all? Perhaps there an app out there that will give a device like this(or a cd and play with the script) the primary boot option?

Being able to streamline all of this would just be that much more conveinent, and im really curious as to how it could done. My knowledge of actual programming is nearly nonexistant. Id like to get this script running and explore how it actually works at the same time, but if I could at least get some general guidlines and tips to get me closer id really appreciate it.

Cheers!

Why not just set the bios once and leave it? (Though you would have to remove your USB key whenever you didn't want to boot from it...)

[standard149]

Why not just set the bios once and leave it? (Though you would have to remove your USB key whenever you didn't want to boot from it...)

Well I wanted to be able to keep its portability factor, and take the usb drive to use on any windows pc at work, school, etc.

[Colloid Snake]

Well I wanted to be able to keep its portability factor, and take the usb drive to use on any windows pc at work, school, etc.

I don't know how feasible it is - most schools or companys will lock the BIOS as good security practice now (or at least should), and it will probably be easier to just do it yourself than to spend the time figuring out the right hex string that these guys are talking about:

http://blogs.technet.com/jhoward/arc...12/425092.aspx