Information
Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE) boot device belongs to every geeks toolbox. A quote from Wikipedia:
Creating a bootable WinPE USB or ISO is fast and easy. This tutorial will show how to create one for your purposes.WinPE was originally intended to be used only as a pre-installation platform for deploying Microsoft Windows operating systems, specifically to replace DOS in this respect. WinPE has the following uses:
- Deployment of workstations and servers in large corporations as well as pre-installation by system builders of workstations and servers to be sold to end users.
- Recovery platform to run 32-bit or 64-bit recovery tools such as Winternals ERD Commander or Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE).
- Platform for running third-party 32-bit or 64-bit disk cloning utilities.
1) Download latest Windows 10 ADK (Assessment and Deployment Kit) or Windows Insider Preview ADK
2) You may of course install the full 7 GB ADK, but for our purposes you only need components Deployment Tools and Windows Preinstallation Environment:
3) When installed, open Deployment and Imaging Tools interface elevated by right clicking it in Start > W > Windows Kits and select More > Run as administrator:
4) The prompt is quite long. Shorten it by jumping to root of the C: drive with commandcd \(#1 in next screenshot)
5) Create WinPE files with following command (#2):
copype amd64 D:\WPEx64
Replace path D:\WPEx64 with your preferred drive and folder name. The above command creates PE files to be used to boot a 64 bit machine. If you will make PE for 32 bit machine, replace amd64 in command with x86:
copype x86 D:\WPEx86
6) Plug in a USB flash drive, note its drive letter. Enter following command, replopacing path D:\WinPEx64 with actual pathe to folder where you created the PE files, and drive letter I: with actual drive letter of your USB drive:
MakeWinPEMedia /UFD D:\WPEx64 I:
If you want to create a WinPE ISO, change the /UFD switch to /ISO and add path and filename where you want to create the ISO file:
MakeWinPEMedia /ISO D:\WPEx64 F:\WPE64.iso
You will be warned that the USB flash drive will be formatted, Accept with Y:
That's it!
Kari
Create a WinPE USB or ISO
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New #1
What to expect
Hi,
Please excuse basic query, I have never used this before. Anyhow I prepared the bootable usb and when I tried it I get a box with X:\windows\system32> command prompt showing. Is this right?
I am attempting to follow the Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase "Restoring a UEFI/GPT System image to MBR" where it says Open a Windows command window. To open a command window click the icon [C:\] on the taskbar.
I dont seem to have a taskbar, but seem to be at a command prompt already. Confused....
Last edited by keithjr; 22 Aug 2018 at 11:10.
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New #2
bonjour,
Thanks Kari for this tuto
I created the ISO with "MakeWinPEMedia /ISO D:\WinPEx64 F:\WPE64.iso"
I simply copied all files of the ISO to a dedicated partition (2GB) on a second disk
I can now select & boot directly from the BIOS to this partition (F8 on Asus) without doing anything else
My only issue : Anyway to automatically select a default keyboard different that operating system language ?
(French Keyboard with US Windows)
some info Wpeutil Command-Line Options | Microsoft Docs
This works :
Next step could be adding these sommands above to \Windows\System32\Startnet.cmdwpeutil SetKeyboardLayout 040C:0000040C
It will affect all other programs run hereafter.
Another cmd window (with the new keyboard layout) can be opened with:
start cmd
(Dont’t close the initial cmd window. That will make Windows PE restart)
or better WinPE: Add packages (Optional Components Reference) | Microsoft DocsLast edited by D4ni3l; 14 Sep 2018 at 15:04.
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New #4
hello forum.
i've allready made 'my' w10pe sometime ago only for dism capture purposes.
now, i need to add cleanmgr 'DiskCleanUp' to wpe.
like other apps, i've copied the .exe, .mui and the .mun to their respective folders.
i've Add-Package WinPE_OCs\WinPE-WMI.cab to the wpe.
but can't get cleanmgr 'Clean Manager / Disk Cleanup' to work.
any help please?
thank you.
best regards, l.a.
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New #5
Hi Kari, any chance you have played around with the Windows Image Configuration tool supplied in the Windows Kits?
It appears to be a front end for unattended/ custom image setup, or am I wrong?
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New #6
I tried this tutorial with one driver addition:
I added the network driver for my brand new HP ProDesk 600 G5 MT.
But whatever I try, this driver files "e1d68x64" (for a l219 network ethernet device) will not be recognized/applied using the WinPE.
Every software running on top of such a WinPE can't connect to anything on the same network.
What do I have to consider if my device need some newer driver then already existing in the ADK?
Do you know a working way how I can get a WinPE up and running WITH a network connection for my new PC?
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New #7
why are there no replies to all the above user questions?
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Create a WinPE USB or ISO
How to create a Windows Preinstallation Environment bootable USB flash drive or ISO imagePublished by Kari "Kalsarikänni" FinnCategory: Installation & Upgrade
07 Nov 2020
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