Windows tm code name longhorn preinstallation environment

Windows PE 2.0 (Windows Preinstallation Environment alias WinPE)

• Introduction, gaining, features and limitations. Notes and practical examples.

www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/winpreinst/default.mspx

• The preinstallation environment of Windows PE 2.0 is a new solution for installation, diagnostics, troubleshooting and backup. It is a simplified Windows mini operating system that should replace the out-of-date system floppy disk. However, it should not be considered a full replacement of the operating system. It is based on the Microsoft® Windows Vista™ system kernel, but without additional modules and features.

• Licence terms — WinPe may only be used for
  deployment of the OS, troubleshooting and diagnostics, not as a replacement of an OS.

• You can think of the Windows PE (when new and unmodified) as the Command line with Desktop in the background. Do not look for icons, Start menu or Control Panels. In fact, you are fully dependent on the Command line and applications that can be started in WinPE. Actually, installation of Windows Vista is started using Windows PE, as well as server Windows
  Longhorn. In the same way, it can be used for other operating systems or together with the SMS server (System Management Server).

• Gaining:

• The easiest way to gain WinPE 2.0 is to download the Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) that is available in various language versions and contains detailed documentation.

• Previous
  versions were available for download from MVLS or you could have it sent from this website as a part of SA benefits (in February 2006 you could get 2 CDs with older 2004 and 2005 versions).

• Windows OEM Preinstallation Kit (OPK)

Some of the features

• Starting (booting) from hard disk, CD/DVD, USB, network (PXE with
  RIS / WDS — Windows Deployment Services).

• Comparing to the DOS system floppy disk, you do not need any DOS drivers, but you can use Windows drivers.

• NTFS file system support — to access the disk, you do not need to use the recovery console or the system floppy disk with programs and NTFS support.

• Windows network support (network drivers, however, network setup is a bit more complicated). Wireless networks 802.1x are not supported.

• Mass Storage Device Support (USB disks)

• Optional support installation for WMI, VBScript, VSH

• Support for concurrent running multiple applications at the same time
  (Multitasking, Multithreading). You can switch between the applications using Alt + tab, mouse or the buttons in the right upper corner (Minimize, Maximize and Close).

• Writable RAM disk — reserved space of 32 MB for
  temporary files (60 MB if using NTFS compression) which enables to run applications that require writing to the disk, even if starting from the CD and without accessing the disks.

Limitations:

• Automatic restart every 72 hours (24 hours in older versions).

• 32bit (64bit) environment only. The reason is the missing Windows on Windows (WOW) support for
  16bit programs in 32bit Windows environment (WOW64 — 32bit
  programs on 64bit
  Windows). Some programs may not work, e.g. if you are using Symantec Ghost, you will need 32bit version — ghost32.exe. When trying to run ghost.exe
  (16bit version) an error message appears: «The system cannot find the file…»

• Some programs may not install or start (some refuse to install or run because of the system version, other ones try to search for parts that are not contained in WinPE). No Windows Installer (*.msi) support. Net. Framework cannot be installed.

System requirements

• The RAM operating memory is important. The official minimum size requirement is 512 MB, however, it is recommended that you have at least 100 MB or more than the image size of the modified WinPE. The image we created was 120 MB and the system started with 256 MB RAM, however, the functionality of programs, in some cases, was not the best.
• Beware of full RAM memory, then the programs may not work. If there is not enough RAM memory, the system or programs fail and various error messages may pop up.

Modifying WindowsPE before transferring to a starting medium (CD/DVD etc.)

• Choose WinPE Tool Command Prompt from the Start menu.
  In Windows Vista, you have to click the right button and run under
  Administrator.

copype.cmd x86 c:winpeL
md C:WinPEX

• The script creates a folder c:winpeL for the
  x86 architecture.
• Using the md command create WinPEX folder on C: (alternatively, you can
  use the directory: c:winpeLMount.

imagex /apply c:winpeLWinPE.wim 1 C:WinPEX

• Copy the content of the WinPE.wim image to C:WinPEX

Optional I. — Adding a driver

drvload.exe x:lanatl01_xp.inf

• Online — the drvload.exe command allows the driver to load after starting WindowsPE. Ideal for rarely used drivers.

peimg /inf=c:lanatl01_xp.inf c:WinPEXWindows

• Offline — the peimg /inf command for adding a driver in the image. Suitable for frequently used devices, e.g. network card. Only specifying the path to the folder is not sufficient, but you have to enter the full name of the driver file (if you do not do this, the erorr 0x80070002 will appear)

Optional II. — Adding a package (WMI, WSH)

peimg /list C:WinPEXWindows

• Available package list

Results for peimg /list

• WinPE-HTA-Package = HTML Application support
• WinPE-MDAC-Package = Microsoft Data Access Component support
• WinPE-Scripting-Package = Scripting (VBS, WSH) Support
• WinPE-WMI-Package = Windows Management Instrumentation
  Support
• WinPE-XML-Package = Microsoft XML (MSXML) parser support

peimg /install=WinPE-HTA-Package C:WinPEXWindows

• Adding the package WinPE-HTA-Package to C:WinPEXWindows.

Optional III. Adding other applications

• As part of the image— You can load them in the WinPEX directory, however, this increases the RAM requirements. If possible, load applications somewhere else.

• As part of the CD — Load them in the directory c:winpeLISO.
  Programs will not be loaded in RAM, but will be accessible as a part of the ISO image on the CD you are starting from (to access it, you have to find the letter representing the CDROM after starting Windows, usually D:)

• Other location or medium (not in image) — If starting from RAM, you can eject the CD and add another one with images, or you can connect network units with needed programs and data.

• Examples of applications saved out of the image:

• imagex.exe

• Mozilla Firefox

• DLG Diag (diagnostics for WD disks)

• Lavalys Everest

• bcd1.bat, bcd2.bat, dpart.txt

Size optimization

peimg /prep c:WinPEXWindows /f

• This command executes the optimization and removes files for WinPE modification. The size will be reduced, but you will not be able to use switches   /install, /import,
  /list , /uninstall. The /f switch confirms the execution of the command. Without the switch, a question will come up whether you really want to execute the command.

A. Creating the image of a modified WinPE
and burning a starting CD or DVD (starting from RAM Disk)

imagex /boot /compress max /capture c:WinPEX c:winpeLISOSourcesboot.wim
«WinPE AdminXP Image»

• Capturing the image of the modified WinPE.

oscdimg -n -bc:winpeLetfsboot.com c:winpeLISO c:winpeLwinpeAXP.iso

• Creating the *.iso image for burning the WinPE to a CD/DVD.
  Use a burning program, e.g. I am using the Nero burning program I acquired with my new burning drive.

B. Transferring WinPE to HDD, Flash without loading the WinPE to RAM
(direct start)

• This is a procedure of creating WinPE on a hard disk or a USB
  disk. WinPE will not be started from a RAM Disk, but from the disk as classical Windows Vista. There exist more ways to do this. For illustration, we will use the WinPE CD created in the previous part of this article to start the system.

• Starting will be slower than from RAM, but changes made will be saved in the memory.

diskpart
select disk 0
clean
create partition primary
select partition 1
active
format fs=ntfs
assign letter=c
exit

• Dividing the disk using diskpart. Text can be saved in a file
  (script) and so make the process faster (dpart.txt).
• If you have more than one disk in your PC, make sure you choose the right one. In order to view the list of disks, use the list disk command. In order to view the list of partitions and assigned letters, use the list volume command.

imagex /apply d:sourcesboot.wim 1 c:
copy d:bootmgr c:
md c:boot

• Unpack the WinPE in e: disk
• Copy the bootmgr file from d: to c: and create boot directory.

bcdedit -createstore c:bootBCD2
bcdedit -store c:bootBCD2 -create {bootmgr} /d «Boot Manager»
bcdedit -store c:bootBCD2 -set {bootmgr} device boot
bcdedit -store c:bootBCD2 -create /d «WINPE» -application osloader
Bcdedit -import c:bootBCD2

• bcd1.bat — Creating new configuration data for starting the system. The last line will show the GUID identifier (something like
  {dc67e498-d09d-11db-92e9-0003ffd09570}) which we will use in the following commands.

bcdedit -store c:bootBCD -set
{GUID} osdevice partition=c:
bcdedit -store c:bootBCD -set
{GUID} device partition=c:
bcdedit -store c:bootBCD -set {GUID} path windowssystem32bootwinload.exe
bcdedit -store c:bootBCD -set
{GUID} systemroot windows
bcdedit -store c:bootBCD -set
{GUID} winpe yes
bcdedit -store c:bootBCD -set
{GUID} detecthal yes
bcdedit -store c:bootBCD -displayorder
{GUID} -addlast

• bcd2.bat — This is a bunch of commands for creating the configuration data. Instead of GUID, the identifier gained in the previous part must be entered.

view the current BCP configuration (bcdedit /enum all)

wpeinit
X:totalcmdtotalcmd.exe

• Content of the startnet.cmd file in the directory
  X:WindowsSystem32.
• The second line is my additional information on running Total Commander
  after startup (or others you want to start together with the command line).

Creation (Restore) of BCD for WinPE using Recovery options in Windows Vista

• Start from the Windows Vista installation DVD. After choosing the language, click «Repair
  your computer». A window warning about a startup problem will automatically pop up. Confirm «Repair and
  restart».
• Restart and boot from DVD. Choose Repair. Click the Next button, choose the OS and then start the Command line.
• To view the current configuration, use the command bcdedit /enum all

bcdedit /delete
{memdiag} /f
bcdedit -store c:bootBCD -displayorder
{GUID} -addlast

• Delete memtest (contains incorrect data) and add displayorder using GUID gained from bcdedit /enum all.

C. Transferring to HDD, Flash with loading Win PE to RAM
(start from RAM Disk)

• The procedure is similar to the procedure of the direct start. Start
  WinPE and prepare the disk using Diskpart.

xcopy d:*.* c: /E /F

• This will copy all directories and files from the CD to the disk C:
• Now, WinPE should be ready to run.
• Error or a feature?
• If you try to run Bcedit from a medium created this way, the following error message will appear: The boot configuration data
  store could not be opened. The volume for a file has been
  externally altered so that the opened file is no longer valid.
  
• This error will not limit you in using WinPE. In case of starting from RAM, I do not know any solution.
• In case of direct startup of WinPE from the disk, I recommend
  that you go back to the previous lines dedicated to recovery under Vista
  (sometimes it may be helpful to delete the Boot directory).

Network connection

net use g: \192.168.200.4sh /USER:Li587ad A1234567

• This is a command for connecting a remote shared folder. The folder will be connected as the disk g:, is located in a PC with the IP address
  192.168.200.4 and sharing name sh. Domain or name of the computer is Li587, user ad, password A1234567.
• Error 3775 The user context supplied is invalid.
  — this will appear if credentials of the user is required (the following is not sufficient: net use g: \192.168.200.4sh)