How To Build Windows PE 2.0 Bootable CD

I hope you can understand my brief explanation about Windows PE. For me, it is very good for computer technicians to has knowledge about how to use Windows PE. It can give a lot of benefits to them when managing a lot of computers in their workplace.

Windows PE can save a lot of our time when we need to reinstall Windows. With Windows PE, you can capture Windows image from the reference computer and then deploy it into targeted (destination) computers. You can keep the Windows image you captured for future use.

Today we will learn how to create Windows PE Bootable CD before we learn how to use it. 



What You Need

1. An empty CD or CD-RW disc.
   
   
2. Your computer is free to run whether Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows 7 or Windows Server 2003 SP1.
   
   
3. Your computer must equipped with CD writer, so you can burn Windows PE into the CD or CD-RW.
   
   
4. Your must have burning software installed into your Windows system. I suggest you to use ImgBurn. Click Here To Download.
   
   
5. Windows Automated Installation Kit For Windows Vista SP1.
   
   Note:
   If you want to deploy Windows Vista SP1 into both of your reference computer and destination computers, you need to install Microsoft WAIK For Windows Vista SP1.

Before The Procedures

1. You need to install the Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows Vista SP1 into your system (technician computer). Click here for the guidance.

The Procedures

In this procedures, I assume your computer is x86 architecture and have Windows Vista OS installed.

1. Click --> click All Programs –-> click Microsoft Windows AIK.
   
   
   
2. When the drop-down menu appears, right click on Windows PE Tools Command Prompt –-> click Run as administrator –-> click Continue. The Windows PE Tools Command Prompt interface appears. See below.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Type the command copype x86 c:\WinPE –-> press --> when you run this command, the single folder named WinPE will be created in drive c:\.
   
   
   
4. When you open the c:\WinPE folder, you will see the Windows PE image file named winpe.wim.
   
    
     
   It contains the basic files which form Windows PE’s basic functionality. You can modify this image file (.wim) using imagex command.
   
   
   
5. Let say you want to modify Windows PE image. What you have to do first is mounting the winpe.wim using imagex /mountrw.
   
    
   
   To mount the image type the command below and press . 
   
   
    
   NOTE:
   Number 1 is an index number of Windows PE image (winpe.wim) which can be viewed using imagex /info command.
   
    
   
   To view an index number type the command below and press .
   
    
    
   Don’t forget to unmount the image file first. To unmount the image, type the command below and press . 
   
    
   
   
   
6. Now, you had mounted the image file in the c:\WinPE\mount folder. It contains 3 folders like below.
   
    
   
   
   
7. Let say, you want to install the additional package into the image. First of all you need to know the available packages offered using the command peimg /list.
   
   
   
   To view the packages, type the command below and press .
   
   
   
   
   
8. If you want to add both HTA packages (HTML Application Support package) into the image, you need to use the command peimg /install.
   
   
   
   To add both HTA packages at once, type the command below and press .
    
    
   
   NOTE:
   Adding the packages into Windows PE image is OPTIONAL. Both steps 7 and 8 that I had showed you is just to teach you how to add package into an image. Click here, if you need additional guide to perform these steps.
   
   
   
9. Now, we are going to add imagex.exe into Windows PE image. To do this you must copy imagex.exe from c:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\x86 folder into c:\WinPE\ISO folder. In order to copy the program, you must use copy command.  
   
   
   
   To copy the imagex.exe, type the command below and press . 
   
    
   
   NOTE:
   It is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to integrate the Windows PE image with imagex.exe program. This program is very useful for you to capture Windows image and deploy it into targeted (destination) computer. In other words I RECOMMEND YOU TO PERFORM STEP 9 IN THIS PROCEDURE.
   
   
   
10. We have finished adding the package and the program into Windows PE image. Therefore, the functionality and size of Windows PE increase. Now we will save the image using command imagex /unmount. 
    
    
    
    To save the image, type the command below and press .
    
    
    
    
    
11. At this step, we will copy the modified image into c:\WinPE\ISO\sources folder.
    
    We will replace the image file called boot.wim inside the folder, with the image (winpe.wim) we had saved in step 10. For this purpose, you must use copy command.
    
    
    
    To replace the boot.wim, type the command below and press .
    
    
    
    
    
12. This is the final step where you must change the winpe.wim file (that you replace in step 11) into ISO file. To accomplish this step you must use oscdimg command.  
    
     
    
    Type the command below and press .
    
    
    
    
    
13. When the process done, you will get the ISO image called winpe inside the folder c:\WinPE.
    
    

After The Procedures

Burn the Windows PE image (in form of ISO file) into CD or CD-RW. You can use burning software ImgBurn to accomplish the task. Make sure your computer is equipped with CD writer or DVD writer. This bootable CD can be used to capture the Windows Vista 32-bit Edition image file.