WINDOWS PE (WINDOWS PREINSTALLATION ENVIRONMENT)
The major steps in putting a minimal Win 7 Pre-Execution Environment on a USB stick are:
DISKPART
RUN DISKPART
Enter following DISKPART commands:
List disk (optional to help you specify the correct “index” number)
select disk 1 (for the case of 1 hard drive, assigned index of 0, and 1 USB stick)
detail disk (info will help verify that you’ve selected the desired USB stick)
clean {Removes all partition or volume formatting from disk with focus)
create partition primary {create a primary partition|
select partition 1 {select the partition you just created)
active (mark the partition as Active, ie, a system bootable partition)
format quick fs=fat32 (format the partition as Fat32)
assign (assign next available drive letter to the volume)
exit (exit DISKPART and return to the command-shell prompt)
Type EXIT | hit ENTER Exit from the command-shell.
REMOVE THE USB STICK
The Win 7 AIK is a set of tools and documentation that support the configuration and deployment of Windows® operating systems
The Windows® Automated Installation Kit (AIK) for Windows® 7 RC download URL is:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloadS/details.aspx?familyid=60A07E71-0ACB-453A-8035-D30EAD27EF72&displaylang=en
You will be downloading a 1.40 GB (1,505,271,808 bytes) ISO file.
Win 7 comes with a very primitive command-line ISO burner, named, ISOBURN.EXE which is located in your \windows directory. You can use ISOBURN.EXE, I did, to burn the ISO to a DVD.
Don’t have a computer with Win 7 installed handy? Use the free Active@ ISOBURNER. The URL is: http://software.lsoft.net/IsoBurner-Setup.exe
Burn the ISO to a DVD. INSTALL THE AIK Run the AutoRun.Inf file on the DVD.
Take a short break while the Win 7 Automated Installation Kit (AIK) is installed.
After installation, you will have:
Use COPYPE.CMD to build the PE directory structure.
COPYPE.CMD is located in C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools.
With Windows Explorer (Win + E) navigate to:
C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools
Shift + right-click on C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools
Select “Open command windows here”.
Enter:
COPYPE.CMD x86 C:\winpe
Hit Enter key and the copype.cmd will run.
Close the command prompt window (after COPYPE.CMD finishes): Type EXIT and hit Enter
Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) is:
Run DISM as Administrator
Change present working directory
CD c:\”program files\Windows AIK\Tools\Servicing
To do anything with a WIM, you must “Mount” a WIM. DISM insists upon the “index” parameter, even when the WIM file contains o nly one OS image.
DISM /MOUNT-WIM /MOUNTDIR:C:\winpe\mount /WIMFILE:C:\winpe\winpe.wim /INDEX:1
Unmount and save changes to the WIM file. The DISM word for save is COMMIT!
DISM /UNMOUNT-WIM /MOUNTDIR:C:\winpe\mount /COMMIT
Our winpe.wim file GREW!
Original size: 113,772,853 winpe.wim Size after a mount and unmount with commit: 114,526,083 winpe.wim
For reasons beyond my understanding, these sizes have been different for each and every min WinPE I’ve made.
COPY THE WINPE.WIM TO THE \ISO\SOURCES SUBFOLDER AS BOOT.WIM
Copy c:\winpe\winpe.wim c:\winpe\ISO\sources\boot.wim
xcopy c:\winPE\iso\*.* f:\ /e (where f: represents the drive letter used by your USB stick)
If needed, Boot into your BIOS setup routine and move booting from USB up to the top of the boot list. Save and exit from the BIOS setup routine.
The time for the acid test has arrived.