Capabilities

Windows PE is a bootable image that you can start by using removable media (CD, DVD, or UFD). You can also use Windows Deployment Services to start Windows PE. Because the Windows 7 deployment tools do not work in 16-bit environments, Windows PE replaces the MS-DOS-bootable disk in all deployment scenarios. It's a lightweight 32-bit or 64-bit environment that supports the same set of networking and mass-storage device drivers that Windows 7 supports, and it provides access to similar features, including NTFS and standalone Distributed File System (DFS). Windows PE includes the following features:

• Hardware independence Windows PE is a hardware-independent Windows environment for both x86 and x64 architectures. You can use the same preinstallation environment on all desktop computers and servers without creating and maintaining different bootable disks for different hardware configurations.
• APIs and scripting capabilities Windows PE contains a subset of the Win32 application programming interfaces (APIs); a command interpreter capable of running batch scripts; and support for adding WSH, HTA, and Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects to create custom tools or scripts. The scripting capabilities in Windows PE far exceed the capabilities of MS-DOS-bootable disks. For example, the command interpreter in Windows PE supports a more robust batch-scripting language than does MS-DOS, allowing you to use more advanced scripts.
• Network access Windows PE uses Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) to provide network access and supports standard network drivers for running Windows 7 Setup and installing images from the network to the computer. You can easily add or remove network drivers from a customized version of Windows PE. In contrast, customizing MS-DOS-bootable disks to access network shares is frustrating, mostly because you need to build and maintain numerous disks. Windows PE alleviates this frustration by supporting the network drivers that Windows 7 supports, and Windows PE is easier to customize with additional network drivers.
• Mass-storage devices Windows PE includes support for all mass-storage devices that Windows 7 supports. As new devices become available, you can easily add or remove drivers into a customized version of Windows PE. Customizing an MS-DOS- bootable disk to access atypical mass-storage devices requires tracking down and installing the 16-bit device drivers. However, Windows PE supports many of these massstorage devices out of the box. And customizing Windows PE to support additional mass-storage devices is easier because it uses standard, readily available Windows device drivers.
• Disk management Windows PE includes native support for creating, deleting, formatting, and managing NTFS partitions. Also, Windows PE provides full, unrestricted access to NTFS file systems. With Windows PE, you don't have to restart the computer after formatting a disk.
• Support for the PXE protocol If the computer supports PXE, you can start it automatically from a Windows PE image located on a Windows Deployment Services server-and Windows Deployment Services doesn't install the Windows PE image on the computer's hard disk. Starting Windows PE from the network makes it a convenient tool to use in all deployment scenarios. Also, you can customize a Windows PE image for recovery and troubleshooting purposes, and adding it to Windows Deployment Services makes it a convenient tool to use in production.

Note You must build a custom Windows PE image from the Windows PE source files, as described in the section titled "Customizing Windows PE" later in this tutorial.

You manage and deploy Windows PE by using the tools included in Windows 7 and the Windows AIK. This toolkit includes the Windows PE User's Guide and tools such as:

• BCDboot.exe Provides initialization of the boot configuration data (BCD) store, and it enables you to copy boot environment files to the system partition during image deployment.
• Bootsect.exe Updates the master boot code for hard disk partitions to alternate between BOOTMGR and NTLDR. This enables you to preinstall Windows 7 from Windows XP.
• DiskPart.exe A text-mode command interpreter in Windows 7 that enables you to manage disks, partitions, or volumes by using scripts or direct input at a command prompt.
• Drvload.exe A command-line tool for adding out-of-the-box drivers to a booted Windows PE image. It takes one or more driver .inf files as inputs.
• Oscdimg.exe A command-line tool for creating an image (.iso) file of a customized 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows PE. You can then burn the .iso file to a CD-ROM.
• Dism.exe A command-line tool that can create and modify a Windows PE 3.0 or Windows 7 image.
• ImageX.exe A command-line tool that enables you to capture, modify, and apply file-based disk images for rapid deployment. It can also work with other technologies that use .wim files, such as Setup for Windows 7 and Windows Deployment Services.
• Winpeshl.ini? The default interface for Windows PE is a command prompt. You can customize Winpeshl.ini to run your own shell application.
• Wpeinit.exe A command-line tool that initializes Windows PE every time it boots. Wpeinit replaced the initialization function previously supported by the Factory.exe -winpe command in earlier versions of Windows PE.
• Wpeutil.exe A command-line tool that enables you to run various commands in a Windows PE session.

Note The Windows PE User's Guide (Winpe.chm) provides complete, portable documentation of the command-line options for all of the tools discussed in this tutorial. This Help file is located in the Windows AIK 2.0, which you can download from the Microsoft Download Center at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads.