Configuring the Build Environment

The Windows AIK will install the Windows PE build and imaging tools to the following folders:

• C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\ Contains Windows AIK program files
• C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\platform\ Contains ImageX program files for different processor architectures
• C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools\ Contains Window PE source files
• C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\Servicing\ Contains servicing files

The Windows AIK also provides a Deployment Tools command prompt that opens on the Windows AIK tools folders. You can use commands within this command prompt interface to create your Windows PE build environment. The build environment is a copy of the build scripts and Windows PE source files that you customize and then use to create a new Windows PE image file. The Copype.cmd script is designed to create the build environment. Use the following syntax to create the Windows PE environment, where platform is either x86 or amd64 and destination is the folder to which you want to copy the files.

Note To follow the examples in this tutorial, run the command copype x86 c:\winpe_x86. You can use an alternative location for your build environment, but you will need to make the appropriate modifications to the examples provided with this tutorial. Additionally, you can replace x86 with x64 if you want to build a 64-bit version of Windows PE, which is necessary when you are installing the 64-bit version of Windows 7.