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Understanding Windows PE 2.0

When you install Windows Vista, the graphical tools that collect configuration information during the setup phase are running within Windows PE. If Windows Vista fails to start because of a corrupted system file, Windows PE allows you to access and run the Startup Recovery Tool. You can also manually start Windows PE to use built-in or custom troubleshooting and diagnostic tools.

Windows PE replaces MS-DOS as the preinstallation environment. Windows PE is built from Windows Vista components to provide a versatile and extensible environment. Not only can Windows PE run many Windows Vista applications, it can also detect and enable most hardware devices and communicate across IP networks. Windows PE can run entirely from RAM, allowing you to run Windows PE computers that do not currently have a formatted hard disk or an installed operating system.

Windows PE provides full access to both FAT and NTFS file systems. Before you replace or reformat a hard disk, you can start the computer with Windows PE first and then copy any needed files to another disk or to a shared folder.

Windows PE includes several built-in management tools, including:

• DiskPart  A command-line tool for managing disks, partitions, and volumes.

• Drvload  A command-line tool for adding device drivers and dynamically loading a driver after Windows PE has started.

• Net  A suite of commands that allow you to manage local users, start and stop services, and connect to shared folders.

• Netcfg  A network configuration tool that configures network access.

Administrators can create customized Windows PE images with configuration scripts that customize the deployment process. When a new computer is connected to the network, the built-in Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) client connects to a Windows Deployment Service server and downloads the customized Windows PE image across the network. The new computer then loads Windows PE into memory and launches the configuration script.

Working with Windows PE 2.0

Many types of configuration scripts can be used within Windows PE. Configuration scripts can be used to:

• Verify the computer configuration.

• Use Netcfg to configure network access.

• Use Drvload to install a driver and use the hardware without restarting the computer.

• Back up the user data to a shared folder on another computer.

• Run DiskPart to partition and format the computer’s hard disk.

• Use NET SHARE to connect to a shared folder containing the Windows Vista Setup files.

• Run the Windows Vista Setup program to install the operating system.

Like Windows Vista, Windows PE can be contained within a WIM file. However, when you store a Windows Vista image in a WIM file, the only way to start Windows Vista is to copy the full image to the computer’s hard disk. Windows PE, on the other hand, can start directly from a WIM file without being copied to a hard disk. Because of this, you can create a WIM file that includes Windows PE, store this file on bootable media such as a DVD or USB flash drive, and then start Windows PE directly from that media. The Windows Vista distribution media uses this technique to load Windows PE into RAM when you run Setup.

Administrators can load Windows PE fully into memory as well for troubleshooting and recovery. If you choose to run Windows PE from memory, the Windows PE boot loader:

1. Creates a virtual RAM disk in memory.

2. Copies a compressed version of Windows PE to the RAM disk.

3. Mounts the RAM disk as if it were a disk drive and starts Windows PE.

Loading Windows PE from RAM allows you to remove the Windows PE media after Windows PE has started and then insert different media into the computer’s CD/DVD drive. When Windows PE runs from memory, it supports writing temporary files to the virtual RAM disk. This isn’t possible, however, when running from read-only media such as a CD.

Windows PE has several limitations. It requires a computer with a VESA-compatible display and a minimum of 256 MB of RAM. During startup, if Windows PE can’t detect the video settings, it uses a screen resolution of 640 × 480 pixels. Otherwise, it uses the highest resolution possible. Windows PE supports both IPv4 and IPv6. Although you can access shared folders on other computers from Windows PE, other computers cannot access files or folders on a computer running Windows PE.

Windows PE has other limitations as well. Drive letter assignments aren’t persistent between sessions. Windows PE always starts with the default drive letter assignments. Because Windows PE doesn’t support the Microsoft .NET Framework or Windows On Windows (WOW), you cannot use .NET applications on any versions of Windows PE, 16-bit applications on 32-bit versions of Windows PE, or 32-bit applications on 64-bit versions of Windows PE. Additionally, as a safeguard to prevent Windows PE from being used as a general-purpose operating system, Windows PE automatically restarts after running for 24 hours.

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