Install the Windows Automated Deployment Kit (ADK) Acquire a Windows 10 installation disc or.iso. Create an Unattended.xml answer file. Install Windows 10 on a spare computer. Copy the Unattended.xml file to the spare computer. Run sysprep.exe using the Unattended.xml file. Create a WinPE disc or bootable USB drive. To create WinPE media, you'll have to install the ADK with the Deployment tools option, and then install the WindowsPE addon kit. Download and Install the Windows ADK For the ADK for Windows 10, version 1809. To start working with WinPE, download and install both the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) and the WinPE Add-ons.
For some reason, a Windows 7-based WinPE bootable USB drive I built years ago stopped working on the new desktops I purchased recently. I can still boot into the WinPE environment but the keyboard and mouse stopped working there, and that made this bootable WinPE disk completely useless. Instead of troubleshooting to fix it, I decided to get a more recent version of WinPE. And that’s when I discovered the process of making a Windows 10-based WinPE USB Bootable Drive is so much easier.
First of all, download and install Windows ADK on your computer and make sure Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit is selected during the installation.
Then, launch Deployment and Imaging Tools Environment in an elevated command prompt window. You have two options to do it.
If you want to image a lot of computers with a clean Windows 10 image, Microsoft has lots of built-in tools to help do this, but it’s easy to get lost and overwhelmed with their documentation. To alleviate that headache, I will explain step-by-step how to: I often found myself getting lost.
Option 1 – search “Deployment and Imaging” in the Start menu, right-click the result and choose Run as administrator.
Option 2 – navigate to Start → Windows Kits under W category → right-click Deployment and Imaging Tool → More → Run as Administrator.
Create a working copy of the Windows PE files on your local computer, specify the platform:
Such as, create an x86 copy of WinPE in winpe_x86 folder under z:desktoptemp.
Windows 10 Winpeshl.exe
Plug in the USB drive that you want to build the bootable WinPE, and run MakeWinPEMedia command.
A few notes:
Note #1: the command will re-formats the drive, meaning that all data on the USB device will be lost, so back up your data first before doing this. If you have multiple partitions on the device, only the data on the drive specified in the command will ba lost. The data on the other partition will be safe and untouched.
Note #2: use switch /iso if you want to create an ISO image of the WinPE.
Note #3: the USB device needed to be pre-formatted and assigned a drive letter before you run the command.
That’s about it. Hopefully, it helps.
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-->Windows PE (WinPE) for Windows 10 is a small operating system used to install, deploy, and repair Windows 10 for desktop editions (Home, Pro, Enterprise, and Education), Windows Server, and other Windows operating systems. From Windows PE, you can:
- Set up your hard drive before installing Windows.
- Install Windows by using apps or scripts from a network or a local drive.
- Capture and apply Windows images.
- Modify the Windows operating system while it's not running.
- Set up automatic recovery tools.
- Recover data from unbootable devices.
- Add your own custom shell or GUI to automate these kinds of tasks.
Windows 10 Winpe Gui
Where do I download it?
Starting with Windows 10, version 1809, WinPE is an add-on to the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK). Previously it was included in the ADK. To get Windows PE, install the ADK, and then install the WinPE addon. For more info, see WinPE: Create USB Bootable drive, WinPE: Create a Boot CD, DVD, ISO, or VHD, or see the Demo: Installing Windows PE on a USB Drive.
Support for many Windows features
Windows PE runs the Windows command line environment, and supports these Windows features:
- Batch files and scripts, including support for Windows Script Host (WSH), and ActiveX Data Objects (ADO), and optional support for PowerShell.
- Applications, including Win32 application programming interfaces (APIs) and optional support for HTML Applications (HTA).
- Drivers, including a generic set of drivers that can run networking, graphics, and mass storage devices.
- Image capturing and servicing, including Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM).
- Networking, including connecting to file servers using TCP/IP and NetBIOS over TCP/IP via LAN.
- Storage, including NTFS, DiskPart, and BCDBoot.
- Security tools, including optional support for BitLocker and the Trusted Platform Module (TPM), Secure Boot, and other tools.
- Hyper-V, including VHD files, mouse integration, mass storage and network drivers that allow Windows PE to run in a hypervisor.
Hardware requirements
Windows PE has the same requirements as Windows with these exceptions:
- No hard drive is required. You can run Windows PE entirely from memory.
- The base version requires only 512MB of memory. (If you add drivers, packages, or apps, you'll need more memory.)
- In order to boot Windows PE directly from memory (also known as RAM disk boot), a contiguous portion of physical memory (RAM) which can hold the entire Windows PE (WIM) image must be available. To optimize memory use, manufacturers should ensure that their firmware reserves memory locations either at the beginning or at the end of the physical memory address space.
The 32-bit version of Windows PE can boot 32-bit UEFI and BIOS PCs, and 64-bit BIOS PCs.
The 64-bit version of Windows PE can boot 64-bit UEFI and BIOS PCs.
Limitations
Windows PE is not a general-purpose operating system. It may not be used for any purpose other than deployment and recovery. It should not be used as a thin client or an embedded operating system. There are other Microsoft products, such as Windows Embedded CE, which may be used for these purposes.
To prevent its use as a production operating system, Windows PE automatically stops running the shell and restarts after 72 hours of continuous use. This period is not configurable.
When Windows PE reboots, all changes are lost, including changes to drivers, drive letters, and the Windows PE registry. To make lasting changes, see WinPE: Mount and Customize.
The default Windows PE installation uses the FAT32 file format, which poses its own limitations, including a maximum 4GB file size and maximum 32GB drive size. To learn more, see WinPE: Use a single USB key for WinPE and a WIM file (.wim).
Windows PE does not support any of the following:
- File server or Terminal Server use.
- Joining to a network domain.
- Connecting to an IPv4 network from Windows PE on an IPv6 network.
- Remote Desktop.
- .MSI installation files.
- Booting from a path that contains non-English characters.
- Running 64-bit apps on the 32-bit version of Windows PE.
- Adding bundled app packages through DISM (.appxbundle packages).
Tip
In general, use the latest version of WinPE to deploy Windows. If you are using customized WinPE for Windows 10 images, you may prefer to continue using your existing Windows PE image and run the latest version of DISM from a network location. To learn more, see Copy DISM to Another Computer.
Notes on running Windows Setup in Windows PE:
Windows 10 Problems
Windows 10 Winpe Iso
- You can use the 32-bit versions of Windows PE and Windows Setup to install 64-bit versions of Windows. For more information, see Windows Setup Supported Platforms and Cross-Platform Deployments.
- Although Windows PE supports dynamic disks, Windows Setup does not. If you install Windows to a dynamic disk created in Windows PE, the dynamic disks won't be available in Windows.
- For UEFI-based PCs that support both UEFI and legacy BIOS modes, Windows PE needs to be booted in the correct mode in order to correctly install Windows. For more info, see WinPE: Boot in UEFI or legacy BIOS mode.
See also
Content type | References |
---|---|
Product evaluation | |
Deployment | Create a USB Bootable drive | Demo: Installing Windows PE on a USB drive | Create a boot CD, DVD, ISO, or VHD | Install on a hard drive (Flat boot or Non-RAM) | Boot in UEFI or legacy BIOS mode | Boot to UEFI Mode or legacy BIOS mode | Use a single USB key for WinPE and a WIM file (.wim) |
Operations | Mount and customize | Add drivers | Storage Area Network (SAN) policy | Create apps | Optimize and shrink the image |
Troubleshooting | Network drivers: Initializing and adding drivers | Debug apps |
Tools and settings | Wpeinit and Startnet.cmd: Using WinPE Startup Scripts | Identify drive letters with a script | Add packages (Optional Components Reference) |
Command-line options | CopyPE | Drvload | Makewinpemedia | Wpeutil |
Technologies based on Windows PE | Windows Setup | Windows Recovery Environment | Diagnostic and Recovery Toolset (DaRT) |