[gosh]

As requested by: flattspott

The newest versions of ERD Commander uses windows PE (winpe). Let me first give a general background of winpe then explain the concepts behind winpe.

WinPE is the Preinstallation Environment. The first version of WinPE was version 1.0, that used windows XP. The current version of winpe is 1.3, which can use the XP files or server 2003 files. The power in winpe is it allows you to make 1 tool that you can use for deployments. In the past a company might have had to make a brand new dos tool to deploy windows, then they might make another tool for upgrading computers to the newest windows version. WinPE gives you a full 32bit OS that has some API support. So the same tool you use for deployments can be used for other purposes such as upgrades, which saves time and money for companies.

Despite the advantages of winpe, it's really not new technology. Install win2k then reboot. As the win2k setup comes up, you're looking at winpe. WinPE is exactly the same as win2k/XP setup at the 33 min mark. The only difference is winpe uses startnet.cmd for it's shell; setup uses setup.exe for it's shell. All microsoft did is tweak the code a little bit to make winpe work.

The concept behind winpe is the same as my BOOT or VOL1 folders. When you boot from BOOT or VOL1, setupldr.bin loads files from the current folder. Once the bootup process is done, setupldr.bin passes control to text mode setup (setupdd.sys). WinPE is basically a big BOOT or VOL1 folder. When you boot from WinPE, setupldr.bin loads the boot files from the current directory. When the boot process is done, setupldr.bin passes control to the shell, which in winpe's case is startnet.cmd. Because of this, to put winpe on a cd with another OS, you need to edit it just like a BOOT or VOL1 folder.

To put winpe on a cd, first copy the folder to your hard drive, it should be around ~150 megs. Let's say you copied WinPE to e:\WinPE. Rename the folder to something 4 digits long. In this example, im gonna name it WNPE.

Contents of e:\WNPE (all upper case)

Quote

Directory of E:\WNPE

01/01/2000  12:00 AM    <DIR>          .
01/01/2000  12:00 AM    <DIR>          ..
08/23/2001  09:00 AM    <DIR>          SYSTEM32
08/23/2001  09:00 AM    <DIR>          WINSXS
08/23/2001  09:00 AM    <DIR>          FONTS
08/23/2001  09:00 AM    <DIR>          HELP
08/23/2001  09:00 AM    <DIR>          INF
08/23/2001  09:00 AM    <DIR>          MSAGENT
08/23/2001  09:00 AM            47,580 NTDETECT.COM
08/23/2001  09:00 AM        245,920 SETUPLDR.BIN
08/23/2001  09:00 AM            11,966 EULA.TXT
08/23/2001  09:00 AM            48,037 BIOSINFO.INF
08/23/2001  09:00 AM        456,226 TXTSETUP.SIF
08/23/2001  09:00 AM                10 WIN51
08/23/2001  09:00 AM                10 WIN51IC
08/23/2001  09:00 AM              2 WIN51IC.SP1
08/23/2001  09:00 AM                10 WIN51IP
08/23/2001  09:00 AM              2 WIN51IP.SP1
08/23/2001  09:00 AM            167 WINBOM.INI
08/23/2001  09:00 AM        225,152 SPCMDCON.SYS
              12 File(s)      1,035,082 bytes
            8 Dir(s)  13,737,144,320 bytes free

If you have anything else then what i have, such as a DOCS folder, you can delete it.

Next, hex setupldr.bin and replace i386 with WNPE (all uppercase), it should do this 4 times.

Now we need to make a boot sector. If you have BOOT.DAT or VOL1.DAT, copy it as WNPE.DAT, and hex it, replace i386 with WNPE (all capital letters).

Now edit diskemu.cmd, and add the option for windows PE. Here's an example of sample diskemu.cmd:

Quote

;
:boot
cls
print
print Press Enter to boot from CD...
getkey 5 esc
onkey esc boot 80
onkey entr goto start
; When no key found...
goto boot
:start
cls
print
print ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
print                                cd name
print                                  by gosh
print ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
print F1=Help
print              0) WINXP PRO Volume License SP1 Regular
print              1) WINXP PRO Volume License SP1 Unattended
print              2) WINXP PRO Volume License SP1 OEMPreinstall
print              3) WINXP HOME SP1 Regular
print              4) WINXP HOME SP1 Unattended
print              5) WINXP HOME SP1 OEMPreinstall
print              6) Windows PE SP1
print              7) Windows PE SP1 /inram
print
print              a) Windows 95b Bootdisk
print              Windows 98 Bootdisk
print              c) Windows ME Bootdisk
print
print              x) More Options...
print              q) Quit to command prompt
print              r) Reboot
print              Esc) Boot first harddisk
print
print Hit the key of choice:
:mainkey
; timeout is 30 seconds, default key is escape
getkey 30 esc
onkey 0 run VOL1.DAT
onkey 1 run VOL2.DAT
onkey 2 run VOL3.DAT
onkey 3 run HOM1.DAT
onkey 4 run HOM2.DAT
onkey 5 run HOM3.DAT
onkey 6 run WNPE.DAT
onkey 7 run WNP2.DAT
onkey a run win95.ima
onkey b run Win98.ima
onkey c run winme.ima
onkey q quit
onkey r reboot
onkey x goto dev
onkey f1 goto help
onkey esc boot 80

So when you boot from CD and select option for WinPE, diskemu.cmd hands off control to WNPE.DAT. WNPE.DAT loads setupldr.bin in the WNPE folder. Setupldr.bin boots the computer using the current directory (WNPE). Once it's done booting it hands off control to the shell (startnet.cmd).

Lastly, make sure winbom.ini is on the root of the cd. If the file isn't there, winpe ain't bootin'.

Tips (also applies to longhorn and erd commander):
1 - to change the wallpaper put your wallpaper into system32 folder as winpe.bmp
2 - to edit what winpe says as it boots up, edit txtsetup.sif and edit this line:

Quote

loaderprompt="Starting Windows XP Preinstallation Environment..."

To whatever you want. For example you could put:

Quote

loaderprompt="Starting WinPE Gosh Edition..."

3 - If you want to, you could change the boot logo by editing ntoskrnl.exe
4 - By default windows PE uses XP Professional, even if you use server 2003 as source. If you wanted to, you could edit the winpe files or setupreg.hiv to make it a server OS.
5 - If you want to add custom commands edit the OsLoadOptions line. For example change it from this:

Quote

OsLoadOptions ="/fastdetect /minint"

To this:

Quote

OsLoadOptions ="/fastdetect /minint /inram"

What /inram does it loads the whole winpe cd into memory. By default, winpe only loads what it needs, to save ram. Because of this behavior you cannot swap cd's once winpe is booted. However if you use the /inram command, everything is loaded to memory, allowing you to swap cd's.

-gosh

[flattspott]

Thanks

[gosh]

If you want to reduce the size of winpe by about 30 megs, run this batch file in the WNPE folder (same folder as setupldr.bin). It removes networking support and some fonts.

-gosh

Attached File(s)

•  RemoveNetwork.bat (19.6K)
  Number of downloads: 769

[Numinous]

if you got the room go for erdcommander2003.. larger footprint but much much nicer

[mott]

link This is much better then micrsoft's version try it. also this site link has a lot of good info.

[scankurban]

Gosh Take a look at this Easyboot
I hope you you like this

[eXPerience-XP]

where do i get WinPE? cuz im gonna trying make a multi-boot OS which has XP Home, XP Pro, Windows 2k, WIndows 2k3

EDIT: I jus realized i dont need winpe but wat would i put in Home1.dat and pro1.dat and 2k3.dat and stuff so that when i select the OS i want to install it goes directly to the setup of that OS

[flyakite]

Like I said before, read the tutorials at www.tech-hints.com

Read them THOROUGHLY, do not just skim through it. If you follow exactly what they tell you to do, it will work. Yes, it takes time, but none of this is fast. If you want to do something like a multi-boot os cd, then you just have to deal with it.

[eXPerience-XP]

this topic should be pinned :/

[DaveXP]

do you need anything else to make diskemu.cmd work on does that just have to be on the root of the CD

[glenng]

Hi
Im new to the forum and WinPE

I have used a plain RIS server until now. now I am using Ris to "kick off" WinPE


I was wondering if anyone had any hints/tips as to how i may be able to use WINPE to "choose" what os to install and then use the the images created (the already made i386 folder from risetup)

[mazin]

gosh

Recently, I downloaded Update Rollup 1 to be slipstreamed into Windows XP SP1.

But there are three additional files included in it after extraction. They are outside the folder "update".

ntoskrnl.exe
spmsg.dll
spuninst.exe

These are the files included in your guide:

accwiz.exe
crypt32.dll
cryptsvc.dll
hh.exe
hhctrl.ocx
hhsetup.dll
html32.cnv
itircl.dll
itss.dll
locator.exe
magnify.exe
migwiz.exe
mrxsmb.sys
msconv97.dll
narrator.exe
newdev.dll
ntdll.dll
ntkrnlmp.exe
ntkrnlpa.exe
ntkrpamp.exe
ole32.dll
osk.exe
pchshell.dll
raspptp.sys
rpcrt4.dll
rpcss.dll
shdocvw.dll
shell32.dll
shmedia.dll
srrstr.dll
srv.sys
sysmain.sdb
urlmon.dll
user32.dll
win32k.sys
winsrv.dll
zipfldr.dll

Should any modification be made to the ***.inf files accordingly?

[gosh]

ntoskrnl.exe is already in dosnet.inf, the other 2 files you don't need.

-gosh

[UglyBagofWater]

Gosh, where can I find BOOT.DAT or VOL1.DAT?

[MAVERICKS CHOICE]

UglyBagofWater, on Mar 16 2004, 12:54 PM, said:

Gosh, where can I find BOOT.DAT or VOL1.DAT?

Sorry to butt in but you can down load them directly off Goshs site.
If not pm me with your details & i'll send them to you.

[UglyBagofWater]

MAVERICKS CHOICE, on Mar 16 2004, 12:57 PM, said:

UglyBagofWater, on Mar 16 2004, 12:54 PM, said:

Gosh, where can I find BOOT.DAT or VOL1.DAT?

Sorry to butt in but you can down load them directly off Goshs site.
If not pm me with your details & i'll send them to you.

Fastest response from the forum yet!

No problem "butting in"! I had a hard time finding them on Gosh's site, but finally found them due to your confirmation that they should be there (somewhere!).

And even better, Gosh kindly put WNPE.DAT in the zip too. I love this site and it's members!

Thanks!

[MAVERICKS CHOICE]

UglyBagofWater, on Mar 16 2004, 01:33 PM, said:

MAVERICKS CHOICE, on Mar 16 2004, 12:57 PM, said:

UglyBagofWater, on Mar 16 2004, 12:54 PM, said:

Gosh, where can I find BOOT.DAT or VOL1.DAT?

Sorry to butt in but you can down load them directly off Goshs site.
If not pm me with your details & i'll send them to you.

Fastest response from the forum yet!

No problem "butting in"! I had a hard time finding them on Gosh's site, but finally found them due to your confirmation that they should be there (somewhere!).

Thanks!

Just use any of the dat files, change name & Hex as required.

[sorenlk]

Hi!
I was wondering where Gosh got the DAT files from? Can they be extracted from the Windows XP CD? I use a Danish Windows XP so I think it might be a good idea to get the Danish versions? If there are Danish versions? Help!

Thanks a lot in advance
Soren

[MAVERICKS CHOICE]

sorenlk, on Mar 23 2004, 07:21 AM, said:

Hi!
I was wondering where Gosh got the DAT files from? Can they be extracted from the Windows XP CD? I use a Danish Windows XP so I think it might be a good idea to get the Danish versions? If there are Danish versions? Help!

Thanks a lot in advance
Soren

Yes try nu2 productions website Bart has a nice little tool to do this.

[HappyAndy]

gosh, on Oct 13 2003, 06:47 AM, said:

If you want to reduce the size of winpe by about 30 megs, run this batch file in the WNPE folder (same folder as setupldr.bin). It removes networking support and some fonts.

-gosh

I have been unable to download the RemoveNetwork.bat file from this MSFN site, is this file available on your site or elsewhere. I am unable to find it! I expect its me! I'm trying to reduce the size of WinPE loaded on to partiton as a recovery os and thought your batch file would be a good place to start. I have been able to download other files no problem.Thanks in advance.