Ecosyste.ms: Awesome

An open API service indexing awesome lists of open source software.

Awesome Lists | Featured Topics | Projects

https://github.com/kuzi-moto/WinPEHelper

Powershell modules that run without being in the Deployment and Imaging Tools environment
https://github.com/kuzi-moto/WinPEHelper

Last synced: 30 days ago
JSON representation

Powershell modules that run without being in the Deployment and Imaging Tools environment

Awesome Lists containing this project

README 

        
# WinPE

Microsoft: "Windows PE (WinPE) for Windows 10 is a small operating system used to install, deploy, and repair Windows 10"



This is a custom script that runs when Windows PE boots. It gives a convenient menu to easily capture and deploy Windows images.



## Features



* Simple menu for capturing and deploying Windows images.

* Deploy with one click, script automatically partitions drive and writes image to disk.

* Works with UEFI or BIOS.

* Create a full disk backup with 7z. (needs some work)



## Setup



### Perequisites



* Windows PE files. Download the [Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK)](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/download-winpe--windows-pe)

  * Make sure you have selected **Deployment tools**

  * if you have Windows 1809 make sure to download the Windows PE add-on

* The files from this repository



### Create working Files



1. Start **Deployment and Imaging tools Environment** as admin.

2. Run copype to create a directory to work from. This will only boot on 64-bit machines.

    * `copype amd64 C:\WinPE`

3. Mount WinPE to allow making changes.

    * `Dism /Mount-Image /ImageFile:"C:\WinPE\media\sources\boot.wim" /index:1 /MountDir:"C:\WinPE\mount"`

4. Copy and replace files from repo to "C:\WinPE\mount\Windows\System32".



### Unmount and commit changes



1. Use Dism to unmount and commit changes

    * `Dism /Unmount-Image /MountDir:"C:\WinPE\mount" /commit`



### Create Bootable Media



#### Bootable USB Drive



Windows PE uses Fat32, so the maximum file size is only 4 GB. Typically Windows images are much larger after updates, installing software, etc. So you have the following options from least to most convenient:



* Split your .wim file into several chunks to get the whole image to fit with WinPE on one parition. I can't see any benefit to doing this now since Windows 10 1703 supports creating multiple partitions on USB drives.

  * Note: My script doesn't allow for creating split images yet. So if for some reason you needed to deploy the image from a FAT32 drive, you would need to capture it yourself, or two a second NTFS drive and [split it later](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/winpe--use-a-single-usb-key-for-winpe-and-a-wim-file---wim#option-4-split-the-image).

* Use two USB drives. One FAT to boot Windows PE, and other as NTFS to hold the images. This works but if you have a Microsoft Surface or similar device, these only have a single USB port so to use both would need a USB hub.

* Continue reading my instructions on formatting a USB drive with two paritions. One small FAT partition for Windows PE, and the other as NTFS for images. I find this to be the easiest method, as USB 3 drives are getting pretty cheap, are are very fast, and more convenient as you only need one device.



**This should go without saying, but all data on the drive will be erased! - Also, make sure to select the right drive!**



1. In the **Deployment and Imaging Tools Environment** type **diskpart** and press Enter.

2. Use these commands to partition the disk into two paritions using Diskpart.

    1. `List disk`

    2. `select disk x` - (Where x is USB drive.)

    3. `clean`

    4. `create partition primary size=512` (This makes WinPE 512MB. Increase as needed if you have added more to your WinPE setup.)

    5. `active`

    6. `format fs=FAT32 quick label="WinPE"`

    7. `assign letter=P`

    8. `create partition primary`

    9. `format fs=NTFS quick label="Images"`

    10. `assign letter=I`

    11. `Exit`

3. Copy Windows PE files to drive

    1. `MakeWinPEMedia /UFD C:\WinPE P:`

4. Create an "Images" folder on the I drive. This is where the script will store and read images from.

    1. `mkdir I:\Images`



#### ISO disk image



1. Use MakeWinPEMedia with /ISO option.

    * `MakeWinPEMedia /ISO C:\WinPE C:\WinPE\WinPE.iso`



## Resources



* [Create bootable WinPE media](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/winpe-create-usb-bootable-drive)

* [WinPE: Mount and Customize](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/winpe-mount-and-customize)

* [WinPE: Store or split images to deploy Windows using a single USB drive](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/winpe--use-a-single-usb-key-for-winpe-and-a-wim-file---wim)