Get the files you need to create WinPE media

Download and install both the Windows ADK and the Windows PE Add-on. When you
install the ADK choose, at minimum, the Deployment Tools feature.

1- See Download and install the Windows ADK for links to installers for all
available versions of the ADK and Windows PE add-on.

2- After you've downloaded and installed the ADK and Windows PE add-on, you can
create bootable Windows PE media.

Step 1: Create working files

No matter what type of media you're going to create, the first thing to do is
create a working set of Windows PE files on your technician PC.

Make sure your PC has the ADK and ADK Windows PE add-on installed.

Start the Deployment and Imaging Tools Environment as an administrator.

Run copype to create a working copy of the Windows PE files.

cmd as admin:

(Copy the following):

copype amd64 C:\WinPE_amd64

Step 2: Customize Windows PE

The customizations below are common, but not every Windows PE image requires
customizations. When you add packages to Window PE, it can slow performance and
boot time. Only add additional packages when necessary.

Common customizations:

- For Windows 11: If you're launching Windows Setup from Window PE, add the WinPE-
WMI and WinPE-SecureStartup optional components. If you don't include these
optional components, you may see an error that your PC doesn't meet the minimum
hardware requirements.
- Add an update. To learn more, see: WinPE: mount and customize.
- Add a video or network driver. (Windows PE includes generic video and network
drivers, but in some cases, additional drivers are needed to show the screen or
connect to the network.). To learn more, see WinPE: Add drivers.
- Add PowerShell scripting support. To learn more, see WinPE: Adding Windows
PowerShell support to Windows PE. PowerShell scripts are not included in this lab.
- Set the power scheme to high-performance. Speeds deployment. Note, our sample
deployment scripts already set this scheme automatically.
- Optimize Windows PE: Recommended for devices with limited RAM and storage (for
example, 1GB RAM/16GB storage). - After you add drivers or other customizations to
Windows PE, see Image optimization to help reduce the boot time.

Step 3: Create bootable media

Now that you now have a set of working files, you can use MakeWinPEMedia to build
bootable WinPE media.

Create a bootable Windows PE USB drive

Attach a USB drive to your technician PC.
Start the Deployment and Imaging Tools Environment as an administrator.

Optional You can format your USB key prior to running MakeWinPEMedia.
MakeWinPEMedia will format your Windows PE drive as FAT32. If you want to be able
to store files larger than 4GB on your Windows PE USB drive, you can create a
multipartition USB drive that has an additional partition formatted as NTFS. See
Create a multipartition USB drive for instructions.

Use MakeWinPEMedia with the /UFD option to format and install Windows PE to the USB
flash drive, specifying the USB key's drive letter:

cmd as administrator

(Copy the following:)

MakeWinPEMedia /UFD C:\WinPE_amd64 P:

Warning! This command reformats the partition.

See MakeWinPEMedia command line options for all available options.

The bootable Windows PE USB drive is ready. You can use it to boot a PC into
Windows PE.

Create a WinPE ISO, DVD, or CD

Use MakeWinPEMedia with the /ISO option to create an ISO file containing the
Windows PE files:

cmd

Copy
MakeWinPEMedia /ISO C:\WinPE_amd64 C:\WinPE_amd64\WinPE_amd64.iso
Optional Burn a DVD or CD: In Windows Explorer, right-click the ISO file, and
select Burn disc image > Burn, and follow the prompts.

Create a Windows PE VHD to use with Hyper-V

You can create a bootable VHD to use with Hyper-V.

Tip

If you're planning to run Windows PE in Hyper-V, consider using an ISO file format
instead of a VHD to enable faster setup of the virtual PC.

To install Windows PE to a VHD:

Create a virtual hard drive (.vhdx):

cmd

Copy
diskpart
create vdisk file="C:\WinPE.vhdx" maximum=1000
attach vdisk
create partition primary
assign letter=V
format fs=ntfs quick
exit
Prepare the drive by using MakeWinPEMedia:
cmd

Copy
MakeWinPEMedia /UFD C:\WinPE_amd64 V:
Detach the drive:

cmd

Copy
diskpart
select vdisk file="C:\WinPE.vhdx"
detach vdisk
exit
Boot from the media you created
Now that you've created bootable Windows PE media, you can use it to boot your PC.

Insert the media into the PC you want to boot.

Turn on the PC.
Press the key or key combination that will bring up the boot menu. This key or key
combination is different depending on your PC manufacturers. If you don't know
which key combination will bring up your PC's boot menu, contact your PC
manufacturer.
From the boot menu, select the bootable Windows PE media.
Your PC will boot into Windows PE.

Troubleshooting
If Windows PE doesn't appear, try the following workarounds, rebooting the PC each
time:

To boot a PC that supports UEFI mode: In the firmware boot menus, try manually
selecting the boot files: \EFI\BOOT\BOOTX64.EFI.
If your PC requires storage or video drivers to boot, try adding those same drivers
to the Windows PE image. For more information, see WinPE: Mount and Customize.
If the PC doesn't connect to network locations, see WinPE Network Drivers:
Initializing and adding drivers..

COPYING DISM from one computer to another:

Use a newer version of DISM in WinPE

To use some DISM features in WinPE, you may need to run a different version of DISM
than what's available in your OS.

Each time you boot WinPE and want to use these features, you'll need to install and
configure the drivers needed for DISM, including the wimmount.sys and wofadk.sys
drivers.

The CopyDandI.cmd script copies the version of DISM from your local installation of
the ADK to a folder which you can use in WinPE.

Option 1: Run DISM from a separate location

Important! Don't overwrite the existing DISM files on the WinPE image.
Start the Deployment and Imaging Tools Environment as an administrator.

From the technician PC, copy the Deployment and Imaging Tools from the Windows ADK
to the storage USB key.

cmd

Copy
CopyDandI.cmd amd64 E:\ADKTools\amd64

Option 2: Add DISM to the WinPE RAMDisk.

Note

This will add roughly 4MB to the size of your DISM image, which may affect
performance.

On your technician PC, install the Windows ADK.

Mount the WinPE image, which you can find in the \sources\boot.wim of your WinPE
media or WinPE working files.

cmd

Copy
md "C:\WinPE_amd64\mount"

Dism /Mount-Image /ImageFile:"C:\WinPE_amd64\media\sources\boot.wim" /index:1

/MountDir:"C:\WinPE_amd64\mount"
Copy the DISM folder from the Windows ADK into a new folder in the mounted WinPE
image.

cmd

Copy
md C:\WinPE_amd64\mount\DISM

robocopy "C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Assessment and Deployment Kit\

Deployment Tools\amd64\DISM" C:\WinPE_amd64\mount\DISM
Important

Don't overwrite the existing DISM files from the system32 folder in the WinPE
image. Instead, create a new folder on the host computer to copy the Windows ADK
files into.

Unmount WinPE.

cmd

Copy
Dism /Unmount-Image /MountDir:"C:\WinPE_amd64\mount" /commit
Create WinPE bootable media, or replace the WinPE image file on your existing
removable media.

cmd
Copy
MakeWinPEMedia /UFD C:\WinPE_amd64 F:
Use the new version of DISM
Boot the reference PC to WinPE.

Find the drive letter of the storage drive (diskpart, list volume, exit).

Install and configure DISM's required drivers by using either

wimmountadksetupamd64.exe /Install or wimmountadksetupx86.exe /Install.

cmd

Copy
W:\ADKTools\amd64\wimmountadksetupAmd64.exe /Install /q
For the default (RAMDisk) version of WinPE, you'll need to run this command each
time you boot WinPE. To learn how to run this command automatically when WinPE
boots, see Wpeinit and Startnet.cmd: Using WinPE Startup Scripts.

Verify the new version of DISM:

cmd

Copy
W:\ADKTools\amd64\DISM.exe /?
The output shows the build number, for example:

cmd

Copy
Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.14939.0
Use the new version of DISM. Example:

cmd

Copy
W:\ADKTools\amd64\DISM.exe /Apply-Image /ImageFile:install.wim /Index:1
/ApplyDir:W: /Compact
W:\ADKTools\amd64\DISM.exe /Apply-SiloedPackage /ImagePath:W:\ /PackagePath:"e:\
SPPs\fabrikam-id.spp" /PackagePath:"D:\SPPs\office16_base.spp" /PackagePath:"D:\
SPPs\office16_fr-fr.spp" /PackagePath:"D:\SPPs\office16_de-de.spp"