Add Windows PE 2.0 to your Grub4Dos menu

[spacesurfer]

And now.... you can add WinPE 2.0 to your Grub4Dos menu. It was pretty simple since booting WinPE from a HDD is similar to booting Vista. Here are the step to add WinPE.

1) Make a WinPE ISO by following directions.

2) Use diskpart to create a HDD with WinPE on it (use the same instructions as if you are booting form UFD)

diskpart
select disk #
clean
create partition primary
active
format fs=fat32
assign
exit

Where disk # is the number for your HDD. Don't forget to change it.

Then copy all files from your ISO to your HDD:

xcopy [WinPE_ISO]\*.* /s /e /f [WinPE_HDD]:\

If you are already booting Vista using original bootmgr, then rename bootmgr on your WinPE HDD to bootmgrp. This will avoid similar filenames.

Then, edit your menu.lst by adding the following syntax:

title Windows PE 2.0 from HDD
find --set-root /bootmgrp
chainloader /bootmgrp

Restart and select WinPE and it should load.

I tried this in Virtual PC and it worked fine. I have yet to test it in a real environment, but I anticipate it will work. VistaPE is a project that adds a shell to WinPE. It also boots using bootmgr.

For full instruction on Grub4Dos, go here: Multi-boot Vista / XP and other OSes with Grub4Dos Menu

Addendum

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I have also got VistaPE to boot using a similar method. Moreover, after playing in a physical environment (meaning not in Virtual PC), I have now realized that formatting with diskpart is not required if you are going to use Grub4Dos to boot to VistaPE, WinPE, or Vista install (if you are installing Vista from an HDD partition) because they all use the bootmgr to kickstart. I have booted VistaPE from an NTFS partition that contained other data and it worked fine.

Edited May 28, 2007 by spacesurfer