I finally got my image working. Again, this is probably the wrong forum since I'm not using nLite, but if it can save someone some pain that I had to endure it's worth it. This is what I did: I started over with the source files for PE and windows. I used W2K3 server for the windows files, and winPE 1.6 I manually made the PE image using mkimg with the switches for WMI etc. edited winpeoem.sif like winpe.chm suggests simple really ran sysprep -bmsd on the target box added the mass storage section from the sysprep to my regular sysprep.inf and changed the build mass storage from yes to NO Added the driver structure for sysprep (c:\sysprep\drivers\SATA) Booted fine with PE Ran the build Sysprep added the drivers when it resealed There was an error when it sealed - unable to write to the registry. I googled it and read the MS article for Win2K. Fixed the line in sysprep. It didnt know where to get the drivers(c:\sysprep\SATA). added the folder, and it worked like a charm. Problem finally solved. Thanks to everyone who helped.