Questions....

[gugutz]

I´m interested in using WinPE.

I already read many, many posts about it, but still didn´t find the anwser for some questions, so here it comes:

WinPE is like a replacement for the DOS enviroment that comes before the setup of Windows?

I see that there are BartPE, PEBuilder, WinPE, along with others "PE" things. What are the differences between them?

I´ve reade gosh´s topic about How to put WinPE and XP on the same CD, and he shows some examples there.

In his exemple, he showed this:

;

: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 cool.gif 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, if the user hits "6" or "7", the boot will load WinPE. But isn´t WinPE suposed to already be this "Boot Enviroment" from witch i should choose the OS i want to install? Or am i misunderstanding something here?

As far as i undertood, WinPE isn´t supposed to load by itself alone and them, from WinPE, i should choose witch OS i want to install.

I was picturing a brand new GUI Interface, instead of a "DOS Text-Mode Only", to choose what i wanna do.

Could someone clarify things a little for me?

[Jazkal]

WinPE is a stand alone tool. It is a slimmed down version of Windows, that runs 100% from RAM.

Windows Vista uses PE as the install platform.

BartsPE is a version based on Windows XP, and was reverse engineered so that the general public could have access to this tool.

It wasn't until this last version (v2.0) that Microsoft has released it to the general public.

And in your example of multiple OS installs and PE on the same disc, you wouldn't "need" PE to install XP, but you could use it to fix problems on an already installed XP.

[gugutz]

but then, can´t i use winpe like vista uses it? to install winxp?

or the only reason to have it is to run appart from xp, like another OS, only as a "tool" to fix problems on a already installed winxp?

and is there a public release of winpe? if yes, where can i get it?

[Jazkal]

You can use it to install XP. You would install XP from WinPE using the winnt32.exe with command line switches. You could even put all the logic inside an HTA, it would give you a GUI of sorts. However, Vista uses it differently, because the method used is image based instead of file based.

And I posted a link to download it, in the thread directly under this one.

Edited November 18, 2006 by Jazkal