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Microsoft Windows Preinstallation Environment 5
Microsoft Windows Preinstallation Environment
In this section
Overview of the Microsoft Windows Preinstallation Environment.................................................................... 5
Windows PE build process ........................................................................................................................ 5
Booting Windows PE from a USB drive key................................................................................................. 7
Overview of the Microsoft Windows Preinstallation
Environment
Microsoft® Windows® Preinstallation Environment 2005 is a small footprint of the Microsoft®
Windows® Server 2003 environment that replaces MS-DOS and enables you to run tools in a 32-bit
Windows® environment. However, Windows® PE 2005 is based on the Windows® Server 2003 SP1
kernel running in protected mode. Therefore, only a subset of features and APIs are available in this
environment. This document is applicable to Windows® PE 2005 only. It is not backward compatible
with previous versions of Windows® PE.
Windows® PE enables you to install the Windows® operating system, establish a connection with
network servers, and perform hardware configuration using the SmartStart Scripting Toolkit. You can use
Windows® PE to customize and configure your servers before the operating system is installed.
A bootable image of Windows® PE is available from Microsoft® through the Open Value program. You
can also obtain tools, scripts, and documentation that enable you to create and customize your own
Windows® PE image. However, customers are required to have the Microsoft EA or SAM to gain access
to Windows® PE. For more information, refer to the Microsoft® Windows® PE website
(http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/programs/sa/support/winpe.mspx
).
Windows PE build process
Microsoft® provides a collection of scripts and tools to help you build your own Windows® PE image.
You must customize your Windows® PE image to include the latest HP drivers and the SmartStart
Scripting Toolkit utilities, data files, and customized scripts. The latest ProLiant drivers are available on the
HP support website (http://www.hp.com/support/files
).
The following sections, "Building a Windows PE base image (on page 5)" and "Customizing the
Windows PE image using the Toolkit driver component (on page 6)," give an overview of the Windows®
PE build process with HP drivers and tools and should be executed in the Windows® command prompt
(CMD.EXE) environment.
Building a Windows PE base image
This section describes how to build a Windows® PE base image. The base image can then be
customized as described in "Customizing the Windows PE image using the Toolkit driver component (on
page 6)." For detailed information about customizing a Windows® PE base image, refer to the
Windows® PE documentation.